Gary Larson is the creator of the legendary newspaper comic strip, The Far Side, a single- comic with subject material including talking cows, women with beehive haircuts, and dark, absurd humor. Many contemporary fans of the series probably know the comics best from the anthology books and their constant appearance online, Larson seems to have a Far Side comic applicable to every possible situation.
Even serious fans may be unaware that Larson began adding new comics to his online portfolio in 2020 after a 25-year hiatus and the comic genius does not seem to have lost his fast pitch. Gary Larson comics run the gambit from horrifying to confounding to laugh-out-loud funny and the best have all three of those characteristics.
Be A Virus
This comic has aged well and is particularly relevant today. It is a classic The Far Side setup with a seemingly innocuous opening line that implies a lot more with the caption reveal. The idea that a meeting at a bar will lead to a viral vacation became reality for most of the globe in 2020.
It's also an unusual comic strip for Larson because instead of only one , it's split into two. So there is set up, punch-line, and then caption at the end, one more line of writing than he's known for and each successive bit of information makes the joke funnier.
Jane Goodall Tramp
Gary Larson is no stranger to controversy and one of his most infamous cartoons involves a female chimp berating her apparent husband for spending time with "that Jane Goodall tramp!" It is a hilarious reworking of the worn "wife finds out husband is cheating" trope and makes an actual joke with the premise.
Jane Goodall was a famous primatologist and the idea that she is so well-acquainted with chimpanzees that she is involved in their gossip is hilarious. Goodall's lawyers, however, did not think it was funny and sent an angry letter to the cartoonist (via Comics Alliance). Only when Goodall herself came out and expressed her love of the cartoon did they stand down.
Einstein Basketball
Sometimes Gary Larson can make a sub-par joke into an excellent one with his art style. No one considers hit illustrations as technically sound as other comic creators like Bill Watterson of Calvin and Hobbes, but they always successfully show exactly what Larson is intending with his joke.
The silly body proportions and overly comic faces make looking at any Far Side comic picture worth a laugh. In this comic, it is funny to imagine Albert Einstein was a total jock before becoming the world's smartest man, but it's even funnier that he looks exactly like he did as an old scientist while he's pivot-footing past defenders.
Dictator Experiment
Some of the funniest Far Side comics are able to tell an entire story within just one single picture and a few choice words. In this comic, an entire tragi-comedy is told with just one speech bubble that is hilariously dark.
The implication is that the man at the desk has lived his whole life rising through society to become a ruler and has been nothing more than a lab rat for some scientists. It would be much meaner if it wasn't for the fact that this man is a dictator, and it's very comforting to think that some evil tyrants may only be one science experiment away from being a dunce from Long Island.
A Discouraging Word
It can be difficult to make a pun funny but Gary Larson is intelligent enough to pull it off, and he has enough respect for his readers to know that they will do the same. On the first read, in this Western inspired comic, the joke might not come when the only line in the comic "He just uttered a discouraging word!"
But when a reader puts together that the subjects of the comic are cowboys, and they're clearly singing a song, the punchline reveals itself. "Home on the Range", is a quintessential western song with the lyric, "Where seldom is heard, a discouragin' word". Larson tries to explain what a "discouragin' word" is, whatever it means, it's apparent it's not something to be uttered.
Ichthyologist
This is a joke that has been made dozens of times in animated sitcoms, someone stands up and asks, "is there a doctor in the house?" and the punchline is generally not the expected response. Sometimes the question itself is unexpected like in this comic, though part of the humor is that the reader has to infer the question.
Not only does the man on stage know the term for "scientist who studies fish", but there just so happens to be three in the audience. This absurd situation masks the even greater bit of why is there a fish performing on stage in the first place.
Moat Contractor
Most homeowners or renters have experienced a situation with a landlord or a contractor where halfway through a discussion it's clear there has been a major miscommunication. Larson ratchets that feeling up to a ten and imagines that the same situation has been going on for centuries in this comic.
The moat is nearly complete when the lord of the castle decides now is the moment he is going to get into a fight with the medieval contractor. Readers can almost hear the argument, the contractor claiming how they are just doing what they were told and the lord asking how anyone could think a moat would go inside the castle walls.
Laughter Is The Best Medicine
This comic is another example of Gary Larson's art and wordplay coming together to create a very funny comic. "Laughter is the best medicine" is a well-known saying, but it usually refers to the infirm person laughing, not, as Larson thinks it, laughing AT the infirm person.
What makes this even better is how well the story is told through the art. Three scientists surround the patient's bed pointing and laughing their heads off and only the sick elderly gentlemen's head sticks out from the covers. And his expression perfectly conveys how he feels about this particular form of medication.
Warning Button
Many of The Far Side comics prey on the common fears of most people. One of those is the fear of flying and how scary any unexpected announcement from the pilots can seem. In this comic the announcement from the pilots would be enough to scare anyone: "the emergency light is on".
But the comedy is multiplied with the comically large emergency button that is apparently called "the big one". If the engers heard "the big one" while seated, that would be enough to cause major alarm and to imagine their faces if they saw exactly how big it is, is hilarious.
Didn't Wash Hands
There are so many Far Side comics that it's natural some will seem like they're almost telling the future. With thousands of scenarios, Gary Larson has unknowingly predicted plenty of situations years from when he turned them into comic strips. This comic on the public shaming of those not keeping themselves clean is hilariously pertinent, especially in today's world.
Most people have washed their hands before exiting a bathroom, but there may or may not have been that one time when someone was in a hurry and didn't think it's necessary. To neglect to do so and then be publicly, and loudly, called out for it would be the absolute worst-case scenario.