Ask a fan ofThe Far Sideto name its most enduring recurring elements, andit will not be too long before they cite cows as being among the most prominent characters to appear in Gary Larson’s cult-favorite cartoon. The story ofThe Far Sidecan’t be told without cows, making it worth taking a look at how Larson’s depiction of the farm animals developed over time.
A closer look atThe Far Side’sfirst year in publicationreveals that Larson’s artistic style, and his confidence in his own abilities as a cartoonist, both clearly evolved over time. One great example of that is the way Larson’s depiction of cows developed from their early appearances to their final panels.
Both the way cows were illustrated and what kind of jokes they appeared in advanced significantly between the years 1980 and 1994, and a study of this progression is a great way to understand more about Gary Larson’s career as an artist.
Given how ubiquitousThe Far Side’scows would become, it is surprising to discover that Gary Larson actually drew several bulls before the more familiar cows were introduced into his comic’s lexicon of recurring elements.
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10The Far Side’s Cows Light It Up In Their Debut
First Published: July 16, 2025
The firstFar Sidecow comic is an iconic example of Gary Larson’s penchant forpunchlines that evoked real-world history. In this case,two cows watch from their pasture as the Great Chicago Fire rages – with the caption hilariously revealing that the conflagration, infamously started by a cow, was no accident, as one bovine comments to the other: “It seems that agent 6373 has accomplished her mission.”
In terms of humor, everything that madeThe Far Sidegreat is firing on all cylinders here, from the historical reference, to theanthropomorphization of its animals characters, to the tenor of the joke, which suggests a world where humans are far from dominant as a species. On an artistic level, here Larson’s cows are illustrated in a somewhat lumpy style, in a way that they generally wouldn’t be throughout their many future appearances.
First Published: August 02, 2025
TheFar Side’ssecond cow cartoon is a perfect example ofGary Larson’s use of grim ironyin his humor. It also exhibits his tendency to find comedy in humor behaviors by transposing them onto animal characters. Here, an impatient cow turns to the bovine behind her in line andirately proclaims, “they’ll never get me to come back here again!” – which is both hilarious and chilling at once, given that readers will have already registered that the line is leading into “Johnson’s Meatpacking.”
Visually, this is one of Larson’s sketch-style panels, and so the cows here are depicted as little more than outlined bodies, with the detail of the two cows' faces at the bottom of the frame emphasizing the humor in contrast to the sparseness of the rest of the drawing.
8As Gary Larson’s Cow Comics Show, Practice Makes Perfect
First Published: June 04, 2025
This earlyFar Sidecow panel is an example of Gary Larson’s affinity for taking familiar pop culture –everything from blockbuster films, to beloved nursery rhymes – and tweaking it to get a laugh out of his reader. This is the case of the latter, as Larson elaborates on the famous “Hey Diddle Diddle"folk rhyme; in the panel,a cat with a fiddle and a man watch as a cow fails to vault over a pole, with one remarking to the other, “we’ve still got a couple years to go before we’re ready for the moon.”
While his cows took time to develop into their signature form, things like Larson’s emphasis on facial features are evident in these early cartoons, as is the case here, where they carry a lot of the weight of the panel’s humor.
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.
7These Primitive Far Side’s Cows Were Not Fans Of Technological Innovation
First Published: July 22, 2025
Rounding outThe Far Side’scow cartoons from its first year was this one, in whicha cow mutters “I don’t like the look of this” at the troublesome sight of her farmer assembling a “Milk-O-Man” robot.Gary Larson was, at his core, a naturalist, and in this panel, he embodies a skepticism about technological advancement, as told from the perspective of a pair of farm cows.
Once again, this black-and-whiteFar Sidesketch-panel focuses on facial expressions to drive home its joke – not just the narrowed eyes and scornful snouts of the cows, but also the blank expression on the face of the robot, which is equal parts hilarious and horrifying. Similarly, small details – like the slogan “Watch him go!” on the side of the robot’s packaging – would prove throughoutThe Far Side’srun to be an essential quality ofGary Larson’s humor.
6One Of These Far Side Cows Is Not Like The Others
First Published: August 13, 2025
“The revolution has been postponed,” a brown cow standing on a podium says to an assembly of its bovine brethren, “we’ve discovered a leak” – withone of their number standing out as an obvious fake, at least to the reader, as a seemingly human spy lurks among them wearing an obviously sewn-together cow suit.
The joke of this cartoon returns to the concept ofThe Far Side’svery first cow comic, depicting cows as waging a crypto-war against humanity, while the art is decidedly a step forward, asGary Larson gets closer to his patented style of drawingcows. Here, they are still illustrated in a somewhat uneven manner, but are more fully-realized than those comics produced in the strip’s first year of publication.
5The Beginning Of The End For The Far Side (& Its Cows)
First Published: July 01, 2025
1994 was the final year ofThe Far Side, and it is fitting that Gary Larson produced some of his most memorable cow comics before all was said and done. Though not the centerpiece of this comic, a cow is one of several essential key players, all of whom made their mark on Larson’s work over the years. Captioned, “specialized obituaries,” the cartoon features a sequence of puns about death,with the cow’s being “kicked the bucket,” doubling as a reference to the colloquial idiom for dying, and also another shout-out to the Great Chicago fire.
An example of one ofThe Far Side’smulti-panel jokes, the cow’s cameo here serves as much to facilitate a natural joke as it does to anchor the comic in a way; while all of the other featured characters made many appearances inThe Far Side, none were as iconic as its cows.
4As It Neared Its End, The Far Side Went From Weird To Really Weird
First Published: July 11, 2025
The Far Sidewas always equal parts strangeand silly, but several of Gary Larson’s run of final cow cartoons rightfully rank among his most outrageous. Case in point, “Stackable Livestock.” In this panel, one farmer ushers another into his barn,marveling that his “life’s changed, ever since I discovered Stackable Livestock"and showing off his stacks of cows, chickens, and sheep.
The obviously absurd punchline, combined with the ridiculous imagery, is all-but-certain toget a reaction from its reader– whether that is a laugh, or a groan, or some admixture of the two. In terms of illustration, the cows here have a sense of dimension that their earlier counterparts lacked, showing a clear progression of Larson’s style, as well as his ability, as an artist.
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3The Far Side’s Twisted Take On The Circle Of Life
First Published: July 30, 2025
This strange late-stageFar Sidepanel features a level ofnarrative progression that Gary Larson’s work tended to eschew, except in certain special instances. Yet it all builds to an odd conclusion, and readers wouldn’t be wrong to question what the pay-off of this joke is supposed to be, or whether they are missing something.
The panel features in sequence: “the goose that laid the golden egg,” “the sheep that gave the silver wool,” “the cow that gave the chocolate milk,” and finally “the neighbor’s dog that chased off the sheep and cow that killed the goose.“What is notable about the cow here is that it represents the fully-formed, most iconic version ofThe Far Side’scows, as depicted inLarson’s most infamous comic of his career.
2The Far Side Finally Jumped The Shark With This Cow Comic
First Published: July 03, 2025
If there was one single panel that might have signaled to readers in 1994 that the end ofThe Far Sidewas nigh, the case can be made that it was this one. The absurdist strain of Gary Larson’s humor was always one of its great appeals, but this cartoon ascends beyond absurdity and situations itself firmly in the realm of the surreal. “For a long time, Farmer Hansen and his tall chickens enjoyed immense popularity,” the caption reads,“until farmer Sutton got himself a longcow,” along with an illustration of these two twisted takes on traditional farm animals.
Having long since dialed-in his ability to draw cows – and chickens –Gary Larson took the opportunity to experiment here, and as over-the-top as it might be,The Far Side’s"longcow” comic is a successful collusion of caption and punchline.
1The Far Side Wraps Up Its Cow Comics With A Couple Biblical Bovines
First Published: June 17, 2025
God starred in a number of hilariousFar Sidecartoons, and while the Almighty doesn’t appear on-panel here, the crux of the joke relies on the idea that “until God warned him to knock it off,” Noah was trying to pass the time on his ark by hustling “some of the dumber animals” at poker. Notably,a pair of cows are front and center – as if the first to be tempted by Noahto join him at the table.
One of Gary Larson’s finalFar Sidepanels, it is appropriate that cows were included in a place of prominence. On an artists level, their illustration here emphasizes how much Larson grew as an artist, as well as a humorist, over the course of fifteen incredible years at the helm ofThe Far Side.
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.
