So happy his genius stirs again! I will forever cherish my tattered t-shirt from his “Run to the Far Side” 10K held in golden gate park. Features one of the character’s giant maw open, with runners forging through it.
17
Whenever our family has a pet scheduled for That Operation, we say they're going to get "tutored". Love that Gary.
23
@Linda S.
We do, too. It has been a running joke in our household for the past 30 years.
8
Welcome back! We’ve missed you! There are SO many “favorites” that bring a smile just thinking about them. But as a former pilot, I still have a framed hard copy of the airliner co-pilot blurting out, “Hey?...What’s a mountain goat doing up here in the clouds??” as the mountain becomes visible through the windshield.
26
One of three well-groomed poodles in a secret huddle: “Well, yes, Fluffy, that is the downside. When we kill her the pampering will end.”
15
“I told you not to invite the cows over for a drink.”
12
What's so confusing about "Cow Tools?" Just what sort of tools could one expect a cow to use?
12
"Car!"
27
@Mark Hackenstern
I can't drive past a herd of cows without thinking of this one!
15
I have waited for this soooooo long. They registered the web site so I put it in my daily run through the internet. And then nothing for week after week. Finally, the other day there was SOMETHING. Three cartoons. My god, I nearly fainted. I am so happy. Thank you Mister Larson. The cows who go on all fours when cars come by but when they are alone stand on on two legs.
19
"bobbing for poodles"
6
Great to learn of the resurrection of The Far Side. I think the current younger generation will get a big kick out of it. A personal favorite of mine: Tonto minding Silver and Scout whilst the Lone Ranger is using the outhouse. "Kemosabe! . . . The music's starting! The music's starting!"
13
I loved the cartoon of the two deer standing up talking -one with a big bulls eye on his chest. “That’s a bummer of a birthmark”
22
The cow too - raised hoof behind g;asses lady's beehive.
9
Gary Larson’s observational genius, across such an array of subjects and behaviors—human and animal, alike—make him a literary treasure. Another iconic American humorist, Mark Twain, said he didn’t have time to write a short letter; how Larson imagined so many perfect, laugh-out-loud set-ups in just a single frame is just incredible...
Love reading other readers’ favorites and would add my own, still oft-quoted to this very day: two guys sitting on a park bench in hell. Fires smolder and devils poke the tormented with pitchforks. One of the guys leans over to the other and whispers “I hate this place...”
14
Boy, does this article ever remind me of my aging, being almost the same age as Larson. I was amazed to read the timeline and see how long ago this favorite of mine had appeared and then stopped. I've saved a number of Larson's books of cartoons and considered them ideal visuals for some philosophies. They remind me of some people I've known. A favorite is the one with the guy happily whistling while pushing a wheelbarrow in hell, as one devil looking on says to another something like, "We're just not reaching this guy."
13
Gary Larson’s observational genius, across such an array of subjects and behaviors—human and animal, alike—make him a literary treasure. Another iconic American humorist, Mark Twain, said he didn’t have time to write a short letter; how Larson imagined so many perfect, laugh-out-loud set-ups in just a single frame is just incredible...
Love reading other readers’ favorites and would add my own, still oft-quoted to this very day: two guys sitting on a park bench in hell. Fires smolder and devils poke the tormented with pitchforks. One of the guys leans over to the other and whispers “I hate this place...”
5
In Larson’s world, animals and people stand equal. In a lifeboat three creatures confront a fourth. “Fair is fair, Larry. We’re out of food, we drew straws, and you lost.” Two of the three creatures staring at the doomed man are human, and one is a dog. It’s one of the reasons I truly love him.
27
My favorite: a band of Native Americans circling a cluster of burning stage wagons, the leader of the group saying, (as I remember). "Clockwise, Red Eagle. Always clockwise."
10
Skeletonize and skeedaddle! Who remembers the other 3?
3
As a loyal NYT print subscriber -- yes, print subscriber! -- living in a Japanese forest where an old man on a motorbike delivers my paper at precisely 6:30am... I hereby beg, plead, implore and demand that the NYT replace one of the current lame comics (Dilbert being lamest) with a Far Side retrospective. You're already running ancient Calvin & Hobbes panels, so why not the vast trove of Far Side. (Moderator, please forward to your comics ed.)
51
the cow who keeps ringing the door bell
6
My all time favorite: Two border collies show up to help some sheep organize their party.
18
Blah Blah Ginger.
23
Hallelujah! There is a God!
7
"Hey, sweetheart, I got news for you. I AM the lowest form of life on Earth."
11
Yay!
3
Oh Happy Day!!
3
He's back! How I missed him. In this day and age it takes a lot of courage to publish something like "The Far Side". I hope he does not get smothered by censors or new law suits creating yet another new movement:
#Cows have rights too!?
#Moo Too?
15
"I'm going to the vet's to get tutored."
15
I was just a kid when The Far Side was out (a teen when Gary retired!) and I LOVED the cartoons, they were funnier than anything else around. I have so many compilation books that I saved my allowance to buy. Welcome back, Gary! I'm excited to discover your comics again.
11
He's back! How I missed him. In this day and age it takes a lot of courage to publish something like "The Far Side". I hope he does not get smothered by censors or new law suits creating yet another new movement: # cows have rights too!.
5
@Benni
#Moo Too!
9
"Boneless chicken ranch" !
14
“Curiosity killed these cats”
7
He's back! Thank god! We love him! The nexus point of all humor between my son and me! What blank office doors have been yearning for these past empty years!
And watch the thought police get snagged up on one of his past or future panels, have a caniption fit and try to get the guy cancelled.
Hang in there! Til the cows come home! Your stuff is forever hilarious! We need you!
8
The best news of 2019.
12
I'm mitch McConnell and Larson is a democratic demon who will never be seen in the senate
6
"Beware of Doug"
11
Dear Mr Larsen
When I was doing research at STRI (the Smithsonian Tropical Reseach Station, in Panama, on Barre Colorado Island) in 1986, we had your strip pinned to the rest room door, the one where theres a GIANT coackroach standing in the doorway, and the beehive woman with cat-eye glasses is screaming "QUICK RALPH, STEP ON IT" and rest assured, the roaches there looked to be at LEAST that big - and they FLEW !!!!
Thank you for putting a bit of humour onto my horror of roaches...
20
What people say to their pets, “Do you want to go out Ginger?”
What their pet hears, “blah, blah, blah, Ginger”
Why is this so funny? It’s what we secretly believe pets AND people do. We are all so narcissistic. ; )
12
I miss Gary Larson soooo much!!!
4
The best, the best... the guys in the lab drinking from beakers...
One says “ what the... this is lemonade. Where’s my culture of amoebic dysentery?” and the look on the face of the other guy as he realizes just what he has wrongly imbibed and the diarrhea that is now in store for him.
19
oh, I am so much more relaxed now. think I'll slip into something more comfortable . . .
7
I've been laughing out loud just reading some of the descriptions.
22
Two fishermen on a lake seeing a mushroom cloud on the horizon: “You know what this means? No limit!”
Two spiders by a web across the bottom of a kid’s playground slide: “If we pull this off we’ll eat like kings.”
Priceless humor, always remembered!
27
Dog in a taxi cab behind a couple in a car. “Drat! The dog’s following us again.”
11
Scene: A courtroom.
Alligator in witness stand, "Of course I did it in cold blood. I'm a reptile!"
18
So many great strips. Stand out among so many “birds of prey know they are cool” with vultures wearing ray bans.
11
Many favs, one where a bunch of cavemen are running from burning building with a sign labeled “research & development”.
The caption is “fire is invented”.
14
Gary Larson is a rare gift to humanity.
18
Mr. and Mrs. frog are in the front seat of the car. Mr. Frog is driving. Mrs. Frog yells "Wathch out for that car! Criminy! You act you've been pithed or something." (approximately)
4
What a great Christmas present to America! I love his witty, brilliant, Maad humor! Give us more Gary we are so desperate for a laugh!
8
Thank God something GOOD from the 1980s is coming back. We need it now more than ever.
10
Yippee!!!
Yippee!!!
Yippee!!!!
(Midvale School for the Gifted. Dogs growling at a closet door. Ice cream truck driving by scientists’ lab. I think I have half of them memorized anyway. But YIPPEE!)
11
I have a recollection ( I hope not a hallucination ) that Gary Larson plays jazz on the guitar.
Is this correct?
If so, I hope he's still playing.
2
Hooray! It's not all bad out there!
6
“Wiener Dog Art”. The mailman covered in wienerdogs. He tells his wife, I walked into a wienerdogs nest.
7
“The Far Side” returns! My world is now complete.
6
choosing a fave cartoon is like picking your favourite child.
i can't believe it's been 25 years.
10
Just for inventing the Thagomizer, Larson should get the Nobel in Medicine and Physiology, the Booker Prize, the National Medal of Honor, plus be inducted into the National Academies of Sciences and Engineering.
12
Two spiders with a web a cross the bottom of a kids slide, if this works we'll eat like kings. Awesomely twisted.
9
The germs getting excited about going to Paris...
6
Just thinking about "God's gift to wart hogs" makes me laugh out loud.
4
I always laugh at, "Midvale School for the Gifted".
Wonderful drawing, perfectly executed.
8
We have missed you DESPERATELY, Gary Larson!
5
This is the best national news in a long time!
9
Wonderful news! I’m forwarding the article to my entire family. Birthday cards were most often a Far Side cartoon—bonus if one could find the Birthday person’s favorite one.
When someone in our family complains, it’s often met with “Yoo-hoo, I have a blister...” in reference to the slight man being forced to row on a Viking slave ship and calling over the gruff, burly Viking master.
33
Great news! Perhaps Gary will follow Berkeley Breathed’s (Bloom County) formula. He began producing Bloom County again, but he just publishes on Facebook, no deadlines. Some weeks he knocks out 3 or 4 strips, sometimes he doesn’t publish a strip for a few weeks.
10
@Cal 1991 ... Why would Larson want to lower himself into the cesspool known as facebook?
14
@Mark There are 244 million Facebook subscribers in the U.S. alone. Yes, there is a lot of idiocy there, but it is an easy platform to reach very many.
4
My Far Side story:
Many moons ago, I was really, really sick from first appendicitis and then the recovery from the appendectomy. I could not understand why I was not getting better and why there was so much pain.
Well, several weeks later I was rushed into surgery (again) to remove a “foreign object.” That object turned out to be a #15 scalpel blade. Ouch, indeed.
While waiting to recover, I received a Far Side get well card from a friend. On the cover was one of Mr. Larsen’s drawings depicting two surgeons standing over an operating table and removing a porcupine from their patient. The caption was something to the effect that “well, there’s your problem.”
It was humorous and uplifting. And it so happened to describe my medical condition perfectly. It still brings a smile.
64
Gary Larson, if you're reading this, oh how we've missed you! You make that "come back" in whatever form you want, we'll take it! New stuff, timeless classics, whatever (but don't be afraid to hit us with new stuff!). My all time favorites include "What we say to dogs/What they hear" ("GINGER! blah blah blah GINGER!") and the one with the border collie showing up to a sheep party. Who am I kidding? SO many come to mind there's no way to pick a favorite. A dear friend and I used to laugh our behinds off over the Far Side. He's gone now, but memories of those hysterical laughing fits we had together live on whenever I see the comic strip again. Thank you, Gary Larson.
42
As an OBGYN for 35 yrs my exam room ceilings were covered with always changing enlarged Far Side cartoons. Mr. Larson provided a wonderful level of stress reduction for tens of thousands of women. From them and from me, I want to say, “Thank you!”
18
Aside from the species of louse named for the brilliant Gary Larson, there is also the term used by paleontologists who specialize in dinosaurs: the business end of the tail of a Stegosaurus is now officially called "The Thagomizer, after the late Thag Simmons" (my all-time favorite Far Side).
9
"I'd hate to be out on a day like this," and it's raining grand pianos.
11
When anyone brings up the game of who would be the three people you would most like to have over for dinner, or have for a conversation, Gary Larson is always at the top of the list. His cartoons are epically funny. I would love to see him being interviewed.
9
I remember giving a medical lecture in the late '80s at the University of Erlangen, Germany with Far Side cartoons of scientists and rats slipped in between the overhead transparencies (!). The audience didn't know what hit them.
This was years before Far Side became hugely popular in Germany. Coincidence?
11
I love reading these comments, being introduced to others' favorite Far Sides and how they carry so much more meaning for some than a comic normally would. Gary, your art is emotional and timeless.
Here's another favorite: "I'm not going to panic. There's a bee in the car but there's nothing to fear. I'm just going to pull over and let it out" thinks the woman driver with a human sized bee sitting in the back seat.
20
I have the Complete Far Side, 3 volumes of all the cartoons. It is one of my most treasured possessions, along with many Pogo albums. Thankyou Mr Larson!!
9
So glad he is back. Humor is exactly what we all need right now.
17
The Far Side, Calvin and Hobbes, and Doonesbury are the three best cartoons ever. My kids love them too.
20
Absolutely...and add Pogo, Farley, and Sylvia. Words and pictures to live by.
3
and please dont forget Pogo
4
One of my favorites (there are so many) is a large eye ball in the side mirror of a car, captioned "Objects in mirror are closer than they appear". I started out in Seattle, have moved many times and lived in three countries, but I still have a Larson desk calendar from the ´80s. Welcome back, Gary!!
17
There are people you meet along the way in life that you wish to run away from just as far and fast as you can. And then there are those folks you meet that you'd like to sit down with and have a beer, talk about things. For me Gary Larson falls into that latter camp.
From him having been away for a considerable length of time I can say that I look forward to seeing what a few years of percolating in the "wilderness" of his life has wrought.
John~
American Net'Zen
14
@John very well put sir
1
For the past three decades or so, whenever I’ve provided SCUBA instruction and introduced the topic of equipment selection and maintenance, I’ve made reference to the panel “Don’s Discount Shark Cages.”
20
I have fond memories of Larson cartoons and I also remember flipping to the NY Times cartoon section as a relief from all of the news that I couldn't bear.... Please, bring the best section of the paper back. If Gary can come back, why not Doonesbury?
13
@Roy Tolliver Doonesbury has new strips on Sunday
1
@Roy Tolliver Doonesbury is in the Washington Post every week! It never went away here!
2
By any definition of the word -- a genius. This and Calvin and Hobbes are for me the high-water mark of newspaper strip cartoons, an artform I admire tremendously.
28
My son always gave me a Larson calendar for Christmas which I kept on my desk. When I was having a tough day I would cheat and look ahead a few days, the humor always got me back on track. Thanks Gary!
23
The Denver Museum of Natural History had an exhibit of Far Side Cartoons, I think it was in 1987. I remember watching people laugh at different cartoons than others laughed at and seeing how different their sense of humor were. Spoiler alert:
Two stand out for me, The Pope and Earl go fishing (baseball cap vs Mitre, and The Real Reason Dinosaurs went extinct (cigarettes). Fans will love the return, and those who were too young will have a new favorite. Yea!
21
Growing up my brother and I cut every single one of our favorite comic strips out of the newspaper and collected them in notebooks. Calvin and Hobbes and the Far Side. I never thought I would see another one. Fun! I actually did one panel cartoons fo my school newspaper for a while which were basically Far Side ripoffs. They were all pun based and probably terrible.
15
Larson’s frog that catches a low flying airplane and finds himself in over his head in an unexpected flight reigns on my refrigerator. That little frog has been a constant inspiration to me through my pilot flight school journeys, nursing school and divorce.
A few months ago, my son requested I give him an extra coffee mug with the cartoon. He said he too always loved our frog friend! He told me he was making an important presentation at work so I snapped a pic and sent him a surprise encouragement by way of Garry Larson. It was a sweet moment for both of us.
20
Thank you for your wit and quirky humor, Gary. I have long enjoyed them and shared with others. If a person I share one of your cartoons 'gets it', i know they and I can be friends!
Welcome back and all that sort of jazz!
16
Every year all of the members of our family get cartoon a day calendars. Even though we have lived in different cities, reading the same calendar each day keeps us connected. It was SO sad when The Far Side calendars stopped as that had been our family calendar for years and years. We now have The New Yorker calendars but it has never been the same without our daily dose of Gary Larson.
13
I always loved his cartoons and still think of and quote from many on a regular basis, including "Cat fud," "Stinking caps on, stinking caps on" and "How nervous little dogs start their day." In the 80s and 90s, I often used his cartoons on slides when leading corporate training classes in management and communication skills. They never failed to make the class laugh -- and to drive home whatever concept I was teaching. Humor may be the best way to make a point that you want people to understand and remember.
But mostly, they just made me laugh. And still do. Thanks, Gary.
29
My favorite: Giant eyeball in the car rear view side mirror labeled: Objects in mirror are closer than they appear.
Priceless Larson.
25
And let’s not forget “bummer of a birthmark Hal”. My husband and I reference it weekly.
22
@Retired Hard Worker
That's the one on my coffee cup at work !
8
I look so forward to seeing the Far Side again.
Something to smile about and see life from another view. Good news in these trying times.
13
I am so happy these are back!
10
As a philosophy teacher my favorite is the cow saying, "Hey, this is grass! We've been eating grass!"
Thank you for being you Gary Larson.
30
@David that reminds me of the cow eating beef with other cows watching "I'd say it tastes like chicken"
6
Yeees!
My friends and I used to sit around at parties, recounting our favorite Far Side cartoons in the '80s.
Nerdy? You bet. But funny as all git-out.
17
"Aaaaaaaaaa! Earl! We've got a poultrygeist."
Welcome back Gary!
21
If we're citing faves..
A wizened chef has a blue mound in some sort of baking pan, the mound has familiar markings on its surface, reminiscent of our own land masses..
The chef reaches for a jar on a nearby shelf: "Now, to make things interesting,” as he shakes on a quantity of "Jerks."
34
My favorite was the one where a cat is in a house, at a picture window, helplessly looking at the fender-bender outside involving two delivery vans: Bob's Assorted Rodents and Al's Small Flightless Birds. I'm laughing just thinking about it!
53
Such a classic!
4
@Nancy J. My coffee mug!
5
I once had a 365 page calendar with his cartoons. Just great stoff. My favorite: before the invention of paper and scissors, where two stone agers play, well, rock. It ends with a draw, naturally...
Please get back to the job, gary!
20
I'm looking forward to seeing The Far Side again.
One of my favorites shows a number of cows standing upright behind a fence that is by a road. One of the cows is saying "Car."
32
That’s my favorite too. They all go back to four legs rather than 2.
5
Dr Suess himself started out as a political cartoonist in the Roosevelt era. Maybe there's an opportunity there. So much wacky Far Side in politics these days.
13
I am a huge far of Far Side. I read the cartoon religiously till Larson retired. Later I bough a couple of the prints signed by him (I think.) One I can remember was with two cows talking enviously about cows being massaged with beer...I have to go into my storage to look for them...
7
My kids have come up with a rule for deciding whether to pull the plug on my life-support gizmo. They'll show me the "It was an innocent mistake..." cartoon, and if I don't laugh, they'll know I'm brain-dead. It makes me laugh just to think about it.
40
How wonderful. I’m excited! Feeling like so many neat things from my younger years, which are the same ‘younger years’ for plenty, are being revived in one way or another. There is a real desire for these things. For a simpler time. Yeah. I totally miss that.
14
This brings me back. What innocent times those were! Larson is a true oddball--so much to admire in that man.
23
What a treasured time that was, when every day began with The Far Side, Bloom County, Calvin & Hobbes and Doonesbury.
Just boggles the mind, how lucky we were.
145
Hooray! One of the best, most intelligent cartoons around!
32
Great news!
I fortunately had the foresight to save his calendars - so when the new year rolls around, I just look for a year that started on the right day of the week (leap years require a March 1 change). That is recycling I have really enjoyed.
38
@Jim S. How smart is this? So fun. Love it.
5
So happy to hear this. I am a psychotherapist who keeps Far Side books in my waiting room, and a special "curated" album of my favorite Far Side and New Yorker cartoons for clients. One of my favorite Far Side cartoons is the one with doctors laughing at a hospital patient in bed, with the caption, "Testing whether laughter is the best medicine". It truly is!!!
47
The Far Side was a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. You had to be there.
God it was great.
78
I subscribed to the local paper for 8 years, after graduating high school, so I could keep reading Farside every day.
Now my kids read the book collections.
Thank you so much. 'My name is Joey, ah, get it off me!'
12
The Boneless Chicken ranch: flat and sagging boneless chickens are draped over fences, bushes, etc.
We've been waiting for your return, Mr. Larson
68
Midvale School for the Gifted: kid pushing on a door instead of pulling it open with the handle.
Welcome back Gary Larson!
89
This is one of my favorite. I still say it outloud when I try to open a door the wrong way. Welcome back Gary!
24
@Chevy I've seen this one all over the country slightly customized- (choose your rival school) College of Engineering.
18
One of my most favorite ever!
10
I haven't read all comments....but our favorite is the one of a smiling dog in the back seat of his owner's car waving at his fellow canines outside and yelling, "I'm on my way to get tutored." Love you Gary and thanks for coming back.
103
@Jess Juan Motime Thank you for this. I had forgotten and now can't stop laughing.
4
@Jess Juan Motime
That was my favorite too! Was waiting for someone to share it. I still have it on a BD card -never wanted to send it as I wanted it for ME! I have The Far Side Gallery #3. Just pulled it off my shelf-we sure do need some good laughs during these sad and unpredictable times.
7
Best. Thing. I. Heard. All. Day. 🙂
69
"...and then it struck her...this was a hay bar."
48
"Double Your IQ or No Money Back" still resonates -- especially at election time.
74
Wow! Do I remember the cartoons of Juan butt sliding in Red Square! Those and so many more! Welcome back, sir.
10
The cow is making a V over the lady's head - like devil horns.
25
Wow. Like being hit with a Thagomizer.
24
During my fellowship, our pediatric cardiac operating room had the cartoon of the surgeons standing around a patient with the caption "OK Parker, we'll vote- how many here say the heart has four chambers?" And, of course in that operating room the heart never did!
28
“My word Walter! It sounds like a good sized bird just hit the window.”
Robin Hood is laying face down and dazed under the picture window.
Fits of giggles still, mainly because of the expression on the wife’s face.
19
My all-time favorite Far Side had a cop standing by a car he'd pulled over, in which a dog was in the driver's seat. The dog's owner held up the loop end of a leash, telling the officer, "sure, I let him drive once in awhile, but he's NEVER off this leash!" I clipped it and put it on my fridge, smiling every time I saw it, thinking of how my dog would approve. And then my friends all started clipping the cartoon and sending it to me. What it is to be known by one's friends!
36
The Thagomizer. No more need be said.
Welcome back, Mr. Larson!
25
One of my best friends is named Clarence.
9
Thank you Mr. Larson
10
I still write on the grocery list
cat fud
139
in the dryer!
7
@Susan Oh my gosh! I'm not the only one!!!
5
@Susan Ha ha, and the dog thinking, "Please, please."
6
Finally, a piece of good news in these days of the complete collapse of the US political system.
55
Professor Gallagher and his controversial technique of simultaneously confronting the fear of heights, snakes and the dark.
27
"Inconvenience Stores" still makes me laugh...
39
My absolute favorite Far Side was 'Einstein discovers, Time actually _is_ Money...'
44
I'd always thought that Stink Bugs were something that Gary Larson made up for his cartoons in the 80's. But 20 years latter Stink Bugs invaded New Jersey and the reality was crazier than the cartoons. Flying skunk bugs that spray you when you grab them and that do aerobatics in your living room while making a very loud low pitched buzz. They like to land on the rim of your wine glass or on your face while you sleep. Gary Larson, we needed you to make us laugh during the onslaught of the bugs! Please get back to work!
27
I was just looking through my bookshelves the other day, needing to do some thinning, and there were some old collections of The Far Side. No way I was tossing those. The Far Side was the conversational gambit of my college days. How many phone calls to or chats with friends friends began with, "Did you see Far Side today?" Even then we needed a dose of sanity through the insanity of The Far Side. Or was it the other way around? Larson is a genius.
Thank you Gary!
30
Many thanks Gary to coming aboard..again! You did an interview a decade or so ago regarding the strips that were rejected... one you mentioned was in a surgical unit where the surgeon was removing body parts-waste into a bucket on the floor..(with a salivating dog sitting just inches away from it)
Well..I just happened to be that dog. Teasing is unhealthy! Get back to work!
11
The "When Potato Salad Goes Bad" cartoon is one of my all time favorites. A bowl of potato salad is holding a gun and robbing the other contents of the fridge, who all have their hands up. Gary Larson is the real stable genius we truly need these days.
125
I remember that one! Great gag.
7
One of my favorites was the 2 dragons in bed, the male being rejected by the female who says "I sorry Irwin, it's your breath. It's fresh and minty." I showed this one to my Rutgers chemistry students, with a muted response. One guy said "I don't get it."
Times change. Everything used to be.
60
@pkimmel ... I assume you flunked that guy.
11
From atop a mountain somewhere in the Pacific Northwest a voice rings out in desperation, "Is there a cartoonist in the house."
20
In a perfect world, when I die, my soul will ascend to a higher plane and be greeted by Gary Larson and Stephen Wright riding atop a pair of winged cows, coaxing beautiful music out of giant silver macaroni horns.
I can only live in hope.
28
My favorite: the farmers wife returning from the chicken coop with a basket of eggs, passing a hen walking back from the farmhouse carrying a baby.
109
I worked at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History back in the early 80s. All the curators and collection staff had Larson’s cartoons posted in their offices. He was always a big hit with biologists.
One of my personal favorites was “Full moon and empty head” even though there’s no particular biological reference with that.
Raise your hand if you remember that one and just smiled.
31
This makes me so happy! I used a Far Side cartoon to advertise my master’s graduation recital. It was a drawing of two penguins on an iceberg rehearsing a tap dance. The caption was “Cmon! This is our only ticket out of here!” which was exactly how I felt about that recital. The recital was bewilderingly well attended- I feel I owe thanks to Gary Larson for that. Ridiculously excited to see the new cartoons.
45
@Qui, Thanks for your own great story along with describing the cartoon.
4
The long years since Mr. Larson's last calendar have been very difficult to live through. Now, especially, his humor is desperately needed. His humor just made everything better, and I am looking forward to viewing his website every day.
My favorite cartoon is 'Luposlipaphobia' - the fear of being pursued by timberwolves around a kitchen table while wearing socks on a newly waxed floor.
I laugh every time I see it.
63
Can't wait. Direct to audience works and gets the syndicates out of the way.
11
Too little too late. I guess the grandkids' trust funds took a bigger hit than he expected. Who cares about reruns. I saw it live first time around and have the books to prove it.
Curmudgeon
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Bah humbug!
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@Mark Most of us posting here do value the reruns because they're of such high quality. People who've never has the pleasure will love them, too.
Brush the dust off those books and give yourself a reason to smile again, Mark!
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Gary Larsons work continues to be among the greatest humor ever created by the human species. Our lives are much richer and certainly happier due to the genius in every cartoon. I am amazed by the joy he continues to bring to everyone I expose to his work. Garys humor can conquer all and bring together those on all sides of the most divisive issues. Thank you Gary for a lifetime of laughs and may you always be aware of and buoyed up by the goodness you have brought to our world.
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So happy to see Gary back! He is one of the 3 people I want to be marrooned with on that desert island! I always had his cartoons displayed in my office for years, chuckling with the few office mates who "got" his cartoons. Tether Cat was the office favorite. I would always get Far Side collections for birthdays and Christmas. My favorite cartoon is the picture of a dog in a car talking to another dog on the sidewalk, telling him, "I'm going to the vet to get tutored". That's still my catch phrase! And I love the pictures on the wall of snakes dolled up in clothes. Gary is the only one who ever put clothes on snakes!
Love you ,Gary, and I'm still laughing at your cartoons!
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It amazes me the number of adults that can relate a Far Side cartoon in detail after all the years gone by. Much in the same way people know the Python's "parrot sketch" word for word.
I think it all goes back to too much consumption of Mad Magazine's Don Martin when we were kids.
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And Dave Berg. And Mort Drucker.
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@Dan Lowery Too much consumption of Mad Magazine? Not possible.
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@Mick I dunno, I ate seven of the Super Specials at one sitting and, man, did I ever regret that.
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I have fond memories of first discovering Larson books in a Chicago bookshop. I was laughing so loud I was asked by the sales associate to be quiet or leave the shop.
Welcome back Larson.
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I just went to the site, and my day is better for it. I was searching for a place to subscribe via email for a daily cartoon, but couldn't find one. Am I missing something?
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Garry and The Far Side got me through the long dark days and nights of my Ph.D. I even used his cartoons as exam questions for many years.
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I have also used them in my biology finals. Spot on. His work is rich, relevant, and wonderful!
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I proudly own the complete anthology of "The Far Side Cartoons."
Glad to see it's return.
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@adara614 Ditto!
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@adara614 do you have “Wienerdog Art”? My fav.
Along with Calvin and Hobbes, the Far Side, must surely rank among the very best. The top 2 in my opinion - number I is, of course, Calvin and then a very close second, is Mr. Larson's genius (and running very close behind is Bloom County). Where have they all gone . . .
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@PS Funny, when I looked recently at Bloom County again it seemed very dated, ancient 80s cultural politics, tried too hard to be zany. Like Mork and Mindy. But Calvin and Far Side still seem fresh.
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@PS Bloom County is back with new material published on the web by the original cartoonist. Recommended!
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@Tom
Yes Tom - Bloom County is back and it is especially funny now that B.Breathed is not constrained by an editor. In this article Gary sites B. Kliban as an early influence. I remember when I first noticed the far side that it reminded me of Kliban... That Kliban strip is funny stuff as welll
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Thank you, Gary Larson and welcome back. We missed you.
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Wow! Our beloved Far Side returns! Even the reruns are better than most of the newer so-called "comics". Larson for president of you country in 2020!
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Ah, the panel in a Donut Shop where the worker was sweeping the floor and the owner is at the cash register trying to figure out why most of the donuts were sold and there was not much cash in the register.
Ah, yes, it appears that the worker was "slightly" overweight (by about 200 pounds).
The only part I can't figure out is how Gary Larson actually knew about me.
Your sense of humor is past outer space!
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@Broz "It just don't add up!"
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Welcome Back, Mr. Larson!
We need you now more than ever (even if only a reprint. For Now....)
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This is the best news I’ve seen in a long time! Thank you thank you thank you!!! We need you so much, Gary Larsen.
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Our prayers have been answered!! Thanks Gary for returning and for your elegant humor!!!! The nation certainly needs it these days!! You've been missed.
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Gary Larson made me laugh. The cartoon with caption "Beware of Doug" on the lawn out front of the house, and a roundish kid peering out from beside a tree. The deer with a bulls-eye spot on its hide and his friend's remark, "Bummer of a birthmark, Hal". All the deliciously, somewhat oddly drawn, but recognizable humans.
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"Zog Jones cooks his meat" - Lascaux graffiti
"Another date with Senor Wences" - stranded castaway
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With the horror of Trump upon us I would think Gary would have plenty of new material.
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I wouldn’t want Gary to contaminate his work with that “trump” thing.
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My favorite Far Side cartoon showed a Dingo farm next door to a day care center, with both Dingo's and Children starting at each over a fence, with the caption "Trouble Brewing".
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I just realized that Chick-Fil-A may have appropriated Mr. Larson's cow.
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@Molly Bloom, I have a beef with your comment.
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Please have www.thefarside.com provide an RSS feed so I don't have to 'remember' where to go every day!
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“Cow Tools” made perfect sense to me.
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Best news of 2019!
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When I became a parent, I often thought of the strip where the father has rigged up a knocker on the basement door. “Uh oh Danny, sounds like the monster in the basement has heard you crying again. Let’s be real quiet and hope he goes away”
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The caption to the cartoon suggests that the cow is not waving hello. Check out just above the woman's hair - that is a greeting hoof.
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I just picked up an old Farside Gallery (vol. 4) and laughed my head off. After reading pieces today on old, gross, coaches abusing athletes, the horrible Sacklers and do-nothing Senators this Larson news was a very welcome dose of happiness. A Larson a day, even if it is a blast from the past, is just what this crazy world needs. And if a new one finds it way to publication it will be a such a joy! Just think: a new Larson! Thank you!
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Yaaaah!
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Yea!
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The best Christmas present. Now if we can get B. Kliban back whacking porcupines, all will be right with the world.
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@ErinsDad
Oh, how I wish!! But Kliban passed away many years ago, back in 1990. Sorry to say.
He was my favorite—just had his books out the other day.
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@ErinsDad The Kliban cartoon with two guys' heads sticking up out of the dirt.
"Well you may wonder what we are doing in your garden," said Andrew, the elder of the two.
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And what has he been doing since he retired from cartooning? Charles Schultz derided those who quit early. To him, you had to face the grind and create. I think I would have taken Gary's path.
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@J. B. —Schulz held on for way too long, and “Peanuts,” which of course was groundbreaking in its day, had become stale and formulaic (and the artist’s own hand discernibly palsied) by the time its creator died. I’m glad that Larson and Watterson each had the good sense to leave at the top of their respective games.
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Mr. Larson's work is genius, clever, thought-provoking, and downright funny. Basically full of everything our work so desperately needs right now. Including, so much science!
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My daughter was a young teenager facing her first pelvic exam because of some long forgotten malady. She was nervous and scared. Accompanying her, I brought along a handful of Far Side cartoons saved from a previous year’s desk top calendar. We sat in the waiting room reading through them until we laughed so hard we cried. The laughter relaxed her enough that the exam went smoothly. Thank you Gary Larson for proving that laughter is the best medicine!
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@Gail Hall One of my many favorite Far Side cartoons has almost exactly that caption. A group of doctors are standing around the bed of a hospital patient, pointing and laughing at him. The caption reads: "Testing whether laughter is the best medicine".
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The cow is definitely waving...welcome back Gary! I flat out stopped reading the comics once you left!
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@Keiko Paros I think the cow is doing bunny ears.
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@Keiko Paros ...in a manner of speaking. The cow is putting up antennae hoof behind the bee-hive!
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Trolling the lady with rabbit ears?
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My favorite Larson was not a cartoon. It was the entrance to the Palace of the Fine Arts in San Francisco. They sponsored a Larsen exhibit which was outstanding.
The part I liked best was in the building entrance. When you walked in the building's door and looked up to the ceiling, a giant eyeball looked down at you through a microscope. It was so Larson! I loved the whole self deprecating style he gave to us.
Much thanks to all you created Mr. Larson.
msd
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I also went to that exhibit - it was fabulous seeing the original of my personal favorite: the dividing amoeba “Elizabeth, don’t leave me!”.
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@MSD
Giant eyeball from "objects in mirror are closer than they appear".
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My friend and I were the darlings of our high school senior art class, so after we finished our projects, we’d sit in the back of the classroom and pour over collections of The Far Side, trying in vain to keep from disruptive laughter. It was probably the most fun I had in high school, aside from disabling all the school bells on the top floor, and kidnapping my biology teacher’s rubber mallet (followed by a series of hilarious ransom notes).
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Yes! I remember looking forward to The Far Side in The Seattle Times. So refreshing! My favorite cartoon was "Why dinosaurs went extinct." A group of dinosaurs were gathered together smoking cigarettes.
Thank you, Gary Larson, for your body of work.
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My favorite too.
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@Maureen G And the related one: 2 dinosaur bullies laugh at embarrassed little mammals with furry coats. A third dinosaur is looking up with a puzzled expression at the first snowflakes...
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I love 'The Far Side.' Used to have shirts of strips as a kid. Also read and still own all the Galleries books.
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Don't forget the Thagomizer! It's actually an accepted, if informal, term used in paleontologist
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Just this morning I was digging up an old collection of Far Side cartoons out of a box in our basement – "Far Side Gallery 2" to be precise – for my son to read on the couch while he tries to kick a cold. And now stumbling across this article has pretty much made my day.
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Funny he should mention 'Tethered cat". In a previous interview I recall, he acknowledged it was his most controversial/angry reader cartoon. But he also noted it could have been worse as the original concept involved a baby. Welcome back Gary!
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I believe B. Kliban was also an influence on Larson. Same "way out there" cartoon concepts with bizarre characters. Look for his work from the 1970s.
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@hdtvpete Kliban was a master!
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@Jackson Chameleon
Amen to that!!!
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@hdtvpete Gahan Wilson wasn't an influence, but his work was also off beat and brilliant.
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I remember, back in the 1970s when I was working at a university, their newspaper ran a cartoon that, later, made me think of The Far Side. One panel in particular was of a very large boa constrictor with a mountainous lump in its middle, with the caption (presumably spoken by the snake’s keeper) “Not the ENTIRE Juillard Quartet! You glutton!!!”
I don’t know why this one cartoon sticks in my mind because there were many more that involved animals. I’ve often wondered if the artist was early Gary Larson.
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@Rosemary Fletcher-Jones I remember that cartoon but I'm sure it appeared well before Larson started his career. It might have been in a paperback compilation of Playboy cartoons. I can't remember the author.
Anyway, it got a laugh out of me.
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Truly a brilliant artist, and an early inspiration to my own creative practice.
It always surprises me when I think of how young he retired. This is the odd aspect of Larson, which is why would you quit full stop so abruptly? It’s like he went from 200mph, to almost 0.
As an artist, I don’t see how I could do that. Spend a lifetime trying to get noticed, days and days thinking about art, then retire at 45. It’s insane to retire from something you love and are that good at, and in top form no less.
But I guess there’s the answer. Perhaps he wasn’t in love with doing it. Which also astounds me, how you could just see this personal work as just a paycheck. It’s so personal, that it’s sociopathic to imagine dropping it one day because you financially don’t need it. Larson is a totally enigmatic person to my eyes.
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@P Nicholson, maybe he thought it was good to stop while he was still going strong. Before his work started to feel like a rehash of old stuff.
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@P Nicholson He might have just got fed up with it. Sometimes you run out of gas. I'm an artisit and that happens. And I created a huge website on another topic that influenced a field of social history - but I got tired of that too. I've read that Velasquez, one of the great artists, got tired of painting and went into interior design.
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@P Nicholson Mr. Larson had a PARASITIC INSECT named after him. An achievement so monumental and impossible to top, how could he NOT have retired?
If you're one of those people who could just keep showing up at the office and sticking to deadlines, while knowing that somewhere, in the humid jungles of the Amazon there's a louse going about its blood-sucking business while bearing your name... then you are an ambitious man indeed.
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