The Far Sidefeatured many jokes about missiles, especially during its early years in publication, but thankfully, these jokes were far from themost complex Gary Larson ever produced, meaningfans didn’t have to be literal rock scientists to get the humor behind the cartoon’s fascination with bombs and rocketships.
The Far Side’smissile-based humor combinedGary Larson’s fascination with scientistsandLarson’s long-held fear of nuclear warto arrive at jokes that found the bleak humor in nuclear proliferation and the ever-expanding U.S. military-industrial complex.
The artist’s work brought awareness to these very real, very serious concerns, but it did so with a patented style of madcap, ludicrous humor, so as not to be didactic. On a purely comedic level, missiles and rockets added a dramatic, often absurd touch to an otherwise straightforward joke.
15The Far Side’s Missile Jokes Were All About Making Light Of Cold War Unease
First Published: August 04, 2025
In this earlyFar Sidecartoon,a missile is transported precariously on the back of a military truck, which has a bumper sticker that reads “our lights are on for safety.“It might not be a laugh-out-loud punchline, especially given the fact thatGary Larson omits a caption here, but it sets the precedent for the subsequentFar Sidecartoons featuring rockets that would appear in the years to come.
That is, this humorously comic evokes the unease about accidents involving nuclear weapons, which is second only to the terrifying thought of a hostile nuclear exchange. The idea that the military would be careless, in any regard, when transporting weapons of mass destruction, is scary, but here Larson converts that fear into amusement.
14The Far Side Made Rocket Science Into A Backyard Hobby
First Published: June 12, 2025
The beauty ofThe Far Sideoften involved taking something familiar and jamming it into an improper context, and several times over the years missiles and rockets proved to be great props for this style of joke. Here, a group of possibly amateur scientists havecrafted a rocket in the backyard of a suburban home, and they are apparently filling it with water from a common garden hose, as one of the engineers stands ready to “start the pressure nice and easy.”
Again, Gary Larson’s idiosyncratic interest in rocketry is on full display here, but it is fair to say the punchline doesn’t fully come across to most readers, at least not at first, resulting in aFar Sidecomic that requires closer scrutiny.
13"Only A Dud,": This Far Side Comic Turns Decommissioned Missiles Into Comedy Fodder
First Published: July 02, 2025
“Let’s not overreact, Agnes,” a man in a chef’s hat and apron says to his wife, as his idyllic backyard barbecue session is interrupted by a Polaris missile falling nose-first into their backyard; “for one thing, it was only a dud,” the man says, improbably calm in the face of near-obliteration, as his dog approaches and sniffs the unexploded bomb.
This is a classicFar Sidejoke, one in which the clash between outrageousness of the scenario and the under-reaction of the characters, at least one of them, results in a hilarious punchline. It is also topical, as the Polaris missile was recently decommissioned by the U.S. military in the early 1980s, meaning it would have been in the news, and thus had a degree of name recognition that aided this cartoon.
12The Far Side Lampoons Nuclear Proliferation With This Suburban Missile Joke
First Published: July 11, 2025
Once again, thisFar Sidecartoon finds a missile popping up in a suburban neighborhood, asa woman stands with her hands on her hips and comments on the new missile in their neighbors' driveway, telling her husband, “now the Hendersons have the bomb.”
And again, the goal here is to take a legitimately existential horror and make a joke out of it. Especially in the 1970s and 1980s, nuclear proliferation was an anxiety-inducing prospect, as more countries developed atomic weaponry capable of devastating consequences for life on earth. With thisFar Sidecartoon, Gary Larson takes the pressure off that fear with a hyperbolic look at a world where nukes are as common as automobiles.
11An All-Time Dumb Far Side Character Gets Up Close And Personal With A Missile Silo
First Published: June 16, 2025
The hilarity of thisFar Sidecartoon comes from the simplicity of its caption,which reads “never, never do this,” alongside an image of a young man, having ridden his bicycle onto the property of a missile launch facility, leaning dangerously over the edge of a launch bay dug in the ground, seemingly trying to get a peak of the nuke nestled within.
Without a doubt, this guy ranks as one ofThe Far Side’sdumbest characters, and that is certainly the thrust of the joke here, yet it also evokes the truth that while existentially terrifying, nuclear weapons are also undeniably fascinating, though certainly best left to theory, fiction, and observation from a safe distance.
10The Far Side Reveals What The Guys At Missile Defense Are Really Up To
First Published: August 04, 2025
The Far Sidefeatured its share of workplace levity, but missile defense is just about the last place anyone would want to find workers making funny faces and goofing off, and that is exactly what makes this cartoon funny, ranking up there as an underratedFar Sideclassic.
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Here, Gary Larson embodies the spirit of one sibling antagonizing another behind their parents' back, except he puts this in the context of soldiers manning radar for incoming bombs, withone beleaguered soldier crying out “General! Quick! Look! Henderson’s doing it again!” as the man seated next to him sticks out his tongue the moment their superior’s back is turned.
9This Iconic Far Side Panel Turns An Office Prank Into A Calamity
First Published: June 15, 2025
This stands out as one of the most highly-regardedFar Sidecomics of all time, appearing on many “best of” lists, and certainly leading the discussion aboutGary Larson’s funniest scientist cartoons. The panel lacks a caption, because it doesn’t need one; rather,the image of a man in a lab coat about to pop a paper bag, in order to startle a colleague currently tinkering with a missile,says everything the reader needs to know.
This is an iconic “moment before"Far Sidejoke, perhaps the archetypal one, as the reader is left equally horrified and delighted by the poor decision about to be made, with the fallout from seemingly innocuous prank elevated to catastrophic proportions by the use of a rocket as part of the punchline.
8Houston Has A Problem…With Dirt, Apparently, In This Classic Far Side Rocket Launch Cartoon
First Published: July 19, 2025
In thisFar Sidecartoon,ground control has technical difficulties at the pivotal moment of a rocket launch, with one technician panicking and asking “hey, what’s going on here…we’re losing visual,” without making the connection to the woman vacuuming behind them, which is evidently causing the interference.
It is a classic Gary Larson joke, one that acknowledges the high stakes of the moment, while comedically undermining them. It also is an example ofanother perennialFar Sidetrope: characters lacking a critical awareness of their surroundings, something Larson got big laughs out of time and again over the years.
7These Far Side Cows Are Ambitious, But Their Rocket Doesn’t Look Like It’s Up To Code
First Published: July 14, 2025
InthisFar Sidecow cartoon,a pair of bovines attempt to escape the farm by building a rocket ship, only to be heckled by the skeptical farmers watching from nearby, who tell them “you’ll never get that contraption off the ground.“It is likely they’re right, as the patchwork rocket, made from what appear to be scraps of barn, looks like a disaster waiting to happen, but nevertheless, readers can’t help but feel slighted on behalf of the cows.
Once more, Gary Larson effectively captures a single moment of action here, and this cartoon comes together as well as anyFar Sidepanel, with the action of the cows in the background of the frame perfectly contrasted with the farmers in the background, with their derisive comments in the caption adding another dimension to the humor.
6The Far Side Makes Fun Of The World’s Surplus Of Nuclear Arms Again
First Published: June 03, 2025
In thisFar Sideclassic, Gary Larson once again pokes fun at nuclear proliferation, this time by featuring a stage show, in which a sign informs readers"the great Mandini will juggle NINE nuclear warheads,” except Larson depicts the moment after he was failed in his act, dropping the bombs, looking sheepishly around while a heckler calls out “more like defused nuclear warheads if you ask me.”
Of course, an atomic bomb does not simply detonate upon impact, but Gary Larson uses the popular confusion about how they actually work to his advantage here, and the result is a laugh-out-loudFar Sidecartoon, particularly because of absurd implication that the audience in fact wanted to face nuclear annihilation for the prospect of the performer’s act being “real.”
