Summary
According to creator Gary Larson, his infamous newspaper comicThe Far Sidewasdesigned to get a reaction out of the reader– even if the response wasn’t always necessarily laughter. At times,The Far Side’shumor shocked readers, while in many cases, it left them puzzled, unsure what to make of that day’s panel. For Larson, as long as he got some kind of response, his cartoon had been successful.
The Far Sidewas intended to test readers' “What-the?” reflex, as much as it was meant to make them laugh. This was evident from the inception of the comic, and over the years, many of its daily installments left readers confused, searching for meaning that Gary Larson admitted wasn’t there.
These twelve examples, taken from the first year ofThe Far Side,emphasize the comic’s tendency toward the inscrutable. In some, the esoteric humor of the panel might emerge upon closer examination, while others remain as open to interpretation nearly forty-five years later as when they first ran in syndication.
Far Side Creator Gary Larson On the 1 Question He WISHED Readers Would Have Asked
In “The Complete Far Side,” Gary Larson discussed the questions readers asked him all too often – and the one he never got asked, but wished he did.
12"Dogaway" Helped Readers Acclimate To The Weirdness Of The Far Side
First Published: July 10, 2025
Published just a month intoThe Far Side’srun, this panel contains several elements Gary Larson would regularly return to over the years. In addition to featuring canines, the quixotic “Dogaway” panel is an early example ofLarson’s fascination with monsters. Moreover, it was a clear portent of the absurdist principles the cartoon’s humor would often operate under.
With several dogs running wild in their yard,a husband and wife open a “Dogaway” box –which contains a strange, tentacled monster, which they will apparently set loose outsideto take care of their dog problem. According to the instructions being read by the husband, the “Dogaway” monster will “grow fast” – though it is unstated what it does once the dogs are done away with. With a set-up akin to a classic horror film, thisFar Sidepanel might evoke laughter, but only after raised eyebrows and an incredulous double-take.
11This Panel Signified Gary Larson’s Disposition Toward Bold Artistic Decisions
First Published: June 08, 2025
The joke here is straightforward enough: two men consuming dangerous substances harshly judge another man for smoking a cigar. What is unusual –and patentlyThe Far Side– is the bizarre way in which Gary Larson artistically renders the characters in this panel. Though the reason for this creative choice can be inferred from the comic, Larson was interested in readers' initial reaction; in this case, that reaction is undoubtedly “What-the?”
While the cigar-smoker is drawn with normal, if cartoonish, human features, the other two men – sitting up against a dumpster with what appear to be beakers full of some unknown liquid in their hands – are significantly distorted. The humor, of course, comes from the fact thatwhatever they are consuming is far more “foul” than tobacco, but that they nevertheless stigmatize the smoker in their midst– but so much of the comic remains otherwise shrouded in mystery.
10Reading The Far Side Was Always A Matter Of Perspective
First Published: June 22, 2025
The Far Sidewas most often comprised of a single panel; this entry represents one of Gary Larson’s few attempts at playing with the more traditional “strip” format, depicting a sequence of moments. In this case,a crowd watches as man prepares to make an improbable dive into a tiny bucket of water – only to have a woman with a mop move the bucketjust as he springs off the diving board.
The slapstick absurdism of thisFar Sidecomic relies on raising questions in the reader’s mind – questions to which there are likely no answers. By design, readers will contribute their own different explanations for why the man might be diving into the bucket, how his seeming trick-dive into the bucket would work, or why that woman was mopping at that exact moment.
First Published: July 02, 2025
This is an example of aFar Sidepanel that seems to lack a punchline – an indicator that laughter wasn’t the only thing Gary Larson wanted to evoke from his reader. The collusion of elements presented here seems to have a more traditional artistic goal than many of Larson’s cartoons – meaning, it seems to be inviting an open-ended emotional reaction from the reader.
That is, Larson might have been seeking a reaction from his audience, but any reaction would suffice.Whether the idea of the wrecking ball with a smiley face on it knocking down a building elicited unexpected joy, or rage, or sorrow, as long as it stood out to the reader, its creator was satisfied. In this way, Gary Larson expressed his ability to take the familiar, and make something unexpected out of it, which he would use to great effect throughoutThe Far Side’srun.
8The Far Side Subverted Readers' Expectations By Making The Strange Ordinary
First Published: July 12, 2025
Sometimes readers' “What-the?” reflex was activated by aFar Sidepanel because it was confusing. Just as often, however, readers got the joke immediately, and the only possible response was “What-the?” That is the case here,where the visual mirroring in the panel – a fish creature carrying a human woman out of a swamp, as a human diver carries a fish into the swap – is the extent of the joke, leaving the audience to question, “why?”
Even those who find this panel amusing will find that amusement is secondary to the curiosity of how Gary Larson arrived at the joke. Larson was never comfortable being asked where he got his ideas – as he was always the first to admit he didn’t know – but ironically, so much of his work invited the question in a way that not all art does.
7The Far Side Interpretation Of The Circle Of Life
First Published: June 13, 2025
The Far Sideis often described as “esoteric,” and as such, it isn’t wrong for readers to feel the urge to question the deeper meaning of some of its panels – even if Gary Larson readily dispelled the notion that there was any such thing. Especially with his cartoons thatran without any caption, Larson’s drawings often felt as if they held some kind of insight, if only it could be deciphered.
That is the case with this cartoon, whichdepicts a small fish about to be consumed by a larger fish, which is in turn about to be consumed by a larger fish – which itself is being chased by a school of much smaller fish. Here, Larson barely tweaks the adage that “there’s always a bigger fish,” but it is enough to feel profound, even if the artist would say it is anything but.
6This Far Side Comic’s Grizzled Sailor Has A Story To Tell
First Published: July 06, 2025
Once again, the simplicity of the joke here – a hulking old sailor paying to ride the “Little Skipper” waterpark boat ride alongside a group of children – might lead readers to expect some more elaborate meaning lurking beneath the surface of this comic. Though that might not be the case, it is possible there is more to the tale of the sailor than made it into the panel.
According to Gary Larson,someFar Sidepanels began as short stories, which he then “adapted” into cartoons. In this sense, while Larson’s work wasn’t intended to communicate a message, or convey subtext,readers were not always wrong to pick up on the fact that there were often layers to a panel.When encountering these types ofFar Sidecomics, the result was naturally often “What-the?”
5The Far Side Was Experimental Art In The Form Of A Newspaper Cartoon
First Published: Jul 30, 2025
The Far Sidefrequently featured scientists, but more crucially, whatever the cartoon’s day-to-day subject matter was, it stemmed in part from Gary Larson’s scientific curiosity.The Far Sidewas regularly experimental –in the sense that its weirder and wilder jokes were wild swings, ones that were not always guaranteed to pan out.
This is an example of aFar Sidepanel that could be considered a “failure.” Though given the subjectivity of humor, it surely garnered some share of laughs among the comic’s audience, the most positive reaction it could provoke would be a resounding “What-the?” As Gary Larson described it, this was more favorable than the dreaded non-reaction; the worst fate that could befall thisFar Sidecartoon would be for it to elicit no response at all, and to be altogether forgotten.
4The Far Side Depicted Its Share Of Unexpected Discoveries
First Published: June 01, 2025
Far Sidecartoons could at times be jarring, or achingly obvious; frequently, however, their humor was oblique. At times, it was subtle to the point of obscurity; or, as Gary Larson might put it, at the risk of receiving a non-reaction from readers. This is one such example:a panel in which an Egyptologist cracks open a sarcophagus to discover a mummy with its bandages tied in a bow at the top of its head.
This is a “What-the?” panel in the sense that it was not crafted to deliver a laugh-out-loud punchline to the reader. Instead, it slyly plays on the reader’s expectations, tweaking the general popular conception of a mummy as scary, or sacred, just enough that readers will invariably wonder what else there is to the joke – the answer being “nothing,” as it turns out.
3The Far Side’s Vulture Comics Always Walked The Fine Line Between Dark & Silly
First Published: July 20, 2025
“You fool,” one vulture admonishes another in thisFar Sidepanel. “you may’t eat that…it’s a wallet!“Vultures, buzzards, and other assorted birds of preyappeared often inThe Far Side, and the sight of a crowd of them feasting on a human body was a recurring motif. Overall, Gary Larson’s use of carrion-eating birdsoffers one of the best examples of the push-and-pull between the macabre and the goofy in his humor.
Here, the reader might respond with “What-the?” to this panel for no other reason that it is curious why Gary Larson might find this funny – or rather, that he thought a wide audience might consider it amusing. For those readersThe Far Sidehad already endeared itself to at this point in its first year, the panel might elicit a smile, while thosewho found it offensivewould have another example to complain about.
