Gary Larson’s 10 Best Comics, Ranked

Looking for the best Far Side comics Gary Larson ever produced? Look no further. This list definitively ranks the most flawless, pitch-perfect Far Side cartoons that Larson published during his brief but legendary career. Peanuts ran for fifty years. Garfield and Doonesbury and other iconic newspaper cartoons are still going to this day, having hit the half-century milestone themselves, or otherwise closing in on it. By contrast, The Far Side was a limited-time phenomenon, lasting just fifteen years before Gary Larson called it quits. Yet Larson proved to be a singular creator during that stretch of time, and The Far Side carved out a niche for itself that no other comic could possibly replicate. The Far Side helped popular culture evolve during the 1980s and '90s, securing itself a permanent place in America's cultural memory. These cartoons represent the pinnacle of the Larsonian revolution in syndicated humor. 10 "Moon These Saxon Dogs" First Published: October 25, 1988 Many Far Side comics made fun of history. Some of them actually made history. And this is one of them. At least, according to Gary Larson, who wrote retrospectively in The Complete Far Side that he believed this was "the first naked butt" in "mainstream newspapers," in the funny pages anyway. In the cartoon, an unfortunate medieval warrior, "Borg," is stretchered away from the castle's turret after taking four arrows in the butt, a painful consequence of giving into peer pressure and mooning the "Saxon dogs" besieging them. This Far Side cartoon isn't mysterious or confusing. It is a full scene, fully rendered, its humor coming from the anachronistic behavior of the soldiers. And, obviously, from the drawing of arrow-pierced butt cheeks. It might seem tame by 2026 standards, but nearly 40 years ago, this was boundary-pushing mainstream humor. 9 "A Little Like Chicken" First Published: May 26, 1993 This is the apex of The Far Side's cow comics. It's also arguably The Far Side's greatest "sequel" comic, the ones where Gary Larson went back to a bit or scenario or character archetype because its comedic potential hadn't fully been tapped the first time around. Larson had made "cannibal cow" jokes before, but perfected the punchline with this one. Here, while the farmer is distracted, a group of cows illicitly gather in the barn to sample the ultimate contraband: steak. Far Side fans might ask, "well, where did they get the steak?" Really, though, we're better off not knowing. What is clear is that the cow who has been nominated as taste-tester doesn't hate it. "Interesting...interesting..." the cow says, a look of carnivorous glee in her eye, before ironically declaring: "we taste a little like chicken." 8 "NOW!" First Published: April 29, 1986 The Far Side made countless classic jokes about canines. Gary Larson also produced a bunch of memorable comics about mail carriers. Naturally, there was significant overlap between these two topics. "Dogs vs. postal workers" is a trope, and Larson was the master of taking familiar tropes and making them laugh-out-loud funny again. This is The Far Side that perfects the trope. It flawlessly captures a single moment of action: when a squad of dogs disguised as human customers spring their trap on a group of unprepared, defenseless post office employees. A closer look reveals that, in fact, only one actual human customer is waiting in line to ship a package, instead becoming an unwitting bystander to the carnage readers can suppose comes next. 7 "How To Draw Cartoons" First Published: July 19, 1990 In this brilliantly meta Far Side panel, Gary Larson teaches a primer course in "how to draw cartoons." Except, it's more like an "Anatomy of The Far Side" class. Because in Larson's hilariously apocryphal step-by-step process, he starts with a character's skeleton, then "add[s] the major organs," then "add[s] muscles and fat" before finishing with "the skin and clothes." It's a playful answer to a question Larson was asked a lot, but didn't really enjoy giving an earnest answer to. Instead, he turned this cartoon into a treatise on why cartoon characters should have small brains, "which ensures [they] will always get in zany situations," and a note on "why American cartoons are generally not as healthy as foreign ones." It is satire, and farce, and madcap humor all in one. And though the reasons why presented here are facetious, it does illustrate something very true: from the first sketch to the finished product, The Far Side was just not like other cartoons. 6 "Danger, Quicksan –" First Published: August 5, 1980 An early Far Side classic. 1980 was all about setting The Far Side's tone and experimenting for Gary Larson. Though he'd been cartooning for a few years at that point, with his proto-Far Side strip Nature's Way, '80 was when it became a full-time gig for Larson. Jokes like "Danger Quicksand" show how quickly the cartoon evolved during its first year. That is, Larson discovered his knack for stuffing tragicomic irony into a solitary frame. Few examples in Far Side canon are more beloved than this one, where an "Ace Sign Co." hat lies on the surface of a pool of quicksand, with a paintbrush sinking in next to it. The poor painter was one letter away from being done with the "Danger Quicksand" sign before he fell victim to it himself. It is a simple joke, obvious even, which is what makes it such an unforgettable Far Side masterpiece. 5 "Recipe For Disaster" First Published: June 20, 1994 This is another Far Side cartoon that omits a caption, but isn't technically totally wordless. Lying on the floor next to the feet of an unconscious woman, her body half out of frame, is a book: "Recipe for Disaster." And from the devastation surrounding her, it seems like she nailed it. Gary Larson was an expert at taking familiar idioms and making hilariously idiotic jokes out of them. Larson also had a knack for taking things too literally, to great comedic effect. This Far Side cartoon does both. "Recipe for diaster" is a ubiquitous turn of phrase, figurative language that Larson makes an actual book, and a serious disaster. This Far Side cook's kitchen is ruined, and the ceiling has even caved in, sending the contents of a second-story room plummeting down to the first floor. 4 "Nature Abhorred A Vacuum" First Published: October 19, 1992 In 1988, Gary Larson took an extended hiatus from The Far Side, which lasted until the start of 1990. When Larson returned, he came back seemingly reinvigorated, and also apparently more ambitious than before. That is to say, Far Side jokes of the '90s were often more complex, and at times convoluted, than their '80s predecessors. Most notably, The Far Side's captions got longer. Larson started leaning into his "narrator voice" more, providing more context and allowing for more immersive scenes. Like this one, where a woman named "Alice" finds herself trekking through a "dark and foreboding" forest, with "sinister eyes...watching her every step." And that's not the worst part. What is? She's hauling a vacuum through the woods, and she "knew that Nature abhorred a vacuum." Larson's ability to over-literalize strikes again, in an all-time classic Far Side play on words. 3 "The Smite Button" First Published: September 17, 1991 God was no stranger to Far Side fans, thanks to Gary Larson's penchant for lighthearted sacrilege. And Larson's humor always catered to people who felt like the universe might be out to get them, because in his universe, for his characters, it was true. Their creator really did make them just to suffer, or otherwise just for amusement's sake. All of that is embodied in this perfect Far Side panel, in which the Almighty hits the "Smite" button on his desktop computer and sends a piano crashing down on a poor schlub's head as he's just trying to get through another day. The piano has a rope tied around it, and God decides on a whim it is going to break and smash this guy. It's a whimsical Far Side punchline that contains deep, and for some people, disturbing, philosophical roots that readers can choose to ignore or take as a cue to contemplate mortality and existence. 2 "FIRE!" First Published: June 25, 1984 The definition of a perfect Far Side joke. This cartoon has multiple "moving parts," despite being a static image. It's a hysterical "worst timing possible" punchline, too. At least, for the Army officer who is about to be accidentally executed alongside a condemned prisoner. That's because the house next to the fort is going up in flames, and the old woman who lives there leans out her window to scream "FIRE" while the officer is giving the blindfolded prisoner a light for his final smoke. The prisoner doesn't flinch (as far as we know), but the officer's eyes bulge in terror as he instantaneously realizes his firing squad are about to act on instinct and pull their triggers. It is unquestionably a Far Side masterpiece, spotlighting everything that made Gary Larson's humor iconic. 1 "Mrs. Gibson's Preserves" ​​​​​​​First Published: November 1, 1994 Another snapshot of an ironic tragedy in action. This Far Side cartoon once more operates on multiple wavelengths of what makes a classic Gary Larson joke. First off, it is referential, set at the real-life La Brea Tar Pits, which were the source of multiple Far Side punchlines throughout the years. It's also a play on words. What are the Tar Pits known for? Preserving specimens trapped in them. Which is why it's perfect that a shipment of "Mrs. Gibson's Preserves" is going to join the prehistoric flora and fauna in the Tar Pits, after the delivery truck goes careening off the road, through a guardrail, and into the pits. This Far Side comic is silly dark humor, and smart dumb humor. Gary Larson effortlessly walked that tightrope with his greatest Far Side cartoons, and this will go down as the consummate example. Honorable Mentions: Narrowing down a list of the most immaculate Far Sides Gary Larson ever created is an intimidating task. And an imperfect science, just like the creative process behind The Far Side itself. The cartoons above represent the best Far Side cartoons that operate flawlessly on multiple levels at once. But then there are the panels that are perfect examples of one type of Far Side punchline, or the funniest incarnation of a particular recurring character, or setting, or theme. So, it would be remiss not to shout out "Dog Driving, Man Vibing," an early wordless Far Side masterpiece. Or the one where a pair of scientists realize the mathematical representation of the universe is actually zero. Or the one where the clown is being led to the electric chair. Then there's The Far Side's least content cow, and then The Far Side's deadliest homemade booby trap. Honestly, the truly remarkable thing about Gary Larson is just how many of his comics could easily make this list. Larson's production schedule meant that not every Far Side panel could be perfect. Not by his standards, nor looking back on them now with the totality of the cartoonist's career in mind. But so many of them turned out to be, at an astounding percentage that locked in Gary Larson and The Far Side as one of, if not the, greatest syndicated newspaper cartoon of all time. Writer Gary Larson Colorist Gary Larson