It’s hard not to find The Far Side hilarious. With hundreds of comics featuring over-the-top and ludicrous gags, Gary Larson’s iconic strip is loved across the world. No matter what situation the strip presents, whether it be something shockingly disturbing or incredibly dumb, The Far Side always manages to make the reader laugh.
For a lesser comic, some of The Far Sides’ gags wouldn’t work. Groan-worthy wordplay on the name ‘Camelot’ or an unsettling twist on the phrase ‘lost his marbles’ could easily fail in another strip. But whether it’s something dark or twisted, The Far Side always manages to make its strips work and the following 10 comics prove it.
10
Trick Spoon
Publication Date: September 29th, 1983
The Far Side doesn’t have much faith in humanity, often portraying people as incredibly naive at best, or ignorant beyond belief at worst. In this strip, a man is attempting to eat soup, only to suspect someone’s tricked him by giving him a novelty spoon with the concave side reversed.
There’s obviously no such thing as a trick spoon and Darrell here is just too dim to realize it. It’s definitely an eye-roller, but at the same time, it’s pretty funny. Having someone believe they’d be tricked in such a specific and odd way is so outrageous it circles back around to being hilarious.
9
Donner Party Memorial
Publication Date: February 9th, 1990
Gary Larson’s strip wasn’t for adults only, but he did like making some inappropriate jokes. In this Far Side strip, a couple of tourists have stopped to see a memorial dedicated to the Donner Party. But instead of something solemn or serious, the memorial depicts a foot as the ‘meat’ of a sandwich.
Cannibalism by itself isn’t funny. But the idea that someone would want to make something to commemorate the Donner Party and doing it in the most insane way is positively hilarious. Sure, it’s making light of a serious thing, but The Far Side somehow manages to pull off this bad taste joke.
8
Morning Face
Publication Date: September 6th, 1982
If there’s one thing The Far Side was good at, it was making fun of the banalities of life. Here, a couple is waking up in bed, only to suffer from a bad case of ‘morning face’. But rather than a bad case of eye boogers, this couple’s faces are completely rearranged in a way only a cartoon’s could be.
Is it the most innovative or hilarious joke Gary Larson ever made? No. But it puts a really funny spin on a turn of phrase like ‘morning face’. The Far Side loved utilizing the comic medium to make some fun meta jokes and this strip is a great example of that.
7
Dignity in Death
Publication Date: April 27th, 1982
Death was an all-too-common subject in The Far Side. In this gag, a couple of chickens are watching as one of their own is taken to meet their maker. One chicken opines that when it’s their time, they go with dignity and don’t run around in a vain search for their head.
The idea of wanting a dignified death is a relatable, grounded thing. But applying it to chickens and conjuring up the imagery of what happens when they’re decapitated? Horrible, gruesome, yet it has just the right amount of gallows humor, knowing that the chicken’s wish has virtually no chance of coming true.
6
Know Your Insects
Publication Date: July 26th, 1986
The Far Side loved taking things literally just as much as it liked exaggerating things. This strip is an example of the former and shows a studious kid brushing up on his insects. He consults a book that teaches him all about bugs, but instead of actually giving him the species’ names, the book literally tells them their names.
It’s a funny case of misdirection, something The Far Side has always been great at. Granted, it’s not the most brilliant subversion in the strip’s history. But it does a great job of hitting readers with something unexpected and making what could have been a dumb joke into pure Far Side brilliance.
5
Farmer Brown
Publication Date: February 12th, 1986
The relationship between humans and animals was featured in many Far Side strips and, more often than not, they were antagonistic. Here, Farmer Brown comes to check on his cows, only to discover they’re plotting against him and marking the most choice cuts of meat on a crude drawing resembling Farmer Brown.
This is dark, even for a strip as comically morbid as The Far Side. But that’s what makes it so funny. While readers don’t get to see the results of this coup, the idea of cows planning their revenge on a farmer is so outrageous, one can’t even think about it without busting out laughing.
4
Camelot
Publication Date: March 31st, 1980
Some wordplay is insanely clever, other times it just barely qualifies as a joke. In this Far Side strip, readers are presented with a version of Camelot. And by that, Larson means a lot full of camels. And that’s the gag. Instead of a car lot, it’s a ‘camel lot’ (that sells new and used camels).
This really shouldn’t work as it’s not as clever as many other Far Side gags. And yet, it’s still chuckle-worthy. Maybe it’s because of the imagery itself or because of how lame the pun ‘camel lot’ actually is. Either way, despite being low-hanging fruit, The Far Side still makes it work.
3
Sketchy Customers
Publication Date: February 2nd, 1994
As mentioned earlier, The Far Side loved meta gags. So with this strip, Larson features a store owner who’s about to have a bad run-in. The owner notes that some ‘sketchy characters’ have walked in, but that isn’t a metaphor as the duo that walked in are literally incomplete Far Side character sketches.
It’s the kind of gag that might have one shaking their head. But it’s a fun twist that breaks away from the usual Far Side madness and shows off Larson’s more experimental side. And the juxtaposition between the finalized and sketchy characters does make for a really good visual gag.
2
Lost His Marbles
Publication Date: November 30th, 1990
This is one of those Far Side strips that expertly blends Larson’s love of wordplay with his darker sense of humor. Here, an employee working for Ace Marbles Inc is taking out his co-workers. The boss investigates after hearing that the employee ‘lost his marbles’, unaware that he’s walking straight into the firing line.
This is one of the bleakest Far Side strips Larson ever made. And while it deals with a very serious subject, the combination of its wordplay and the twisted irony really takes it to another level. It’s wild that this strip ever saw publication, but even wilder that Larson managed to make this strip funny.
1
“Laugh at Me, Will They?”
Publication Date: June 10th, 1991
Similarly, Larson incorporates gun violence into this strip with another unexpected twist. In this Far Side comic, a clown purchases a gun. But what really puts this in a darker, yet funnier territory is the clown’s thoughts, who muses about how he’s going to make his tormentors pay for laughing at him (even though he’s a clown).
Someone buying a gun for revenge? Not funny. A clown buying a gun? That’s pretty funny. But a clown buying a gun to get even with people for laughing at him? That’s the kind of brilliant subversion that made The Far Side such a unique comic gem and helped it stand the test of time.
This story originally appeared on Screenrant
