6 Unforgettable Far Side Comics Starring Cats

Published Aug 4, 2026, 9:00 AM EDT Ambrose Tardive is an editor on ScreenRant's Comics team. Over the past two years, he has developed into the internet's foremost authority on The Far Side. Outside of his work for ScreenRant, Ambrose works as an Adjunct English Instructor. The beauty of The Far Side came from making the familiar seem outrageous, and few of Gary Larson's recurring favorite subjects represent that better than dogs and cats. Domesticated household pets were made wild again in Larson's madcap comedic vision, and now it's time to revisit some of his most flawless feline Far Sides. Just like The Far Side's many unforgettable dog comics, there are a surplus of great cat cartoons to choose from. The ones curated here are more than just classics; they're examples of Gary Larson's expertise as a cartoonist. Cat comics that are perfect on every level, especially the way that they utilize their cat characters to get a big laugh out of readers. Larson loved all animals, but cats seemed to hold a special place of honor in his sense of humor. That made them a staple of The Far Side, often as mischief-makers and hell-raisers. In turn, the way these comics struck a chord with cat owners was an indispensable part of what made The Far Side a massive hit during its heyday in syndication. "I Know Nothing" First Published: June 27, 1994 Gary Larson considered cats agents of chaos. Case in point, this cartoon from The Far Side's final summer. The joke is that a woman comes home to find her pet bird has been blown up with dynamite. The punchline is her pet cat lounging on the couch amidst the carnage, a thought bubble forming over its head that reads: "I know nothing." The action of this Far Side panel evokes Tom & Jerry, or more accurately, Itchy & Scratchy, while the design of the chaotic cat in question feels deliberately Garfield-esque, as if to say, "hey, Jim Davis, this is what it would really be like to have a cat like that." Compositionally, this is an expertly crafted Far Side, with lots of detail work to catch readers' attention. There's the obliterated bird cage, of course, and all the feathers littering the floor around the cage, but also the hilarious fact that the cat didn't even bother to clean up the boxes that the dynamite and the detonator came in, leaving those strewn about the living room too. Finally, there is the mouth of the woman hanging open in shock, because can't believe the scene she's come home to. "Randy's Goin' Down!" First Published: March 20, 1986 Imagine a feline paradise where they didn't have to hunt for mice, but rather could just pop a nickle in a machine and have a live rodent pop right into their paw. What can we say, Gary Larson was a dreamer. This is the same kind of creative energy that led to "Cow Tools," but while that panel came off as esoteric, this one just feels surreal. "Randy's goin' down!" one of the mice shouts, pointing at another one that is getting sucked out of the machine and to its doom. That three-word line of dialogue adds a much-needed bit of character to the scenario, but the real star of the show is the anthropomorphized cat, drawn as a hulking giant compared to the rats. That sense of scale is the key to the joke. And again, it's worth noting that Gary Larson chose an orange tabby with black stripes as the cat for this cartoon. (Funnily enough, though, in his own strip, Garfield didn't have much of a taste for household vermin.) "A Dream Come True" (For The Family Dog) First Published: May 24, 1985 "And I suppose you think this is a dream come true," a woman says to her dog in the background of this Far Side comic, as they watch the family cat get hauled out to a waiting cop car in the foreground. The cop carrying the cat by its scruff even has his service weapon drawn and pointed at the suspect feline. It is a Far Side that probably has a backstory, in Gary Larson's mind. But because he doesn't reveal any further context in the cartoon, readers have to use their own imaginations to figure out what the cat might have done to be treated like a dangerous criminal. As far as Far Side imagery goes, this is a highly memorable panel. The way the potentially felonious feline is bathed in the red glow of the police cruiser's cherry top, flanked by police officers, in contrast to the woman and dog in the window, adds up to a brilliantly bleak suburban Far Side scene. The Worst Day In This Indoor Cat's Life First Published: April 20, 1984 This is an all-time great Far Side comic in any category. It is a perfect example of Gary Larson's ability to stuff a whole scene into a static single Far Side panel. It depicts a waking nightmare for its POV character, an indoor cat (another overweight orange-and-black tabby), who has to watch a bunch of "assorted rodents" and "small, flightless birds" run around out front of its house after the trucks carrying them collide. It is a bad day for the truck drivers, who totaled their trucks and lost their cargo, but seem otherwise okay as they point and yell and blame one another for the accident. It's a nightmare for the cat, who presses its entire body up against the living room window, being driven wild by the sight of all the exotic prey it could chase, if only it were outside. All the elements of this joke are tied together by the cat, but this Far Side cartoon is designed so that readers' attention goes to the trucks first, then the feline. It's a classic Far Side trick, something Larson proved to be an expert at doing. The Cat Mafia Stars In This Far Side Classic First Published: February 3, 1984 This wordless Far Side comic is another one of the best Gary Larson ever produced. It ties together Larson's love of Mobster jokes and his fondness for the "dogs vs. cats" trope. In the foreground of the frame: a doghouse riddled with bullets after a Mafia-style drive-by late at night. In the background, the shooters make a hasty getaway. From their silhouettes, it is clear they're cats. It's a brilliant subtle-not-subtle Far Side gag. Obviously, it was Mafioso cats that did it, but the joke is actually how Larson playfully obscures them in shadow. The framing of this Far Side is another shrewd example of Gary Larson visually "burying the lede," so to speak. The reader's focus goes to the shot-up dog house first, then to the cat hit squad in the getaway car, delivering a brilliant comedic 1-2 punch. "This Must Be A Gerbil!" First Published: January 26, 1982 Cat Christmas. What would it be like? For anyone who has ever wondered, you're not alone. Gary Larson was thinking about it too, resulting in this early Far Side feline cartoon, in which the cat equivalent of a box of fancy chocolates turns out to be, what else, a box of rodents. "These little ones are mice," a cat husband says to his wife, after she unwraps the box of treats. "These over here are hamsters...Ooh, this must be a gerbil!" With this Far Side joke, Larson delivers a perfectly recognizable holiday morning scene, but with a carnivorous twist. Whether the cat wife is excited with her box of rodents or not is unclear, based on the angle Larson draws her from. And whether the rodents are dead or alive is for readers to decide for themselves. What is certain is that this is up there in the pantheon of funniest Far Side cat comics ever. Let's hear it, Far Side fans. What other cat comics from Gary Larson's career do you love? Writer Gary Larson Colorist Gary Larson