1983 was a pivotal year for Gary Larson’s syndicated comicThe Far Side, as its regional success in a limited number of newspapers started to morph into national acclaim –meaning that, for the first time since its debut at the start of the ’80s, more people than ever were exposed to the strip’s strange and shocking sense of humor.
While Larson wasn’t the first newspaper cartoonist to trade in surrealist humor, or to craft punchlines that could be considered “edgy” – either by the standards of the time, or contemporary metrics – he was a pioneer in the sense that his goals went beyond just getting a laugh.
WithThe Far Side, any response qualified as a good response, whether a comic left readers scratching their heads,asking “What the?” or shouting “My God!” in disbelief. This list collects ten panels that belong in the latter category.
12These Far Side Gators Just Discovered What A Delicacy Humans Are
First Published: June 19, 2025
For many people, the New Year offers motivation to try new things, and Gary Larson encapsulates that feeling here, in a panel that featurestwo alligators maxing and relaxing on the bank of a river, surrounded by the shredded remnants of a paddle border, marveling that their latest meal was “just soft and pink,“rather than their usual prey, which have “fur, claws, horns, antlers,” and other less appealing bodily attributes.
Animals devouring humans was aFar Sidestaple, but what makes this comic stand out is just how much the gators are reveling in their discovery of the joys of eating humans – with the smiles on their faces contrasting with the implied gore in a way that is as dark as it is amusing.
11The Neighbor On The Far Side Of The Street Your Parents Always Warned You About
First Published: June 22, 2025
The world ofThe Far Sidewas a dangerous place to exist, but it was an even more precarious place to grow up. That is evident from this panel, in whicha neighborhood child has been caught by a giant, hulking man, who clenches the kid’s shirt between his teeth, bringing him home like a trophy with a wildly satisfied look in his eyes.
12 Far Side Comics From 1981 That Make You Go “My God!” When You Read Them
These Far Side cartoons shocked, and even dismayed, newspaper readers when they were first published in 1981; how do they fare with today’s readers?
This image is jarring enough, but what makes this panel equal parts hilarious and “My God!” inducing is the casual way with which a woman who can be inferred to be his mother – observing from the living room window with another friend – reacts, musing, “Good heavens! What’s he caught this time?”
10A Far Side Snake Brings His Main Squeeze Home For The First Time
First Published: August 19, 2025
For many readers, the “My God!” reaction to this comic will come as a result of empathetic discomfort – that is, they might experience a touch of visercal second-hand claustrophobia at the sight ofa human woman squeezing herself into a tiny snake hole under a rock, as the snake homeowner tells her, “It’s true Barbara…you’re the first woman I’ve ever brought here.”
Certainly, this is one ofThe Far Side’sstrangest snake jokes, almost to a delirious level, as the image defies the laws of physiology and physics, and the premise deliberately plays on an unnatural pairing between a human and a reptile. All of these things add up to a cartoon that might not get a laugh, but is unlike to fail to get a reaction entirely.
9The Far Side Squashes The Question Of Whether Dinosaurs And Prehistoric Humans Co-Existed
First Published: July 12, 2025
One thingFar Sidefans have to remember is thatevery detail in Gary Larson’s cartoons was intentional– meaning that, just as often, the artist’s punchlines could have a strong degree of fidelity to scientific fact, or alternatively, could be deliberately ahistorical or anachronistic, all in service of getting a rise out of the reader.
Here, Gary Larson conflates prehistoric eras, in order to deliver a joke aboutan ancient human being smushed under foot by a “brachiosaurus,” only for the bones and footprint to be unearthed millennia later by a pair of excited archeologists. While the joke is funny enough, the thought of the ancient human’s grim fate is one that might stick with readers in unexpected ways, especially anyone who has a fear of being crushed to death.
8On The Far Side, Animals Usually Got The First Bite And The Last Laugh
First Published: June 07, 2025
If there is one surefire shortcut that Gary Larson used to get a “My God!” reaction, it was the use of a human skeleton as a visual element in a joke – connoting not only death, but that the person’s remains have gone undiscovered for a long time. That is the case here, asa hunter who brought a “beaver trap” into the woods finds the tables turned on him, as one of his prey chewed threw a tree, which landed right on top of him.
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.
It is a classic “turnabout is fair play"Far Sidejoke about hunters, but as was often the case with this strain of Larson’s humor, readers were left to decide whether to celebrate the triumph of nature over humanity, or to be aghast at the terrible fate of this unfortunate woodsman.
First Published: August 11, 2025
In this captionlessFar Sidecomic,an artist paints the scene of a fire ravaging a forest – with the box of matches at his feet making it clear that he started the conflagration in order to capture it on his canvas. The more one dwells upon it, it becomes clear this is one of Gary Larson’s most truly horrifying punchlines, especially in retrospect, as wildfires have become an increasingly devastating reality for huge portions of the American population.
What makes it truly tragic, however, is that Larson is extrapolating on actual stories of people starting fires to put them out, or to capture them on film; for anyone who has has heard these stories, apocryphal or otherwise, this will be a particularly egregious “My God!' cartoon.
6The Far Side Asks, “What’s More Torturous Than Someone Singing Off Time?”
First Published: August 07, 2025
Gary Larson’s cartoons with jokes featuring the victims of torture, were amongThe Far Side’smost controversial installments. The joke here derives from the fact that,despite being chained to the walls of a dungeon, the two prisoners are trying to sing “row, row, row your boat” together – except one of them keeps messing up the timing.
This is an example of Larson’s comedic ability to mix and match tones and elements, which led to a form of dissonance; despite the gravity of their situation, the two men are attempting to have fun, only for it to lead to animosity between the two. This dissonant quality could product hilarious results, or it could produce confusion, unease, or even outrage, depending on the joke, and more importantly, on the reader.
5The Far Side Was Full Of Firsts – Including The First Birthday Party & First House Fire
First Published: July 08, 2025
Gary Larson loved to depict amusing renditions of humanity’s earliest, greatest achievements, from theinvention of the wheel to the discovery of fire. Unfortunately for these cave-dwellers, the latter leads to the first incident of severe smoke inhalation, at the very least, asa cavewoman brings a cake with a giant burning log stuck in the center in to surprise one of her fellow Neanderthals, in what also amounts to the first birthday party gone horribly awry.
The “My God!” quality of this comic rests of Larson’s framing of the comic from the perspective of the cavemen sitting in a semi-circle in the cave as the woman, smiling widely, enters – with looks that suggest that while they might recognize fire, they don’t fully comprehend the effects of smoke yet.
4This Far Side Workplace Dispute Escalated Quickly
First Published: June 14, 2025
“So, Foster! That’s how you want it, huh?” a man in a yellow hazmat suit with a huge tear in the side says as he dramatically rips open the front of his coworker’s protective gear– as witnessed through the window of a door that reads “KEEP OUT. RADIOACTIVE AREA” – “then take THIS!”
This is a sterling example of aFar Sidecartoon that balances hilarity and shock factor, as the characters actions are both absurd and horrifying. This makes it worth noting that reactions toFar Sidecomics do not preclude each other – a reader can shout “My God!” while laughing uproariously, or be dismayed at the same time they are confused. If anything, a multi-faceted reaction is the sign of a greater-than-average cartoon, and this panel certainly qualifies as an underrated Gary Larson masterpiece.
3The Far Side’s Monsters Weren’t Always The Ones Lurking In The Dark
First Published: August 11, 2025
Monsters were a staple ofThe Far Side, and thiscomic expertly subverts the traditional monster/human child dynamic before bringing it back around to a more traditional form at the very end. Gary Larson does this by havinga young boy peer into the home of a pair of monsters, catching them in an intimate moment – which the caption informs us he did frequently, “until the night he knocked over the garbage can and was subsequently eaten.”
What makes thisFar Sidecartoon particularly great is the way that the full extent of the punchline doesn’t fully reveal itself until the final words of the caption; it takes the reader on a unexpected ride, which is likely to end with a yelp of “My God!” at the fate of “Clayton.”
