Summary

• Gary Larson's Far Side strips masterfully tell stories with minimal words, focusing on bizarre, tragic, and darkly humorous scenarios.
• Larson's surrealism brings out the humor in tragic circumstances, creating a unique brand of dark comedy in his iconic newspaper strip.
• From a tornado painter to murderous mailboxes and doomed bowlers, Far Side s deliver absurdity and humor with minimalist artistry.

Telling a story without the benefit of words in a single is no easy task, but it is something that Gary Larson perfected over the course of his fan-favorite newspaper strip, The Far Side. Known for his brand of absurdist, dark humor, Larson's series is frequently lauded for its minimalist approach, with many strips featuring few, or no words.

The world can be a frightening place, with all manner of catastrophes and disasters occurring – and it takes a special kind of cartoonist to see the humor in all that. What Larson manages to do with The Far Side is use his unique brand of surrealism to bring out the humor in otherwise tragic circumstances. Get ready for a ride, because these comics don’t pull punches.

15 When Art & Artist Are No Longer Seperated

First Published: February 2, 1984

A sneakily brilliant sight gag, Larson offers a strange commentary on the nature of impressionist art, depicting a painter being caught up in his subject, a violent tornado.

This “Tornado Painter” is a great use of framing, both in its composition and its humor. A sneakily brilliant sight gag, Larson offers a strange commentary on the nature of impressionist art, depicting a painter being caught up in his subject, a violent tornado. Surrounded by all manner of objects animate and inanimate, including a stoic chicken, a bewildered cow and of course his easel and stool, the placement and posture of these flying things, distorted into Larson’s trademark cartoonish style, give the distinct nod to the actual painterly disciplines of early 20th century impressionism, particularly the humanesque anatomy of the cow.

14 They Brought This On Themselves

In what would’ve likely been an easily avoidable situation, two goldfish appear to have signed their death warrants by attempting to play a game of baseball within the confines of their fish tank. The expression of bemused shock upon the batter goldfish’s face, juxtaposed with the easily perceivable dangers of hitting a ball against a breakable surface such as glass, grants a certain minimalist dark humor to the piece, which in turn compliments the minimalism Larson constructs the scene with. Drawing a comparison to rowdy children, who might accidently break their neighbor’s window during a friendly game, the stakes are much higher in this instance.

13 There's No ing For A School Of Wild Scissors

First Published: April 23, 1980

Part of what made Larson such an idiosyncratic creator, and Far Side such a unique strip, was his ability to pull both comedy and tragedy from the same absurd idea.

This deep sea diver did everything right, following every step to ensure the safest possible walk along the ocean floor – sadly, he had the misfortune of existing in the dark universe of Far Side creator Gary Larson's imagination, resulting in an absurd – and most likely fatal – encounter with a school of scissors, swimming towards his tether to the surface with blades open, as if they were a school of fish. Part of what made Larson such an idiosyncratic creator, and Far Side such a unique strip, was his ability to pull both comedy and tragedy from the same absurd idea.

12 Always Get Your Gear Ready The Night Before

First Published: July 7, 1980

Readers might imagine the two skydivers here – having two very different experiences – as friends, or strangers, but for one of them, unfortunately, the outcome is the same either way. While the diver in the left frame of the safely glides back down to Earth, the character on the right is plummeting to the ground, having released a horde of moths rather than his own parachute. This dark Far Side installment is a reminder to extreme activity enthusiasts to always check their equipment before they go anywhere.

11 The Thrill Of The Hunt

First Published: January 24, 1984

A roving band of lepidopterists, as butterfly collectors are known, appear on their way home in celebration, as the carapace of a once proud, and apparently gigantic, butterfly lies strapped to the hood of their car in a scene meant to recall the activities of hunters. Aside from the unexpectedly brusque behavior of the lepidopterists, there’s a certain tragedy to this majestic insect, what would have been a marvel to behold in the wild, being reduced to a simple trophy for such a group of undisciplined delinquents. A simple, if bleakly-colored parable on the nature of trophy hunting, albeit quite humorous in its accusatory glance towards the study of lepidoptery.

10 They Didn't Mention This Could Happen In Training

First Published: May 16, 1981

The understated horror story of an unlucky mail carrier and a predatory mail receptacle is made clear in this strip, with an unassuming mailbox proving to be the demise of the innocent postman. How or why is never explained, but the relative autonomy of the mailbox, able to raise its carrier signal flag by itself, seems to allude to the mailbox’s status as some kind of camouflaged carnivorous hunter, using misdirection to lure in its prey. This frequent trait among certain animal species, who use such methods to hunt – notably among octopuses and spiders – adds a slight touch of absurdist humor to an otherwise harrowing entry in the long-running cartoon.

9 A Cruel Way To Mix Work & Play

First Published: March 22, 1982

Another in the “parade of cruelty” vein, this Far Side has two stony-faced chefs preparing to enact the customary boiling-to-death of a lobster with perhaps the most tortuous method possible: the use of a carnival dunk tank game. The lobster, not deserving whatever violence is about to suffer, can only gaze in terror at its legally-sanctioned tormenters, whose imive attitudes only heightens the air of tension and the resulting gallows humor. The appearance of multiple balls beneath the tiny little chair, specifically made to seat the lobster, give the impression that this is a usual habit of the cooks, while also indicating they are not very good at hitting the target.

8 A Tragic Fate For Early Pioneers Of The Game

In a tour-de-force of minimalism, a departing mammoth leaves behind hoof prints, in which are the flattened bodies of a set of prehistoric basketball players, whom, in the middle of their game, were trampled. Perhaps it is the implication that the cavemen were all so involved in their sport that they did not notice the mammoth’s approach, but there’s a certain quality to the which invites a kind of dark meta-humor, which makes this cartoon even more effective. Perhaps the cavemen invent basketball only to be destroyed by the mammoth before it could catch on. Perhaps the mammoth simply did not notice cavemen, or possibly there was intention behind the stomping.

7 Far Side & Garfield Have A Friendly Rivalry – With Just A Little Venom

First Published: December 16, 1983

In The Far Side, Gary Larson often played with familiar elements of pop culture – sometimes parodying them, sometimes offering a loving homage. This is a bit of both.

In The Far Side, Gary Larson often played with familiar elements of pop culture – sometimes parodying them, sometimes offering a loving homage. This is a bit of both, as it features one of Larson's most familiar recurring motifs, a snake, who has eaten a household pet identifiable only by the name on their food bowl: Garfield. Jim Davis' strip, and its iconic orange tabby, debuted just a few years before Far Side. The strips ran together in newspapers for the entirety of Far Side's run. Here, Larson pokes fun at his contemporary, seemingly saying that while Garfield may be acerbic, Far Side was the real comic with bite.

6 A Long Shot, But He Had To Try

A marooned castaway on a tiny desert island believes that he sees his salvation, as a ship trawls ever closer to his isolated patch of dirt, only to be revealed at the end to simply be a toy ship. Aside from the obvious joke that indeed, the ship was no mirage, just not a suitable vessel for traversing the ocean, there’s the humorous concept of the sheer improbability of a toy ship somehow floating all the way from civilization to his island completely unguided, along with his supposed hope of rescue overriding his depth perception in surmising the relative size of the boat.