The Far Sideis famous for its recurring elements, of which there were almost too many to count throughout the strip’s fifteen-year run – yet while some are less fondly remembered by fans, some remain unforgettable, and undeniably the best. For new fans just discoveringThe Far Side, understanding its most prominent recurring elements is key to “getting” creator Gary Larson’s humor.
For Larson, a “recurring element” could cover a wide range of things; in short,it constitutes any premise, punchline, theme, location, or character, or in general, anything that the artist returned to again and again over the years.
Over time, readers came to recognize these recurring elements as a kind of shorthand between them and the artist. Whether it is an airplane up in the sky, or the devil himself down in hell, practicedFar Sidereaders can quickly adjust their expectations accordingly when they encounter one of Gary Larson’s familiar motifs.
“The Great Confuser”: Far Side’s Gary Larson On How & Why His Weirdest Cartoons Got Published
According to Gary Larson, once his comic strip The Far Side developed a reputation for being “weird” and “confusing,” there was no looking back.
10Airplanes
Far SideAppearance Scale: Regular
Gary Larson loved a gag about airplanesin peril –especially when the joke involved an incompetent pilot, a recurring element that appeared inThe Far Sideconsistently over the years. Larson’s airplane jokes channeled the fear of flying that many readers are likely to have felt at one point in their lives or another, transmuting it into humor in his own one-of-a-kind way.
On a practical level, this established an immediate connection for the reader between them andThe Far Side’splane humor, something that was pivotal to any single comic’s success. Gary Larson’s humor is known for being obscure, and even obtuse, and so the difference between a cartoon that resonated with readers andone that left them asking “What-the?“often came down to these connections.
9Aliens
Gary Larson’s sense of humoris absolutely “out there,” and so of course his take on extraterrestrial life ranks amongThe Far Side’smost memorable recurring elements. Larson drew many flying saucers and alien visitors over the years, with these panels often providing the perfect outlet for the artist’s outsider perspective.
The Far Side’salien cartoonsfeature some of the strip’s most exciting art; Larson’s aliens riff on classic depictions of “little green men,” while also maintaining an unmistakablyFar Sidefeel to them.His extraterrestrial humor embodies the best aspects of Larson’s ability to look at humanity through an unfamiliar lens, and also stands out for its high rate of laugh-out-loud jokes, as his aliens alternatively menaced earth, and tried to fit in among humankind.
8Acme Products
Far SideAppearance Scale: Semi-Regular
Acme might not jump out at readers the way otherFar Siderecurring elements do, but they are merit inclusion because they include some of the most hilarious panels Gary Larson ever produced. Rather than being the subject of these panels,Acme was used to add an increased level specificity to certain jokes, usually those involving industrial products or factory settings.
The Far Side’sAcme cartoonscan be read as Gary Larson taking subtle jabs at consumer culture, but what makes them unforgettable is that they represent Larson at the top of his game as both an artist and a humorist. Essentially, the repeated use of “Acme,” or the similar “Ace” was an Easter Egg for fans ofThe Far Side, one that readers would’ve been increasingly excited to catch throughout the strip’s time in publication.
The Far Side Complete Collection
Fans of the far side can’t pass up this master collection of Gary Larson’s finest work. Originally published in hardcover in 2003, this paperback set comes complete with a newly designed slipcase that will look great on any shelf. The Complete Far Side contains every Far Side cartoon ever published, which amounts to over 4,000, plus more than 1,100 that have never before appeared in a book and even some made after Larson retired.
7Amoebas
Far SideAppearance Scale: Frequent
The Far Sideis known for its animal characters, and its ubiquitous insects, but there were also many appearances by microscopic forms of life over the course of the years.Gary Larson was always his own toughest criticwhen it came to the quality of his art, and his panels starring amoebas, bacterias, and other single-celled forms of life proved to be the perfect opportunity for him to simplify things.
Still,Larson’s amoeba drawingshave a charm to them, making them exactly the kind ofFar Siderecurring element that readers shouldn’t overlook. In fact, once it becomes clear how frequently Gary Larson depicted such characters – andhow lighthearted and silly this strain ofThe Far Side’shumor tended to be – fans of the artist’s work will likely come to consider these some of his most undervalued panels.
6Bears
Naturally, Gary Larson used different animals to achieve different types ofFar Sidepunchlines. Larson’s use of animals was often based on some observation about the dynamic between humans and other species; depending on how much tension, or potential danger, the artist wanted to inject into his joke, he might use a less or more predatory animal.
The Far Side’smany bearsseemed to offer the perfect balance for Larson. Bears are perhaps the most dangerous animals that humans have been able to train, to a certain extent, though they fall far short of “domesticated,” and wild bears can still be incredibly dangerous.This dynamic informed Gary Larson’s use of bears for comedy, and the result was some of the funniestFar Sidecomics.
5Birds
Far SideAppearance Scale: Constant
Birds of all shapes, sizes, and species were a constant presence inThe Far Side, yet in some ways they seem like the most mysterious of Gary Larson’s recurring animal characters. As readers become more familiar with Larson’s work, this will make more sense; it is almost as though,while he is fascinated by most animals and insects,The Far Side’screator reserves some kind of special awe for avians.
From buzzards and other carrion-eaters, to his perennial ducks and chickens – so important to the canon ofThe Far Sidethat they warrant their own entries – and of course,their flightless relative the penguin, birds are perhaps as ubiquitous as any animal to appear onThe Far Side.Yet unlike other familiarFar Siderecurring species, each type of bird has its own distinguished subtype of humor.
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4Clowns
Compared to some of the other most recognizableFar Siderecurring elements, clowns appeared with somewhat less frequency – yet so many readers have such a visceral reaction to clowns that Gary Larson’s skillful deployment of them sticks with fans of his work. Of course, as he was known for,Larson found unique ways to use clowns as part of a punchline, often by inserting them into situations far afield from where they belong.
The Far Side’sclown cartoonstended, understandably, to accentuate the colorful nature of clowns, though occasionally Larson depicted them in black-and-white, delaying drawing readers' attention to the clown for a pivotal beat, making it that much funnier when recognition hit them. In nearly every case, Larson’s clown panels represent high-level collusions between his sense of wordplay and his visual style.
3Cowboys
Many hilariousThe Far Sideuse the Old West, and wild west tropes, in order to establish that vital immediate connection to readers – so that Larson could subvert their expectations.Gary Larson’s cowboy cartoons undercut the aggrandized mythology of this era in American history, which had prevailed for decades thanks of Hollywood.
Larson’s cowboys, rather than being tough, were often the subject of ridicule or humiliation; this is characteristic of the artist’s skill at humorous inversion.The Far Sidecould be highly dangerousfor its characters, yet when making jokes about a time and place that is known for being dangerous, Gary Larson’s instinct was to be silly, and to lampoon, rather than perpetuate, this image of the west.
2Desert Islands
FewFar Sidelocations were the source of more prolific humor for Gary Larson than the desert island.No single location served as the basis for as many geniusFar Sidecartoons, and as such, it is in contention for the single most iconic recurring element in the strip’s history,perhaps only rivaled by cows.
The Far Side’sdesert island panelsoffer wildly different elaborations on the same premise, without ever managing to get stale or derivative. Instead, each desert island cartoon feels like a logical escalation in turn – or even better, feels completely unexpected and totally obvious at the same time. Perhaps more than any otherFar Siderecurring element, the desert island represents the full scope of Gary Larson’s abilities as a writer and an artist.
1The Devil
Life inThe Far Sidecould be hell – as the strip’s frequent trips to the underworld, anddepictions of the actual devil, made very clear. Irreverence was a core part of Gary Larson’s comedic style; as such, both Satanand God Almighty himselfmade regular appearances throughout the strip.
Larson deliberately undermined the grandeur of both the concept of heaven and hell, using each in their own way as settings for goofy humor. Although these cartoons were at times some ofThe Far Side’smore controversial installments, they nevertheless remain some of its most unforgettable, and its most delightfully funny. Fans ofThe Far Side– knew and old alike – will recognizeGary Larson’s vision of the devil as one of the things that helped the artist carve out an irreplacable niche in American comics.
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.
