The Far Side was often at its funniest when it flipped the idea of a quiet suburban neighborhood upside down, subverting what newspaper readers expected from the setting; in Gary Larson's warped take on "Anytown, USA," danger lurked around every corner, and none of his characters were ever truly safe.

In these all-time great Far Side comics about suburbia, Gary Larson presents everything from dangerous dogs to dangerous Dougs, from carnivorous lawns to man-eating daisies, as the most average parts of life in a small town turned unexpectedly deadly.

Of course, these are just some of the stand-outs from the many Far Side comics that turned the suburban dream into a total nightmare – a recurring motif that helped Larson's work become a staple of the funny pages in the 1980s and early '90s.

10 Fido Had A Field Day Taking Out These Suburban Cyclists

First Published: July 7, 1981

This is an example of a Far Side comic that doesn't need a caption to get its point across. Larson's image conveys the message clear enough: a doghouse on the left, a piled of mangled bicycles on the right, evidently stacked there as trophies by a formidable dog, who chased away their riders and claimed the bikes for itself. The cartoon evokes a familiar, for some even nostalgia suburban trope, yet it is not lacking in characteristic Larsonian edge to it, conveyed by the imposing number of bikes, along with the dog's implied presence lurking within its doghouse, waiting to strike.

Any reader who, as a kid – or even as an adult – knows what it is like to be cruising down the sidewalk, only to be menaced, or outright chased by a neighbor's dog, will immediately find something amusingly relatable about this strip.

9 To Be Fair, This Far Side Traveling Salesman Ignored The Warning Signs & Sealed His Own Fate

First Published: February 13, 1982

ACME products and salespeople were Far Side staples, but that meant that at least a few of them were bound to meet ignominious ends. That is the case here, as a door-to-door salesman signs his own death warrant by willfully ignoring the "Dangerous: Carnivorous Lawn" on the front of an otherwise idyllic-looking picket fence – as he's depicted barely taking one step onto the lush green grass before a bite is taken out of him.

The humor of this cartoon starts with its concept, but it is made hilarious by its execution, particularly the framing of the illustration. The way the fence obscures the bottom half of the man's body, and thus the actual action of the lawn attacking the man, is a perfect creative decision, one that makes the most of a strange but memorable premise.

8 A Classic Far Side Wrong Place/Wrong Time Scenario

First Published: August 2, 1982

Gary Larson often crafted twisted takes on nursery rhymes, and that intersected with The Far Side's dark take on suburbia here, in a cartoon depicting a human couple who find themselves caught in the middle of the Big Bad Wolf's pursuit of the Three Little Pigs. "Listen out there! We're George and Harriet Miller!" the man says to the oversized wolf peering in the living room window, explaining that, "[they] just dropped in on the pigs for coffee," and preparing to surrender themselves to the wolf.

The Millers' desperation to extract themselves from this dangerous situation they have accidentally stumbled into is peak suburbanite comedy. Amusingly, the pigs are depicted, as one might expect, cowering in fear – as it can be inferred that the moment the Millers open the front door, the wolf will rush in, and indiscriminately slaughter everyone inside.

7 A Rainy Day In The Neighborhood, Far Side Style

First Published: March 7, 1983

The Far Side repeatedly riffed on the "falling piano" trope over the years, and this is one of the funniest examples. Here, Gary Larson depicts a familiar bit of small-town small talk, as a man stands inside his house, by the window, and observes about the weather, "I'd hate to be caught outside on a day like this" – except instead of rain drops, it is grand pianos falling from the sky.

This is also a fun, if somewhat sly example of Gary Larson's technique of over-literalization; that is, when people say they don't want to be stuck outside on a rainy day, they might be speaking literally – but substituting pianos for rain takes this to an extreme, making it a matter of life and death, rather of coziness and inconvenience.

6 Don't Make The Same Mistake Your Coworker Did, Mr. Acme Salesman

First Published: March 26, 1983

Here, Gary Larson once again plays with a familiar concept, as another ACME door-to-door salesman is confronted with a warning sign – except this time it says "Beware of Doug," and the depicts the man at the moment before he decides whether to proceed through the gate or not, all while the "Doug" in question peers out from behind a tree in the front yard.

This is a patently ridiculous Far Side joke, combining Gary Larson's flair for wordplay and his knack for turning the familiar into the obscure, and the lighthearted into the dangerous. It is unclear exactly what might happen to the salesman if he steps foot in Doug's yard, and the hilarity of this cartoon, in large part, rests on Larson's decision to leave that to the reader's imagination.

5 Gary Larson's Comedy Was Always Inventive, As He Continually Found New Ways To Make The Familiar Strange

First Published: February 8, 1984

"Vernon! That light!" a woman cries to her husband as he tries to read the evening newspaper, directing his attention out their living room window, noting that, "the Jeffersons' dog is back!" Meanwhile, the dog in question is shown using welding gear to try and get into the couple's trash cans.

This is a great example of what makes The Far Side so memorable; Gary Larson had an unparalleled ability for deriving unexpected comedy from the most ordinary situations. There is something very recognizable about the concept of a dog getting into its neighbors' trash, but Larson finds a unique way to embody that. Few things were more essential to Larson's success as a cartoonist than this idiosyncratic ability, which was on full display in countless Far Side cartoons.

4 A Canine With Access To Construction Equipment Disturbs The Peace In This Outrageous Far Side Comic

First Published: June 8, 1985

In this iconic Far Side cartoon, a woman looks out her living room window in horror as a neighborhood dog digs up her flowers – using a bulldozer, in a wild escalation of this familiar suburban problem – as the caption declares "Ginger decides to take out Mrs. Talbot's flower bed once and for all."

Again, this comic highlights Gary Larson's ability to take something ordinary and take it to an over-the-top place. Combined with laugh-out-loud imagery, the result is a comic that many fans agree ranks among the Larson's many comics about dogs.

3 The Far Side Reminds Readers To Be Careful Where They Stick Their Noses

First Published: September 20, 1988

In this Far Side cartoon, danger comes in an unexpected form, as a flower with vampire fangs eagerly awaits its next victim, as the silhouette of a man's head is depicted leaning in for a sniff, seemingly oblivious to the noses mounted as trophies on the fence behind the carnivorous plant.

Certainly, this is one of Gary Larson's stranger jokes; rather than playing on something familiar, he delves into wholly out-there territory, conjuring an image of a seemingly innocuous fixture of a suburban yard morphed into a literal flesh-eating monster. In effect, this is part of what makes the joke great, as will certainly make most readers do a double-take, and have many Far Side fans asking themselves "What the?"

2 Another Far Side Traveling Salesman Reaches A Crossroads In His Career

First Published: February 13, 1990

In this Far Side cartoon, yet another door-to-door salesman – this time working for the "ABC" company, rather than ACME – is about to face a life-or-death decision, as he walks down the sidewalk toward the next door he's prepared to knock on, only to find a salesman-coded scarecrow prominently fixed in the front yard.

Even more than that, the scarecrow has a variety of sharp objects sticking out of it, including an arrow, an axe, and a pitchfork, and it seems to be full of bullet holes as well. The humor of thei mage comes from the way the living salesman's head is turned, as if the scarecrow is just grabbing his attention – and though it is a static image, readers can imagine his pace slowing as he begins to have his doubts about whether it is a good idea to step foot in the yard.

1 Gary Larson Reveals That The Law Of Nature Extends Even To The Suburbs

First Published: October 11, 1994

In one of Gary Larson's most brutally funny cartoons, a man with his son at the white picket fence separating their idyllic suburban front yard from their neighbors' – or, former neighbors, as a pack of wolves run wild through the house next door, while the father explains that the owners had been "weak and stupid people, and that's why we have wolves and other large predators."

Critiques of human behavior, and jokes at humanity's expense, were common fodder for The Far Side, but the humor of this is downright misanthropic. Considering it came during the final months of Gary Larson's career, it is potentially an example of the author "saying the quiet part loud," and letting his truly unfiltered feelings make their way into a Far Side cartoon.