The Far Sidefeatured its fair share of memorably absentminded and dumb characters, but the ones compiled for this list take the humor of forgetfulness to an entirely new level. It’s safe to say that these representThe Far Side’smost farcical, forgetful figures in the fifteen-year history of Gary Larson’s gamechanging cartoon series.
Gary Larson’s humor was at its best when he played with stock scenarios, and drew on familiar experiences, in order to arrive at a recognizable punchlines, even when the subject material had been strained throughThe Far Side’scharacteristic warped perspective.
Such was the case forLarson’s jokes about forgetful characters, which often highlighted the silly side of forgetting, while also taking on the frustration and embarrassment that could come from forgettingsomething at the wrong time, or in the wrong context.
10Frankenstein Finds Out What Happens When You Send A Monster On A Take-Out Run
First Published: July 29, 2025
In this earlyFar SideFrankenstein comic, the Doctor irately complains that the Monster neglected to grab some tartar sauce while picking up their seafood take-out order,berating his creation with the obvious observation that it would “forget [its] own head if it wasn’t bolted on.”
While the punchline clearly plays on the familiar pop culture conception of Frankenstein’s Monster, what makes thisFar Sidepanel particularly memorable are the details Gary Larson used to facilitate the joke. Particularly amusing are the Doctor’s fixation on tartar sauce, and the contrasting looks on both characters' faces, anger for the Doctor, and a curious mix between shame and confusion for the Monster.
9The Far Side Lampoons When You Forget The Reason You’re Doing Something
First Published: July 03, 2025
In this hilariousearlyFar Sidehistory reference,a group of cavalry soldiers charge into battle, their leader swinging a ceremonial saber and bellowing “REMEMBER THAT PLACE IN TEXAS” after he forgets the name of the Alamo, and is forced to resort to a far less effective, and much less catchy rallying cry. The ubiquity of recognition when it comes to the Alamo, even nearly two-hundred years following the battle there, makes it that much funnier, and that much more absurd, when a contemporary of the fallen soldiers at the famous fort can’t even properly invoke their memory.
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The Far Side steadily grew in popularity in its early years, achieving nationwide success in the mid-80s; these early cartoons helped make it a hit.
With this punchline, Gary Larson pokes fun at the idea of preserving of historical memories in itself, but in the process, he also makes an even simpler joke about forgetting, as his character amusingly fails to recall the reason they are riding into battle in the first place. In this sense, the specificity of thisFar Sidereference belies a much more universal appeal to its humor.
8The Far Side Reminded Readers Aliens Might Not Be On Humanity’s Level
First Published: June 27, 2025
“Now, don’t forget, Gorok!” an alien parent admonishes its child,telling the kid, “this time punch some holes in the lid” to preserve the two human children it has just scooped up and stuck in its specimen jar, hinting at a gruesome fate for some previous abductees.
In caseThe Far Sidereaders forgot, or suspected otherwise, Gary Larson routinely reminded them that extraterrestrial visitors to Earth might not be friendly, or in fact, might not even look at human with high regard at all. ThisFar Sidejoke also shrewdly equates humanity to insects, and draws a parallel between the alien child’s careless behavior and the way human beings dismissively treat the “lesser” creatures on their own planet.
First Published: August 17, 2025
“Say…wait a dang minute here,” an absent-minded cattle rustler says to one of his colleagues, ashe’s struck by an unfortunate epiphany, adding in horror that “we forgot the cattle!“The joke here is twofold. First, there is the absurdity of being hired to herd cows from one place to another, and then forgetting the cows, only to realize this mistake on the way, is funny enough to prompt a laugh-out-loud response from mostFar Sidereaders.
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The Far Side’s characters were always a moment away from disaster and despair, and some of Gary Larson’s jokes played with that tension artfully.
Secondary to that, however, is the way thisFar Sidecartoon encapsulates a sadly recognizable situation; any reader who has left the house, only to remember halfway to their destination that they left something important, will find that scenario represented here in cartoonishly hyperbolic form, a technique thathelped define Gary Larson as a humorist, and makeThe Far Sidean enduring part of popular culture.
6The Far Side Pokes Fun At Forgetting How To Do Something You’ve Done A Million Times
First Published: July 22, 2025
Thiscartoon features “Darrell,” widely considered to beTheFar Side’smost obtuse character, and one of its most perplexing jokes; in the panel,Darrell stares down in confusion at the upside-down spoon in his hand, as the caption explains that he “suspected someone had once again slipped him a trick spoon with the concave side reversed.”
The origins of thisFar Sidegag, in terms of how Gary Larson might have come up with it, are truly inexplicable, and the “why” of what makes it funny is similarly difficult to grasp for many. If anything, it is a warped interpretation of the familiar experience of going to do something one has done countless times before and suddenly drawing a blank, or forgetting the steps, or in this case, forgetting the basic design of a spoon.
5Every Pet Parent’s Nightmare Comes True For The Man And Woman Of The Jungle
First Published: June 06, 2025
Captioned “going out for the evening, Tarzan and Jane forget to tie up the dog,” thisFar Sidecartoon depicts the canine in question running through the jungle, liberated, while its owners are totally unaware that it has gotten loose. Though this might not be a laugh-out-loudFar Sidepanel, it does acutely capture the anxiety that so many homeowners and pet parents feel whenever they leave the house, that they have forgotten something important.
The Far Side Complete Collection
Every pet owner lives in fear of their dog or cat somehow getting out while they’re not home, and here Gary Larson plays on that, and so even if the punchline isn’t outrageous, this remains an amusinglyrelatableFar Sidecartoon, though it will certainly leave some readers with a twinge of anxiety, as they hope Tarzan and Jane’s dog makes it back home safe and sound.
4This Meta Far Side Joke Embodies Every Employee’s Doomsday Scenario
First Published: August 21, 2025
The Far Sidefeatured a number of fourth-wall breaksover the years, and this one combines metahumor with workplace comedy, asa man working in an office silently blows off steam by mentally calling his boss “that big dumb geek,” only to be called out and fired by said-boss, who reminds “Lewis” that he “forget this was a cartoon,“which allows the boss to “read every word you think.”
The joke is groan-inducing, but in a good way, as its premise plays on the paranoid fear of practically every dissatisfied employee, while the composition of the panel makes novel use ofThe Far Side’sformula, by having the character’s thought-bubble betray his internal monologue because it appears in the illustration, while the boss’s dialogue is delivered via the cartoon’s caption.
3The Far Side’s Version Of Tarzan Draws A Blank At The Pivotal Moment
First Published:July 12, 2025
Thismulti-panelFar Sidecartoonfeatures a subgenre of forgetting: choking on a prepared speech and having to improvise. It hilariously makes fun of this all-too-real phenomenon using one of Gary Larson’s favorite stock characters, Tarzan; in this cartoon, theMan of the Jungle swings over to talk to his crush Jane, pontificating at length in his head upon what he’s going to say when he gets there the entire way, only to freeze up and only manage to stammer out “Me Tarzan, you Jane!” when he gets there.
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Tarzan appeared repeatedly in Gary Larson’s “The Far Side,” but for the most part, the man of the jungle’s portrayal was anything but flattering.
It is an elaborateFar Sideorigin story for the phrase, which has become ingrained in pop culture over the years. It also perfectly captures the embarrassment of flubbing a conversation one has already practiced beforehand, which is highlighted by Tarzen’s defeated “damn” in the final panel.
2Whose Idea Was It To Go To The Beach In The First Place? The Far Side’s Most Absurd Vampire Comic
First Published: August 13, 2025
The Far Sidefeatured many vampiresover the years, but this one stands out in particular for a few reasons, most notably the way it manages to be simultaneously obvious and obtuse at the same time. Gary Larson’s humor often worked in one mode or the other, but here, he manages to tell a straightforward joke that still leaves readers with more questions than answers.
“Well Donald,” a vampire woman sitting on a beach towel, reading a book, and enjoying a rare day out in the sun says to the shriveled, burnt husk next to her, “forgot your sunblock, I see”; this is an overwhelmingly silly joke, and indeed, thisFar Sidepanel is more ludicrous the more time readers dwell on it, as the absurdity of the “vampire-at-the-beach” premise will rightly mystify anyone who take it too seriously.
1The Far Side Highlights The Ultimate Professional Humiliation
First Published: July 26, 2025
For the average professional male, getting up on stage in front of a crowded room of coworkers only to realize the front of one’s pants are unzipped is a dreadful enough thought, but thisFar Sidecomic brilliantly takes this shameful scenario one step further, by having it happen at a meeting of the “A-1 Zipper Company.”
In the panel, the speaker on stage is depicted on the verge of this embarrassing revelation, as an employee at the company named"Frank Stevens” quietly approaches the stage and hands the speaker a note, which reads: “Bob, Your Model AA-17 is wide open!“As far asFar Sidejokes go, this is an expert-level merger of the joke’s premise and its punchline, with its caption and its illustration working togetherin perfect harmony to create an all-time greatFar Sidepanel.
