jokes from the year 1984, which was a major break-out year for Gary Larson's syndicated newspaper strip, in of its expanding popularity at the time.
As an artist, Larson had a knack for striking a nerve with readers, which is precisely what he set out to do with every Far Side he created during the cartoon's decade-and-a-half in publication. How Larson achieved a reaction differed on a day-to-day basis, but invariably, at least once a month, he produced a "My God!" comic.
These often involved drastically upending the familiar, subverting readers' expectations, and playing on readers' emotions by appealing to the darkest sensibilities possible. Yet in most cases, these comics are more than just one-note shockers – they are also some of Larson's funniest bits.
12 On The Far Side, Urgency Was All A Matter Of Perspective
First Published: January 9, 1984
"Say, there's something wrong here," one bird says to another, as they stand on the brim of a man's hat while the man is slowly consumed by a pit of quicksand, "we may have to move shortly." For these birds, the slow erosion of their landing spot is a minor inconvenience – while for this doomed Far Side explorer, it is a horrifying demise, as he is depicted literally up to his eyeballs, moments from disappearing completely.
There is a strain of horror in that image of the man with only his eyes and the top of his head left exposed, while the humor of this is fully embedded in the disconnect between the human tragedy of the situation and the casual avian indifference of the strip's focal characters.
11 The Far Side Was Innovative – And So Were Its Canine Characters
First Published: February 8, 1984
"Vernon! That light!" a woman shouts, as she sees sparks outside her living room window at night, before quickly surmising that "the Jeffersons' dog is back!" with the dog in question wearing a welding mask and wielding a blowtorch, as it tries to find a more efficient way to get into the neighbors' trash can.
The hilarious simplicity of this punchline belies how well it represents the innovative nature of The Far Side. Much like the Jeffersons' dog, Gary Larson was all about taking a familiar scenario and finding an unexpected interpretation of it – often, in extreme and unpredictable ways, just like the ambitious, torch-wielding dog in this comic. In both cases, readers should laud, and laugh at, this display of "outside the box" thinking.
10 The Far Side's Snakes Had Simple Desires – For Better Or Worse
First Published: March 6, 1984
This highly amusing Far Side snake joke doesn't pull any punches – the serpent in question wants to eat the "free weiner dog" that it dreams of being given, no question about it. This will certainly evoke its share of "My God!" responses, and that is precisely the point of the punchline.
Why Gary Larson Changed One Of The Far Side's Weirdest Cartoons Nearly 20 Years After It Was Published (Is the Second Version Funnier?)
In 2003's "The Complete Far Side," Gary Larson offered a revised caption for one of his strangest comics ever, 1984's "Slug Worship" .
That is to say, there are two subcategories of "My God!" Far Side jokes: the intentional and the unintentional. Sometimes, shocking and surprising the reader was a byproduct of a joke, while in other cases, it was very much by design. With this , it is clear that Gary Larson wanted to play on readers' sympathies for the dog, finding a jarring bit of humor in the disconnect between the canine's "cuteness" and the snake's predatory nature.
9 Sometimes "My God!" Is Short For "My God, What Are They Doing?"
First Published: April 26, 1984
A shocked response to a Far Side comic can result from a variety of different types of Larsonian punchline; this is an example of a "My God!" joke that also qualifies as a "What the?" joke, as likely to prompt confusion as outrage, or incredulity. In the cartoon, a man holds his wife by an arm and a leg and swings her around their living room, as they stand over a carefully arranged set of miniatures – with the caption solemnly noting that "on the next , however, Helen failed to clear the mountains."
In other words, the woman in the comic is about to be swung face-first into the sharp, replica mountain – an implied injury that will make many readers flinch as though it was inflicted on them personally, all while they try to unpack the mystifying, inscrutable reasons behind the couple's behavior.
8 The Far Side Was A "Dog Eat Dog," "Chicken Eat Chicken" World
First Published: May 18, 1984
In this thoroughly dark Far Side chicken comic, a hen encourages her sick child to eat a bowl of chicken soup – something readers will certainly understand its hesitancy to do – by saying, "number one, chicken soup is good for the flu, and number two, it's nobody we know."
Some of Gary Larson's funniest comics featured animals, particularly cows and chickens, reckoning with their edibility, but this one stands out as particularly likely to garner a "My God!," or at least a gentler, "Oh my...," because of the way the chicken parent is pushing cannibalism on her child, who unspokenly exerts the morally questionable nature of this behavior, resulting in a comic that is both laugh-out-loud funny, and surprisingly thought-provoking.
7 This Might Be The Far Side's Greatest "Wrong Place, Wrong Time" Joke
First Published: June 25, 1984
The Far Side featured its share of execution scenes – in fact, there is another one coming up later in this list – as well as punchlines involving someone paying for being in the wrong place at the wrong moment. Here, Gary Larson brilliantly conflates the two, in a that features a prison guard holding up a match to light the final cigarette of a man condemned to die by firing squad, at the exact same time a woman leans out the window of the burning building next door and yells "fire!"
The Far Side Complete Collection
Fans of the far side can't up this master collection of Gary Larson's finest work. Originally published in hardcover in 2003, this paperback set comes complete with a newly designed slipcase that will look great on any shelf. The Complete Far Side contains every Far Side cartoon ever published, which amounts to over 4,000, plus more than 1,100 that have never before appeared in a book and even some made after Larson retired.
This joke highlights Gary Larson's expert ability to capture a single moment, with the reader's attention drawn to the look of shock and horror on the face of the guard captain, as he realizes his executioners are about to misinterpret the woman's shout for their orders, unleashing a volley of bullets before he can dive out of the way.
6 Another Classic Far Side Infrastructure Breakdown
First Published: July 5, 1984
This Far Side depicts the opposite side of Gary Larson's recurring "falling piano" gag, by depicting a woman and her friend staring at a large hole in her apartment floor, where her piano was until a moment before, with the caption hinting at the disastrous consequences on the floor below, as the friend says, "Uh, oh, Ruby...the apartment downstairs is awfully quiet."
The falling piano provided Gary Larson with an easy visual shortcut to a "My god!" reaction, but this comic displays his ability to skillfully invert even his own tropes, imagining the other side of the equation – and rightfully suggesting that it would be just as horrifying to drop a piano on someone's head, than to be the one it is dropped on.
5 This Is Among The Far Side's Most Massive Fails – And It's Hilarious
First Published: August 17, 1984
"Suddenly, his worst fears realized," the caption of this Far Side elephant tells readers, "the old fellow's tusks jammed," as the pachyderm looks down in bewilderment at its tangled tusks, at the pivotal moment of its charge toward a human hunter with an intimidating looking rifle.
The "My God!" quality of this cartoon comes from the fact that, presumably, the hunter's gun does not misfire, making this charge a major miscalculation on the elephant's part, while the humor of it comes from the sheer absurdity of the image, particularly the look of haunted confusion Gary Larson evokes in the elephant's eyes, which should strike a chord of sympathy in most readers, even as they laugh at the "epic fail" quality of the punchline.
4 Another Classic "Forgot To Double Check" Skydiving Mishap, A Far Side Staple
First Published: September 25, 1984
The Far Side featured its share of hapless skydivers, and this is perhaps one of the funniest examples, given the way the caption and the image play off one another. "Murray didn't feel the first pangs of real panic until he pulled the emergency chord," the caption explains, as the image depicts the man plummeting to the ground, a piano in place of his parachute – and an anchor having deployed instead of a backup 'chute.
The Far Side's "Out of Order" Comic (Both Versions) Is the Perfect Illustration Of Gary Larson's Chaotic Creative Mind
Gary Larson's "Out of Order" comic, published in 1988, perfectly illustrated of how the business of creating The Far Side wore him down over time.
Of course, the impossible physics of the gag are part of its surreal, amusing tone, while the belated "pangs of real panic" are deliberately at odds with the sheer terror of the situation – and it is exactly this discrepancy where the "My God!" reaction from readers will manifest, likely alongside at least a chuckle, if not an outright burst of laughter.
3 The Far Side's "My God!" Comics Weren't All Death And Destruction – Sometimes Embarrassment Did The Trick
First Published: October 20, 1984
In this captionless Far Side cartoon, a man stands sheepishly in front of a priceless dinosaur skeleton exhibit at the museum, which has just collapsed in on itself – implied to be the result of the man flouting the "DO NOT TOUCH" signs scattered throughout the hall.
Here, Larson's joke is a logical extension of every rule-abiding museum attendee's worst fears about what could happen, should they, or another, given in to the impulse to even so much as graze one of the museum's curated items. The second-hand embarrassment most readers will feel looking at this comic is a great, effective way for Gary Larson to shock his audience, without his usual entreaties to the macabre.
