The Far Side featured a number of cartoons over the years that, intentionally or otherwise, gave off a strong claustrophobic vibe, grabbing readers’ attention by forcing them to confront the idea of characters confined in tight, often-too small spaces. Crevices, crawl spaces, and tunnels carved deep into the Earth were the stand-out aspects of these panels, providing Gary Larson with a way of getting a rise out of fans.
In some cases, Larson’s claustrophobia-inducing strain of Far Side humor evoked this fear on purpose, with the punchline, at least in part, relying on the unnatural way characters stuffed themselves into tiny spaces.
Alternatively, there are those Far Side panels where the feeling of claustrophobia is incidental, yet it is no less tangible of an impact on readers when they engage with these cartoons. Understanding both of these modes of The Far Side’s humor can add an exciting dimension to fans’ understanding of the strip, rather than cramping its style.
10
This Incredibly Weird Far Side Cartoon Is Uncomfortable In More Ways Than One
First Published: November 29, 1980
Hardcore Far Side fans know that this cartoon operates more on the fringe of creator Gary Larson’s penchant for weird, hard-to-parse humor, but for more casual readers, this seems to represent precisely what makes Larson’s humor notorious, and to an extent, divisive.
Related
10 Far Side Comics That Really (Really) Need a Caption
The Far Side often lacked a caption, leaving its art to speak for itself; sometimes this was the right call, but some comics could use a caption.
As much as this Far Side cartoon is trying to get a laugh, it is also an attempt to get the reader to go “What the?“ The captionless panel features what appears to be an oyster with feminine features busting out of her shell, while another shellfish in an adjacent crevice stretches its eyes around a sharp corner to oogle her. This joke is as risque as it is obtuse, an odd mix that, along with the cramped spaces the characters occupy, all add up to a particularly uneven, and perhaps even off-putting, Far Side comic.
9
This Far Side Classic Will Make You Hesitate Before Opening The Mailbox
First Published: May 16, 1981
The Far Side featured its fair share of jokes about mail carriers over the years; sometimes, Gary Larson’s postal workers were an unexpected threat to society, but more often, they were the victims of unfortunate circumstances. This is perhaps the most memorable example of the latter.
In a series of panels, deviating from The Far Side’s usual single-image presentation, a mailman approaches a mailbox, business as usual, only to be sucked into the tiny metal contraption (emphasis, in this case, on trap) when he goes to retrieve the mail inside. Though the punchline here is “carnivorous mailbox,” the physics-defining image of the man being consumed by the mailbox is what has stuck in readers’ minds over the years, ranking this up there with the certified iconic Far Side panels from the first few years of Gary Larson’s career.
8
The Far Side Revels In The Thin Line Between Triumph And Tragic Irony
First Published: July 21, 1981
In another early Far Side classic, a group of convicts think they have burrowed their way to freedom, but in fact, Gary Larson depicts them at the moment right before they are all about to brutally drown, as they have actually tunneled under the ocean, and are about to pierce through the sea floor.
The Far Side Complete Collection
$71 $125 Save
$54
The tension of the scene is the most striking thing about this Far Side panel, and essential to that is the claustrophobic nature of the prisoners’ predicament; they are crawling in a line through a tunnel only just wide enough to fit their bodies through, giving them absolutely no means of escape when the tunnel floods. Though the irony of the characters’ last moments is certainly comedically potent, this also represents one of The Far Side’s most legitimately terrifying scenarios, in the abstract sense.
7
Gary Larson Delivers A More Playful Riff On His Darkest Premise
First Published: July 23, 1981
This panel is particularly interesting when considering that it was published just two days after the previous entry, meaning Gary Larson would have been working on both at or around the same time. Given what is known about Larson’s creative process, it is fair to suggest that he might have recognized the morbidity of the “tunneling prisoners” Far Side cartoon, and worked on this lighter alternative, though both ultimately made it to publication.
Here, a man hides deep in a crevice in the ground, which his wife sticks her face down and shouts to him, threatening to “get the hose” if he doesn’t come up to meet their guests. In this way, it plays with the same idea of being flooded out of a cramped underground space, but in a more playful context, without the certain-death stakes of the previous Far Side comic.
6
The Far Side’s “Underground Humor” Was All A Matter Of Perspective
First Published: September 25, 1981
Here, Gary Larson flips the script on his “underground” jokes, in the sense that the human characters aren’t trapped beneath the surface, but are rather going about business as usual working in a mine; unfortunately, above ground, a giant bird is lurking, waiting to pluck an unlucky miner from the earth like a worm.
Related
10 Classic Far Side Comics That Don’t Need A Caption To Be Funny
Captions were integral to “The Far Side,” but sometimes creator Gary Larson left them out entirely, allowing some panels to speak for themselves.
Once again, this Far Side cartoon is absent a caption, leaving the matter of interpretation up to the reader, meaning many will focus on the latent claustrophobic qualities of the illustration. This was just one of many techniques Larson used to subvert readers expectations, making his work quite literally “subversive,” while it also gained a reputation for being “edgy,” or even the cartoon equivalent of punk rock, which was becoming nationally popular in parallel to The Far Side’s ascendancy in the 1980s.
5
Once More, The Far Side Somehow Manages To Make Drowning Funny
First Published: February 9, 1983
Readers will take this Far Side cartoon too seriously at their own peril, as in isolation, the idea of a boat full of tourists sinking, and all the passengers going down with the ship, is certainly disturbing. Yet this is also one of Gary Larson’s true masterpieces of dark irony, delivering a laugh-out-loud execution of this premise that makes the macabre nature of the gag worth it.
Yet again, Larson’s illustration lacks a caption, but in this case none is necessary; albeit upside down, the words “Al’s Glass-Bottom Tours” provide all the context readers need to understand the grim hilarity of the image. Their ship having capsized, with a large hole in the hull, the tourists have all crammed up against the glass bottom of the boat, now facing upward, as a trio of fish swim down to get a good look at them, completely inverting the purpose of this ill-fated journey out to sea.
4
This Controversial Far Side Couple Came From Very Different Places, Literally
First Published: March 21, 1983
It is a testament to The Far Side, in a way, that its occasional depiction of interspecies romances weren’t even among the most taboo topics Gary Larson tackled through humor. This one in particular, however, has the potential to be upsetting, less because a snake is dating a human woman, but because of the visual of the woman squeezed unnaturally into a small hole under a rock.
Related
Yes, This Infamous Far Side Comic Has An Even More Disturbing Sequel
The Far Side’s “You’re sick, Jesse” cartoon, equally infamous and iconic, actually had an even more edgy follow-up, published years later.
“You’re the first woman I’ve ever brought here,” the serpent tells “Barbara,” in the panel, and while it might seem their ideas of living space might be too radically different for this couple to work, the woman, as uncomfortable as she must be, doesn’t seem like she’s having a bad time.
3
The Far Side Returns To An Earlier Punchline With An Elaborate Escalation
First Published: August 26, 1986
In this strange, yet hilarious Far Side elevator joke, Gary Larson once again returns to the idea of flooding tunnels, yet this time in far more over-the-top fashion, as a woman tries to flood the gophers out of her garden, with one admonishing the other, “never take the elevator in an emergency!” as it goes to get on an out-of-place lift to the surface, rather than descending deeper into the catacombs beneath the ground.
In this way, Gary Larson delivers an even more lighthearted, to the point of being nearly-ludicrous, elaboration on an earlier premise, reminding readers that no Far Side gag was ever truly forgotten, even years after it first appeared in print.
2
In This Far Side Comic, Forgetting One Small Thing Is Literally The End Of The World
First Published: December 16, 1986
In this unforgettable Far Side cartoon, Gary Larson manages to lampoon husband/wife dynamics, while also delivering one of his best “armageddon” jokes. In the panel, a married couple of miraculously made it down to their bomb shelter before nuclear war wiped out everything on the surface; except in a catastrophic oversight, the husband neglected to put a can opener down there with all the canned food they need, turning their salvation into, essentially, their tomb.
Related
This Fan-Favorite Far Side Character Has A Tragic Off-Panel Ending
The Far Side’s classic “Mind Over Matter” cartoon was almost much, much darker, according to Gary Larson’s original vision for its clumsy character.
Understandably upset, the wife in the comic berates her husband, asking “how many times did I say it, Harold?” In this way, Gary Larson takes what, by most accounts, would be a small-stakes argument, and escalates the stakes to a truly hilarious level, more than justifying the wife’s outrage.
1
The Far Side Was Crowded With Humans Acting Like Animals And Vice Versa
First Published: January 29, 1988
This Far Side cartoon equates animal and human behavior, but while Gary Larson often did this to hilarious results, here he achieves more of an uncomfortable feeling. Captioned “hibernating Eskimos,” the cartoon features a pile of bodies crammed into a pit in the ground, in an image that will make anyone who fears confined spaces squirm in their seat a bit.
This is an example of a Far Side cartoon that could arguably use a stronger caption, something to balance out the visual more than the simple explanatory note here does. While this might seem like a nitpick, it is fair to say in consideration of the fact that most of Larson’s jokes were “abandoned” rather than “finished.” In any case, in terms of making claustrophic fans’ skin crawl, this Far Side panel certainly achieves success in that regard.
- Writer
-
Gary Larson
- Colorist
-
Gary Larson
Summary
Written and drawn by Gary Larson, The Far Side is a comic strip series that ran from December 1979 to January 1995. A worldwide hit, The Far Side explores life’s surreal side and uses a mix of humans and anthropomorphic animals. As of 2020, Gary Larson decided to pick his pencil back up again and has started The Far Side up, circulating the comics on his official website.
This story originally appeared on Screenrant
