10 Hilarious Far Side Comics From the Peak Of Gary Larson's Career

The publication ofThe Far Sidespanned the entire 1980s, and first half of the 1990s, but Gary Larson’s career as a cartoonist arguably reached its apex in the mid-to-late ’80s, after he achieved nationwide recognition as one of the best in the medium, but before he became burnt out with the comic’s production schedule,leading to his early retirement.

Broadly speaking, Larson’s career can be divided into three eras, or “acts.” There was the first act, fromThe Far Side’sdebut in 1980 through 1984, when it started to become a national phenomenon. 1985-1988 can be considered the second act, ending with Larson’s decision to take a year-long hiatus from producing new work. Finally, there is the last act, from 1990-1994, which featured some ofLarson’s most brilliantly unhinged panels.

This list focuses on “Act Two” of Gary Larson’s career, the height ofThe Far Side’srun, during the peak of the 1980s.

10The Far Side Reveals The Perils Of The Fountain Of Youth

First Published: July 25, 2025

Unlike the previous entry, the caption here, “when birds don’t read,” is much more utilitarian, in service of a classicFar Sidevisual gag. In the illustration, a bird descends toward a drinking fountain clearly labeled, from the reader’s perspective, “Fountain of Youth,” but unfortunately forthis avianFar Sidecharacter, Gary Larson loved comedic irony, meaning jokes where the reader knows something the characters don’t.

As a result, the bird in thisFar Sideframe is about to end up like the others before him,turned back into an egg by the fountain’s waters, as evident from the unhatched eggs lying in the grass surrounding the fountain.In this sense, this also doubles as a classicFar Side"be careful what you wish for" joke, reminding readers de-aging might not be all it is cracked up to be.

9Gary Larson Invented A New Phobia, But Forty Years Later, It Hasn’t Exactly Become Common

First Published: July 15, 2025

Gary Larson was fascinated by language, andThe Far Sidecontained a lot of linguistic humor over the years; while Larson successfully managed to coin at least one term,the word “thagomizer” for a stegosaurus’s tail, other attempts, such as “luposlipaphobia” here, didn’t catch on in the same way.

Of course, in this case, that is because of the hilarious hyper-specificity of the term,which thisFar Sidecomic’s caption defines as “the fear of being pursued by timberwolves around a kitchen table while wearing socks on a newly waxed floor.“This is the kind ofFar Sidecartoon where the joke is fully encapsulated in the caption, with the illustration serving as a visual representation of the punchline, or order to add a dimension to the humor. By most accounts, Larson was highly successful here, as this comic representsThe Far Sideat its most delightfully absurd, while still delivering a highly intelligent joke.

8The Far Side’s Heavenly Humor Contained Some Of Gary Larson’s Most Relatable Jokes

First Published: July 06, 2025

Gary Larson caught some hell over the years forThe Far Side’soccasional comedic jabs at God, but for many readers, these panels are representative of precisely what made Larson’s humor popular in the first place. That is, the irreverence of it all, through which Larson managed to turn gravity into levity, making light of the heaviest subjects and ideas.

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Here, with a comic captioned “in God’s kitchen,” Larson vents his feelings about the state of the world bydepicting the Almighty pulling the planet Earth out of the oven, but thinking “something tells me this thing’s only half baked.“In this way, though some critics will call this joke blasphemous, it actually stands as one ofThe Far Side’smore relatable cartoons, given that almost everyone has felt this way about the world at some point or another.

7"NOW!” The Far Side’s Funniest “Dog Vs. Postal Worker” Cartoon Is A Timeless Classic

First Published: July 13, 2025

The virtue of thisFar Sidedog cartoon is its simplicity. It starts with an immediately recognizable premise, the eternal “dogs vs. mail carriers” feud, and finds what is perhaps the most laugh-out-loud elaboration on this idea that Gary Larson managed to come up with in his career. Which is notable, given that he tried more than a handful of times over the years.

Here, witha caption simply stating, or rather shouting, “NOW!“a group of dogs, having invaded the post office in human disguises, sic themselves on the unwitting postal workersbehind the counter in a flurry of fangs and discarded clothing. Visually, the image of the dog flying in from the left side of the frame, while the others leap out of line in a coordinated attack, is low-key one of the most memorableFar Sidecartoons of the mid-1980s.

First Published: June 19, 2025

In thisFar Sidecartoon,Gary Larson takes a classic figurative sayingand makes it literal, a brilliant technique he went back to again and again throughout his career.“And that’s the hand that fed me,” a dog says to a friend, showing off its trophy room, which includes the mounted heads of cats and chickens, along with one human hand.

Larson’s reinterpretation of the common phrase is clever, but what makes thisFar Sidecartoon laugh-out-loud funny is the casual, downright jovial tone with which the dog shows off its mounted prizes. Usually, “biting the hand that feeds” is used in the context of a warning, but here it is a point of pride for the character. In this way, the joke does more than just literalize the saying, but twists it to achieve a great comedic end result.

5The Far Side’s Funniest Nuclear War Comic Is Every Doomsday Prepper’s Worst-Case Scenario

First Published: August 01, 2025

Gary Larson grew up terrified of nuclear war, and though the Cold War would end whileThe Far Sidewas still in publication, with the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, his mid-1980s humor still carried the strain of that ever-present fear. Of course, in typical Larsonian fashion, he was able to transmute this into high silliness.

In this fan-favorite example ofThe Far Side’snuclear armageddon humor, a married couple make it safely into their bunker, which is stocked up with a surplus of canned food,only to realize they left the can opener upstairs, despite the wife’s repeated reminders to “make sure that bomb shelter’s got a can opener.“It is an amusing joke because of its horrifying undertones, as it lampoons what amounts to a survivalist’s worst nightmare.

First Published: June 08, 2025

Captioned “when potato salad goes bad,” this cartoon is a peak example of when thetwo halves ofThe Far Side’sformula, its words and its illustration, work in perfect concert to achieve an iconic punchline. In this case, the caption presents a seemingly ordinary scenario, which the illustration elaborates on in a decidedly extraordinary way.

That is, by havinga man open his fridge to find the potato salad pointing a gun at several condiments, in what is apparently a stick-up. It is the kind of Gary Larson punchline that remarkably manages to be obvious while also catching readers off-guard. This is the kind of lightly subversive humor, in the sense of subverting expectations, and twisting the meanings of words, thatThe Far Sideultimately became synonymous with during this era of the 1980s.

3This Macabre Far Side Joke Captures The Spirit Of Gary Larson’s Sense Of Humor

First Published: June 07, 2025

In addition to being one ofThe Far Side’smost outrageous bear cartoons, it is also noteworthy because it almost, in its unique way, captures what it must have felt like for Gary Larson being the creator of the comic, as it gained nationwide notoriety.

That is, Larson proved himself willing to go out on a limb to get a laugh from his audience, justas one bear does here, tying a dead human to his body in order to pretend to be a hunter, all for the sake of the bit.The certified “What the?” reactionon the other bears’ faces, then, represents those vocalFar Sideskeptics who refused to entertain the comic’s humor because it was “too weird” or “offensive.”

2The Far Side Gets Too-Real With Its Depiction Of Depression

First Published: August 09, 2025​​​​​​​

In thisFar Sidecartoon, Gary Larson offers an alternative to the idea that seeing a blue bird is a portent for good things;“the Blue Bird of Happiness long absent from his life,” the caption informs us, “Ned is visited by the Chicken of Depression.”

ThisFar Sidepunchline once again demonstrates the technique of over-literalization, but it also serves as a reminder that, as weird and esoteric as it was at times,Larson’s comic could also speak to the very real strugglewith mental health that many of his fans can relate to. ThisFar Sidecartoon acutely captures what it feels like to be in an extended bout with depression, and in a way, that is almost more valuable than its comedic appeal.

1This Colorful Far Side Gag Showcases Gary Larson’s Increased Artistic Confidence Circa The Late ’80s

First Published: August 02, 2025

In thisunderratedFar Sidecartoon, Gary Larson flexes his artistic muscles a bit, something he became more comfortable with by the peak of his career. Larson’s sense of humor was, in many ways, fully-formed right out the gate whenThe Far Sidedebuted in 1980, but in regard to his visual style, he undeniably grew more confident as the years progressed, and fans responded positively to his work.

Here, a woman avoids the unfortunate fate of her husband, being eaten by a monster,by virtue of having a fixation on the same purple flower pattern, as her dress causes her to blend in with her armchair, as well as the floor, walls, and ceiling, in this hilariously potent visualFar Sidepunchline.