Gary Larson's The Far Side has a lot of fixations for its surreal brand of humor, but few are more surprising than the humble mailman. The employees of the US Postal Service appear throughout Larson's comics, beset by myriad threats including dogs, carnivorous mailboxes and Hell itself.

Here are the 10 funniest Far Side comics starring mail carriers, showcasing Larson's surreal sense of humor, sometimes morbid sensibilities and major recurring obsessions. Be sure to vote in our end-of-article poll for your #1, and to see which strip other readers considered the best of the best.

10 The Can of Mace

The Far Side Loves Dog vs Mailman

The 'dog vs mailman' rivalry will be a recurring theme on this list, as Larson taps into the primordial conflict between canine and mail carrier. In this strip, a dog suddenly realizes it's pushed the mailman a little too far when he drops a can of mace, changing the rules of their one-sided battle of wills. It's a perfectly Far Side detail that the dog is smart enough to recognize a can of mace, but not smart enough to realize the mailman doesn't mean any harm by entering its territory every day. Open the image gallery below for more Far Side comics starring dogs.

While Larson was a lover of animal life and dogs in particular - "I never met a red setter I didn't like" - that doesn't mean he goes easy on canines in The Far Side. Larson's dogs are generally depicted as excitable buffoons who love terrible smells, eating garbage and harassing cats and mailmen.

9 Mailman vs Mailbox

A Far Side Strip Stephen King Would Love

Of course, dogs aren't the only threat that mailmen face in the surreal world of The Far Side. This rare multi- comic shows a mail carrier being swallowed whole by a mailbox, which then raises its 'flag' in a show of victory - begging the dark question of what's going to be discovered inside by the next person to check the mail.

The concept of an 'evil mailbox' that consumes a mailman is the kind of thing you might see in a Stephen King book. King is famous for turning everyday objects into antagonists, including cars, cell phones, cameras and (as recently adapted in 2025's The Monkey) toys. It's therefore not surprising that Stephen King is a major fan of The Far Side, writing the foreword for The Far Side Gallery 2. King has also featured in the comic, with Larson depicting the horror icon as a snub-nosed kid.

8 Wiener Dog Nest

A Perfect Example of 'Weiner Dog Art'

In this strip, Larson imagines Wiener dogs as a minor but annoying hazard for mail carriers, with the image of a 'nest' of the diminutive canines providing a goofy visual. Larson has a particular fondness for Weiner dogs, as seen in Wiener Dog Art: A Far Side Collection, which includes a variety of illustrations placing dogs into classic works of art like the Mona Lisa and The Scream.

7 Look What You Resort To

Far Side's Dogs Are Dangerously Smart... In Certain Ways

While Far Side's mailmen may be worried about getting 'nipped' while on their rounds, it could be a lot worse. It's fun to imagine this comic as the sequel to our #10 strip, with the mace convincing the dog to back off, replacing attempted bites with a voodoo doll that's clearly been way more effective in doing damage to its target. Credit goes to Mr. Carlisle, who despite a broken leg, an injured neck and an arm in a sling (not to mention some unspecified nose injury) is still apparently showing up day after day to deliver the mail.

6 This Is Our Hour!

Far Side Loves a Giant Monster Attack

Larson loves flipping a well-known premise on its head. In this comic, the dog/mailman rivalry turns the canines into heroes when a giant mail carrier inexplicably attacks the city, toppling skyscrapers and starting fires. It will seemingly take all the city's dogs working together to topple this bizarrely unique threat, though it's not exactly clear why the kaiju mailman won't simply squash his attackers flat. Open the image gallery below for more Far Side comics featuring unlikely giants.

Larson loves the image of a giant creature stumbling around the city. While Godzilla and King Kong are both parodied in The Far Side, the comic's creator is just as happy to unleash a towering clown or penguin.

5 Dog Hell

Far Side's Hell Isn't Usually This Effective

In this comic, dogs consigned to Hell are forced to take on the role of their natural enemy, pointlessly delivering mail for all eternity under the watchful eye of Satan. It's an ironic punishment for canines that bit people who were ultimately just doing their job, but way more unpleasant than Far Side's Hell usually gets. Open the image gallery below for more Far Side comics set in Hell.

While there are a few times he's genuinely intimidating, The Far Side's devil is generally depicted as pretty inept. Hell is a place where the inmates graffiti the walls, turn down the thermostat and graffiti the walls. While the coffee may be cold and the video store only has the movie Ishtar in stock, there's not much by the way of wailing and gnashing of teeth. However, even this milquetoast depiction of 'dog hell' was too much for some.

In The Complete Far Side, Larson includes a complaint letter from "a mother of a 3-year-old" complaining that 'Dog Hell' was published, stating:

This cartoon does not belong in the "funny papers" because it isn't funny. This type of humor belongs in an adult magazine - not something in a local paper that is (and should be) read by a child. The other mothers I have spoken to feel the same way. If necessary, to be rid of this, I can start a petition of concerned parents.

Larson notes in The Prehistory of The Far Side that he was no stranger to hate mail in his comic's prime, but that any time a newspaper dropped his series, readers reliably (and successfully) campaigned for its reinstatement.

4 Mailman Fossil

Somehow, Far Side Consistently Makes Fossils Funny

In this strip, two archeologists discover "Mailman" - here named in a similar way to finds like Nariokotome Boy and Piltdown Man. Larson treats the 'dog vs mailman' conflict as so inherent to both species that the fossil is considered 'complete' because it still has a hound attached to its ankle. Open the image gallery below for more Far Side comics about fossils.

Like mail carriers, fossils seem like an unlikely subject for humor, especially on a repeat basis. However, Larson's love of science ensured that various bone-based gags made it into The Far Side, from a museum visitor toppling a T-Rex skeleton to a bold new theory that fossils are actually the remains of a giant alien picnic.

3 Neither Rain Nor Snow

Gary Larson's Pop Culture References Are Legendary

Sharp teeth and voodoo dolls give Far Side's mailmen adequate reason to be afraid of dogs, but they're nothing compared to Rexbo - a Rambo-inspired dog who brought a missile launcher to obliterate his parcel-delivering enemy. The Rambo nod combines an extreme character with a low-key situation, complete with the canine wearing Sylvester Stallone's iconic bandana. Open the image gallery below for more Far Side comics that reference classic movies.

Larson has a fantastic eye for what pop culture references will remain relevant decades later, with Far Side including nods to Jaws, Psycho, The Godfather, The Sound of Music, Alien and a host of Disney movies, from Dumbo to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

The 'Rexbo' comic references the United States Postal Service creed, which reads "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds."

2 The Wilsons

Gary Larson Is Obsessed with Tiny People

Far Side's mailmen might have assumed they'd seen everything by this point, but there are always new surprises to come. In this case, a mailman opens a mailbox marked 'The Wilsons' only to find that it's the home of an entire diminutive family, who don't appreciate having their evening interrupted. Open the image gallery below for more Far Side comics starring miniature people.

Miniature people show up throughout The Far Side​​​​​​​, constantly inconvenienced by their larger brethren. Whether living in a sand castle or operating a car radio from inside, these may actually be Far Side's most normal people, mostly just trying to get on with their lives.

1 We're Getting Old

Far Side Knows Getting Older Isn't Easy

In his best twist on the 'dog vs mailman' formula, Larson depicts two old dogs who have grown so tired, they can no longer be bothered to chase after a mail carrier - even when their traditional target is also a cat. Why the USPS is employing felines isn't explained, but it's hard to fault the decision when the kitty is more successful in its duties than any of the humans we've seen so far. Open the image gallery below for more Far Side comics about old age.

Those are the 10 funniest Far Side comics starring mailmen as they encounter a variety of bizarre threats and inconveniences - be sure to vote in our end-of-article poll to let us know your number one.