Gary Larson, creator of The Far Side, had a knack for making readers reconsider humans’ relationship with animals, and their place in the natural world. Larson was personally a naturalist; more than just fascinated by the animal world, he believed in protecting and preserving non-human species, a theme that often made its way into The Far Side in different forms.
It wasn’t that Larson depicted animals as wholesome, innocent creatures – far from it, in fact, as he repeatedly produced hilarious cartoons about animals plotting the downfall of humanity, or taking revenge on individual humans. Rather, he sought to undermine humankind’s assumption of their role as the “dominant species” on Earth,
That is to say, humanity tended to be the most outright predatory species depicted in The Far Side, with Larson routinely offering examples of humans’ intrusion on the natural world which were both over-the-top and, often, surprisingly poignant.
10 This Early Far Side Comic Holds The Key To Unlocking Gary Larson’s View Of Humanity
First Published: November 26, 1981
Without question, this early Far Side cartoon ranks high among the most thematically impactful that Gary Larson ever produced. In a four-panel sequence, Larson depicts a bear idly drinking from a fountain, then being ambushed and shot by a hunter, then curling up almost peacefully as the hunter celebrates – and then finally, stuffed and preserved in an attack pose, looming over the hunter as he sits and reads a book.
The barely-contained subtext to this punchline is that the human is entirely the aggressor here, but wants to frame the shooting of the bear as a triumph over one of nature’s great predators. Time and again, The Far Side would feature jokes that derived from this same premise, that humanity is an often violent intruder upon the sanctity of nature.
9 Gary Larson Offers A Glimpse Into The Intellectual Lives Of Animals
First Published: August 6, 1982
With this Far Side comic, Gary Larson subtly makes the argument that humans truly know nothing about the interior lives of animals. The joke is that a farmer’s cows and chickens are discussing a complex mathematical formula, until the farmer enters the barn, at which point they lapse into “moos” and “clucks” – yet the point Larson is making with this comic, intentionally or not, is greater than that.
Cows and chickens are fundamental to human society – and have only become moreso as demand for beef and chicken has soared, and farming has become increasingly industrialized. Yet for this reliance to be perpetuated, the interiority of these animals needs to be diminished. Here, the fact that they do this of their own accord is comedy with a touch of tragedy to it, like so many great Far Side cartoons.
8 There’s Only A Thin Line Between Wild And Domesticated
First Published: June 8, 1983
In another all-time great Far Side cartoon about bears, just how tenuous humanity’s control over some of its domesticated animals – or in the case of bears, occasionally, partially-domesticated – actually is. Here, a circus bear in training slips free of its muzzle, realizing, “hey…these things just snap right off,“ while exchanging a surprised look with a still-muzzled companion, seemingly precipitating disaster for the trainer teaching a third bear to unicycle in the background.
Once again, Larson finds humor in auditing humanity’s assumption of their supremacy over wildlife. Despite acknowledging that they are dangerous animals, humans also believe that they can control bears, and in extreme cases, even make them dance – yet another unfair application of power, which The Far Side depicts as inevitably leading to some kind of comeuppance.
7 The Far Side Offers A Satisfying Moment Of Revenge For This Elephant
First Published: November 24, 1984
Gary Larson produced many memorable elephant cartoons, with this being one of the most unequivocally laugh-out-loud. In this Far Side panel, a man at his mailbox is startled by a figure emerging from the shadows – an elephant who is about to achieve its long-awaited vengeance, after being shot by the man over thirty-five years earlier.
Compositionally, this represents The Far Side operating at its highest level, with a hilarious premise that is executed flawlessly in both its illustration and its caption. What makes it even more memorable is that it serves as a great example of the many comics where Gary Larson “leveled the playing field,” so to speak, between human predators and their prey.
6 Another Far Side Cartoon About The Limits Of Domestication
First Published: July 20, 1985
More than one Far Side cartoon featured dogs turning on their owners, but here, Gary Larson achieves both a solid punchline and a level of thematic resonance by restricting the canine character to merely thinking about it. “This is it, I’m going to kill him,” the dog things, evidently reaching a breaking point as its owner insists on balancing yet another treat on its nose.
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This is another example of Gary Larson projecting interiority onto his animal protagonists; at least some dogs must feel indignant at being made to do tricks for food, Larson seemingly reasoned in order to arrive at the premise of this joke. While this is unlikely to make most dog owners stop teaching their pets how to sit, stay, or roll over, it should at least make them reconsider their dog’s internal existence, whatever it might constitute.
5 Another Potent Far Side Critique Of Hunting
First Published: December 8, 1986
“Remember, just because he knows, doesn’t mean you have to let him in,” a police officer tells a traumatized deer, as her husband lies dead on their living room floor, the barrel of a hunter’s gun still smoking from the fatal shot. With this Far Side panel, Gary Larson calls attention to the fact that hunters, by the nature of their sport, enter into another creature’s home and attack them.
Larson does this by making this deer couple live in a human home, a comedic trick he employed countless times throughout The Far Side’s run. “His license does check out, and after all, your husband was in season,” the cop explains, unable to do anything about this blatant murder – in another panel that loudly proclaims Gary Larson’s opinion of hunting.
4 This Far Side Panel Gives The Deer A Fighting Chance For A Change
First Published: May 20, 1987
This Far Side comic addresses Gary Larson’s critique of deer hunters from a different angle; instead of emphasizing the wildly incongruous power dynamic between hunter and hunted, this cartoon features a man and a deer who have decided to “settle this the old-fashioned way,” with a hand-to-hoof brawl.
In a twisted take on the maxim “never bring a knife to a gun fight,” Larson depicts the hunter throwing away his rifle, while the deer hilariously tosses its antlers. As funny as this is, it is also a crucial detail, because it emphasizes that disparity in lethal capability between the two. To whatever extent there can truly be a level playing field between animal and human combatants, this Far Side comic finds comedy in the very concept.
3 The Chicken Uprising Is Delayed Another Day In This Brilliant Far Side Comic
First Published: February 1, 1988
Of course, the punchline of this Far Side cartoon rests on a silly pun – when the leader of a mob of weapon-wielding chickens finds his posse hesitating as they reach the front door of the first human on the chopping block’s house, it asks, “why is it the revolution always gets this far, and then everyone just chickens out?”
Yet it is the context Gary Larson placed this wordplay in, his decision to make this about a “revolution,” as opposed to any other activity, that takes this panel to the next level. More than just an obvious joke, it becomes another commentary on the subjugation of certain species, chickens chief among them, at the hands of humankind. Silliness aside, the loss of chickens as livestock would be revolutionary for human society, and that is what Gary Larson implicitly states here.
2 Another Far Side Ambush Questions The Morality Of Duck Hunting
First Published: February 21, 1990
One thing Far Side readers quickly acclimate to is the reappearance of the same, or similar premises over the years, as Gary Larson often sought to capture the same idea on the page repeatedly, in varying forms. This is another Far Side panel that calls out hunters for entering into their prey’s territory, by featuring an animal living in a human home being ambushed by an intruder.
In the comic, one of The Far Side’s many ducks innocently tries to make its back to its bedroom from the kitchen with some late-night grub is about to be shot in its own living room. “Raymond, fighting insomnia,” as the duck is described, “never saw the duck blind,” i.e., an artifical growth of swamp gas in the corner of the living room, with a shotgun sticking out of it.
1 Gary Larson Makes The Case That There Is “Much, Much More” To Animals Than Humans Like To Believe
First Published: November 22, 1991
In this amusing Far Side cartoon, an ostrich sitting at a crowded human bar complains that it is “much, much more” than the dictionary definition of its species, if only people would take the time to get to know it. This is certainly funny, but it also strikes a poignant note for those who recognize Gary Larson’s naturalistic sympathies in the premise.
Here, Larson slyly argues that the more humans learn about wildlife, the more they come to emphasize the “life” part; that is, humans should be cognizant of the fact that all the animals on Earth are living beings, and that they must be existed with alongside, rather than above. This makes this Far Side panel more than just surface-level funny, but also deeply, if obliquely, relevant as a social critique.
The Far Side
The Far Side is a humorous comic series developed by Gary Larson. The series has been in production since 1979 and features a wide array of comic collections, calendars, art, and other miscellaneous items.
