As outrageously funny asThe Far Sideis, its reputation is moresodefined by the panels that made readers go “Huh? What-the?,” the ones that left them scratching – if not outright shaking – their heads in confusion.Creator Gary Larson provoked this reactionin many different ways, but the end result was the same:The Far Sidebecame synonymous with absurd and obscure humor.
Larson’s niche sense of humor connected with many readers throughoutThe Far Side’sfifteen-year run in publication, but the vast majority of people who encountered it in the newspaper in the 1980s and early ’90s tend to remember it as some variation of, inLarson’s own words: “confusing, obtuse, esoteric, and strange.”
At the end of October 1988, Gary Larson began an extended hiatus from producingThe Far Side, which lasted until the beginning of 1990. During that time, repeats of classicFar Sidecartoons were printed in syndication.
As Larson’s humor grew more dialed in over the years, the result was more panels that flew over people’s heads, or threw them for a loop, or left them puzzled, still trying to figure out the punchline hours, days, or even years later.
First Published: July 02, 2025
In thisFar Sidepanel,a man at a bar proudly proclaims that the feet growing out of his head kept him from being drafted – because, according to him, they were flat, not because they were on top of his skull. There is a layered absurdity to this cartoon, which is part of what gives it a distinct “What-the?” quality. Even though the punchline is clear enough, the readers' attention will immediately be drawn to, and preoccupied with, the feet on the bar patron’s head.
Larson frames this interactionas the man responding to another patron’s question, capturing the pay-off to a set-up that must be inferred by the reader. To one degree or another, manyFar Sidepanels required some effort on the reader to “get,” and this invariably contributed to countless “What-the?“reactions.
9The Far Side’s “Fossil Appliance” Panel Illustrates Gary Larson’s Obscurist Tendancies
First Published: August 01, 2025
In this quizzicalFar Sidecomic,one of Gary Larson’s many men in a trench coatsstands"in the hall of Fossilized Appliances,” looking at the bones of what is perhaps a television, while behind him, the skeletons of a toaster, vacuum, and refrigerator are visible.The premise of the joke is evident enough, but the humor – that is, what makes it humor – is likely to come across as much more inscrutable to many readers.
Especially inThe Far Side’slatter years, Larson grew increasingly comfortable being obscure, and consequently produced an increasing number of panels that needed to be “figured out.” Yet in a way, this reaction could often leave even more of an impression on readers than a laugh-out-loud cartoon, which is whyThe Far Sideis primarily known for its strangeness to this day.
8Gary Larson’s Unsettling Interpretation Of The Traditional Family Unit
First Published: August 13, 2025
This is another example ofaFar Sidecomic where “What-the?“might be the reader’s immediate reaction, even if they quickly process the joke and come to understand its humor, because of the visually evocative imagery of the panel. Here, a couple invites another couple into their home,asking if they’ve “met Russell and Bill, [their] 1.5 children,” who are depicted as twins, one of whom is half missing.
Gary Larson’s Breakdown of 1 Far Side Joke Explains So Much About His Sense of Humor
Known for leaving readers confused, Far Side creator Gary Larson explained a typical “obscure” punchline, revealing the inner workings of his humor.
Gary Larson often extracted comedy from taking things too literally, as is the case here, where he offers a strange realization of the idea that the average American household has “1.5” children.The Far Sidewas always a collusion between image and caption, and often “What-the?” panels, like this one, placed a heavier emphasis on the illustration – though not always.
7In This Far Side Panel, Farmer And Chicken Realize They’re On The Same Side
First Published: June 28, 2025
Case in point: the strangeness and hilarity of thisFar Sidecartoon are centered in its atypically-lengthy caption, aided by the illustration. Depicting a farmer with a chicken positioned on a stump, raising a hatchet to chop off its head, the caption informs readers:
Farmer Dale suddenly noticed the chicken’s tattoo – the tattoo that marked them both as brothers of an ancient Tibetan order sworn to loyalty and mutual aid.
Here, Gary Larson takes the reader on a wild ride,packing more story into the panel than it can contain– and as a result leaving the reader with so many questions. Again, while the joke here isn’t difficult to “get,” its sheer ridiculousness is whattarget’s the reader’s “What-the?” reflexfirst and foremost. In this case, while the caption captures readers' focus and imagination, it is the drawing ofthe tattoos on the farmer and chicken, and the look on Farmer Dale’s face, that make thisFar Sidecomic as funny as it is over-the-top.
6Candidates For The Worst Parents In Far Side History – Which Is Saying Something
First Published: July 31, 2025
ThisFar Sidepanel strikes an ideal balance between its caption and image, which is important, because it captures a more active dynamic situation than many of Gary Larson’s cartoons. On the second floor of a house, a mother tells her son to go to sleep, or face the consequences, threatening:
Or once again I’ll have to knock three times and summon the Floating Head of Death.
In the living room below,the boy’s father is shown holding the string of a balloon with a monstrous face painted on it, waiting for the signal from his wife to terrorize their child, if necessary. The subtly of the balloon’s string in the drawing will give readers reason to do a double take – but the true “What-the?” of thisjoke originates at its premise, as these parents rank in contention for some ofTheFar Side’sworst.
5The Far Side Never Shed Its Love For Reimagining Animal Behavior
First Published: July 12, 2025
From the start ofThe Far Sideto its final run of cartoons, Gary Larson never got tired of recontextualizing animal behavior by depicting it in a human context, and vice versa, lampooning human behavior by substituting non-human characters in their place. This led to many of Larson’s funniest cartoons, butalso his most confusingand off-putting. ThisFar Sidefalls precisely in the middle of that spectrum, asa snake family sits at the dinner table, with the mother asking her son to “jiggle Grampa’s rat so it looks alive.”
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.
The decrepitude of the Grampa snake, and the visceral quality of the phrase “jiggle Grampa’s rat,” elevate this from an amusingFar Sidepanel into a firm “What-the?” installment, one that will nag at some readers, the image and the idea imprinting in their mind whether they want it to or not.
4Gary Larson Draws The Reader In With This Far Side Panel
First Published: July 29, 2025
ThisFar Sidecartoon is funny, butits joke needs to be untangled – just as the basketball player squashed on the front of a larger opponent’s jersey needs to be peeled off him. The panel depicts the larger player as indignantly complaining to the referee that he’s been called for a foul, despite having inarguably steamrolled the opposing player. Here, Gary Larson’s artistic rendering of the collision’s aftermath makes it necessary for readers to take a closer look, making their first reaction almost certainly “What-the?”
Despite Larson’s protestations to the contrary, he was a skilled artist, and in this case, he skillfully clutters the image intentionally, in order to communicate the intensity of the basketball players' mid-court mishap. The fortunate byproduct, as far as capturing readers' attention goes, was that thisFar Sidepanel demands closer scrutiny, and more time spent lingering on it by the reader.
3With The Far Side, Gary Larson Was Never Interested In Offering Solutions
First Published: August 07, 2025
ThisFar Sidepanel is a shining example of aparticular type of “What-the?” comic: the truly inscrutable Gary Larson joke. Captioned “the 25th annual ‘Part of the Problem’ convention,“this cartoon features a gathering of people under a banner that says “WELCOME POTP.“Readers will immediately ask what “problem” these people are part of exactly, but in this case, that uncertainty is part of the DNA of the joke, meaning more than just that Larson isn’t interested in providing an answer, but that there likely isn’t one.
“Compared To the Next Cartoon, It’s Very Normal”: Far Side’s Longtime Editor On What Made Gary Larson’s Creative Process So Unique
In his introduction to “The Complete Far Side,” Gary Larson’s longtime editor revealed what he admired most about the artist’s singular creativity.
Consequently, however, the inscrutability of thisFar Sidecartoon may get an immediate mix of uncertainty and curiosity from the reader, but after that, it is more likely to have readers throwing up their hands in defeat than having an “Aha!” moment where its “meaning” becomes clear.
2This Panel Is The Far Side’s Humor At It’s Most Indescribable
First Published: June 11, 2025
Even the most acclimatedFar Sidereaders, those who have developed a strong grasp ofGary Larson’s sense of humor, and have developed a knack for deciphering even his weirdest punchlines, will need a moment to figure out what is going on in this comic.
In the panel,the shadow of a man’s head looms over a flower, drawn with a strangely anthropomorphic expression on its face, and fangs sticking out of its mouth, as three noses are mounted like trophies on the fenceabove it. Given a moment, readers will realize that the man is leaning in to sniff the flower at his own peril, and the carnivorous flora is preparing to take yet another nose for its wall. Yet few would disagree that thisFar Sidejoke is so high-level weird at every level that it is almost Zen-like in its absurdity.
First Published: August 12, 2025
Similar to the first entry on this list, thisFar Sidefeatures two acquaintances running into each other on the street for the first time in a while –with one of them pointing out the obvious, that the other never got rid of “that thing growin' out of [his] head that looks like a Buick!”
The joke here is a hilariously hyperbolic take on running into an old friend, and the visual of the man’s Buick-shaped growth is incredibly ridiculous. All of that adds up to apitch perfect Gary Larson punchline, one that makes clear that even as the artist was struggling with artistic burnout – which would soon lead to a 14-month hiatus – he was also operating at the top of his game creatively in 1988, producing some of the strangest, most wonderful, and most memorable installments 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.
