During its ’80s and early ’90s heyday,The Far Sideoften left readers utterly mystified, and not just because its jokes could be confusing, but because even when the punchline landed, people were left shaking their heads, rolling their eyes, andwondering “What the…”, all of which werereactions Gary Larson was totally fine with.
Decades later, these cartoons still evoke the same feelings in fans and critics ofThe Far Sidealike, making them as important to revisit as Larson’s most outrageous and controversial cartoons.
The sly humor of these panels isn’t for everybody, but understanding it better is essential to figuring what madeThe Far Sidetick.
10"It’s Another Snake": Gary Larson Throws Shade At The Outdated Practice Of Slide Show Parties
First Published: July 06, 2025
Gathering friends to look at a slide show of vacation photos might seem archaic now, but for Gary Larson, it was a staple of American culture, one thatThe Far Sidefrequently made fun of. Here, Larson delivers a classic “standing in front of the projector” visual gag, except with snakes as characters.
“Well…I guess it’s another snake,” the host says, mistaking its own silhouette for the next photograph on display. It is certainly amusing, but it can be argued there is a muted quality to thisFar Sidepunchline, which is evident across many of Gary Larson’s less highly revered cartoons.
9"Animal Horoscopes": The Far Side Gets Hilariously Specific When It Comes To This Gator’s Fate
First Published: August 07, 2025
In this underratedFar Sidealligator cartoon, one of the reptilian beasts reads its friend’s horoscope in the newspaper, telling “Chuck” to expect “hard times ahead,” before specifically saying its mating prospects look bleak, and finally that “poachers figure big in your future,” as the concerned croc’s eyes widen with fear.
ThisFar Sidejoke deserves greater appreciation because of the way the joke escalates through dialogue; the “animal horoscope” starts off vague, the same way a human’s might, but then becomes hilariously specific as it goes on. It might not be laugh-out-loud funny, but it is a testament to Gary Larson’s expert construction of his comics.
8"Horse Styles Of The 1950s": A Rare Far Side Joke That Leaves Readers Wanting More
First Published: June 21, 2025
ThisFar Sidehorse jokewill raise eyebrows, not because its meaning is difficult to decipher, but because its punchline feels as close to “phoned in” as Gary Larson ever got. Captioned “horse styles of the ’50s,” it depicts two horses in a pasture with fins attached to their backs, evoking a throwback automobile aesthetic.
The joke is certainly ridiculous, but it isn’t outrageous by any means. Instead, there is a placid feeling to this panel that might limit how strongly readers react to it, which in turn impacts its memorability, in comparison to, say,The Far Side’scartoons thatmake readers shout “My God!”
7"All The Negatives": The Far Side’s Low-Key Laugh-Out-Loud Funny Joke About Zebra Blackmail
First Published: June 06, 2025
“How do I know these are all the negatives?” a zebra in a trench coat says to another in thisFar Sidecartoon; evidently, the first zebra is blackmailing the second. The joke, of course, is that the black-and-white animals, in photo negative form, have their color schemes inverted. It is one ofGary Larson’s gags it can be argued is too smartfor its own good.
That is to say, the punchline seems obvious once broken down, but the first time a reader encounters thisFar Sidecartoon “in the wild,” the punchline might not leap out at them. Confusion was a two-way street when it came toThe Far Side, often resulting from reader misinterpretation as much as Gary Larson’s obscurist tendencies.
6"Never Cry Cow": An Example Of How The Far Side’s References Are Growing Increasingly Outdated
First Published: June 11, 2025
Captioned “scenes from Never Cry Cow,” this curiousFar Sidecomic features a nude human frolicking through a cow pasture, as the bovine inhabitants look on, seemingly as confused as this cartoon tends to make readers. It is anexample of aFar Sidereferencethat would have been easily recognizable in the 1980s, but has become increasingly obscure over time.
In this case, it is a callback to the 1983 filmNever Cry Wolf. By swapping in cows for carnivorous wolves here, Larson totally transmutes the meaning of the joke. Even if one does catch the reference at play here, the most likely response to thisFar Sidecartoon is an emphatic eye-roll.
5"Make An ‘O’ With Your Lips": Are The Far Side’s Dogs Really That Bored, Or Was Gary Larson?
First Published: Jul 30, 2025
“Can you make an ‘O’ with your lips?” one dog asks another, as a cohort of curious canines gathers in the yard and tests the limits of their snouts' dexterity. It is the kind of nicheFar Side"insight" that, for most people, if we’re being honest, would be the product of extreme boredom.
Meaning,Gary Larson spent his nights sitting at his deskcoming up with cartoons, and his ability to pull ridiculous and strange concepts out of thin air was seemingly unparalleled. Still, Larson’s “out there” sense of humor often went underappreciated, and even occasionally maligned, because for many people,Far Sidepunchlines like this one are too frivolous.
4"Early Kazoo Bands": This Far Side Look At Musical Innovation Is A Bit Of A Stretch
First Published: June 16, 2025
Lampooning prehistoric human innovations wasa favorite pastime ofThe Far Side, but here, Gary Larson went out on more of a limb than usual, by depicting “early kazoo bands” as using some kind of ancient salamanders as their instruments. The visual absurdity of the joke is what stands the best chance of making readers laugh, while the premise is purely ridiculous.
Again, it is worth noting that readers' reactions toFar Sidecartoons like this one involve more than just “getting” the joke. Immediately, readers' instinct is usually to start reaching for why the joke is funny. Here, that’s a more difficult question to pin down than in some of Larson’s other jokes, but that ultimately adds to its bizarre mystique.
First Published: July 11, 2025
Gary Larson needed little prompting to come up withabsurdFar Sidetwists on Wild West tropes, but of the countless cowboy cartoons he produced, this is a sterling example of the kind that left readers thoroughly curious as to how, exactly, he conjured to mind such an equally elaborate and absurd scenario.
Here, a Wanted poster featuring the visage of a chicken provides context for the “action,” in which a bounty hunter character rides into town with the fugitive fowl slung over the back of his horse, dead, with the inhabitants of the two relieved that the chicken’s unspecified “reign of terror had ended.”
2"In The Primordial Soup": Gary Larson Goes Out On A Limb To Try To Humanize Single-Celled Organisms
First Published: July 02, 2025
Captioned “life in the primordial soup,” this is low-key one of Gary Larson’s wildest swings, but whether it is successful is largely in the eye of the beholder.The Far Sidewas known to anthropomorphizejust about anything, from animals to amoebas, but here, Larson attempts to envision the earliest forms of life on Earth.
“Something’s out there,” a ghost-like simple organism says, looking out its living room window, “and it’s got a backbone and a complete digestive system!” This joke has the delirious tenor commonly associated withTheFar Side, but Larson’s high-brow reference once again mitigates the reaction from the audience, turning comedy into confusion.
1"The Plankton Lobby": The Far Side’s Whales Have A Target On Their Backs In This Absurd Cartoon
First Published: June 12, 2025
Captioned “the plankton lobby,” thisFar Sidepanel features a group of these tiny ocean creatures who have rallied together to picket the very existence of their primary predator, whales, carrying signs that read “Make Whales Extinct” and “Waste the Whales,” because they are tired of being eaten en masse by the giant seafaring mammals.
Some readers will find Gary Larson’s blend of political action and plankton anxieties hilarious, surely, but many more will narrow their eyes at thisFar Sidewhale cartoon, or do a double-take trying to parse what makes the punchline funny. Once more, this comes down to a matter of taste,highlighting how manyFar Sidecartoons failed to reach a widespread level of appeal.
