Everything gets an eccentric makeover The Far Sideeven something as routine and mundane as drinks, specifically coffee and tea. Gary Larson always knew how to put his own spin on Far Side take on almost anything, extending his sense of humor and talent for surreal imagery in his comics that featured coffee and tea. Given that coffee and tea are some of the most popular drinks around the world, it’s no surprise that they have been part of several Far Side comics.
Whether it’s cowboys participating in coffee competitions or a small but intense detail from Hell, The Far Side it never strays from its absurd qualities, even in comics that show something everyday like coffee and tea. One wonders if other specific drinks and foods have gained prominence The Far Sidecalling for a more in-depth inspection of the treasure trove of comic books.
10
“Insects of the Amazon Basin”
March 21, 1985
A surreal comic book, almost to the point of nightmare, a couple sees their home being visited by a horde of insects from the Amazon Basin. Anyone with an aversion to insects should look away from this insect-centric comic. While the insects of the Amazon Basin may be the star of the show, the coffee also takes center stage, with the strip’s female character preparing to set out a pot of java for visitors. Preparing for the comic book’s unorthodox guests as one would for actual human guests in the real world, the Far Side does what it does best and presents an eccentric (and a little scary) scene that is based on real situations. While most prepare a can of bug spray instead of a pot of coffee when they see the avalanche of insect guests, these Far Side the protagonists reluctantly disagree.
9
“Javahead Jones”
1991
The Far Side loves to highlight the strange and unusual. Case in point: Javahead Jones from the comic strip and his ingenious invention of the chopped espresso machine. Instead of a chopped and custom motorcycle, Javahead Jones prefers to give his espresso machine an upgraded makeover. What the exact purpose of the espresso machine’s handlebars is is only known to Javahead Jones, but it is prone to attracting severed heads. A funny detail of the strip is that the character’s t-shirt says “Born to be Wired”, a riff on the 60s Steppenwolf song “Born to be Wild”, which is commonly associated with the biker film. Easy Knight. An espresso and motorcycle fanatic, Javahead Jones has a rather eclectic list of die-hard interests.
8
“Matched your caffeine limits”
November 14, 1984
Drinking contests are a common trope in typically hypermasculine genres like Westerns. Gary Larson takes this trope and does what he does best: turns it on its head. Instead of a drinking contest, The Far Side imagine a Wild West where there are coffee drinking contests to test the limits of caffeine intake. Given that caffeine can have some undesirable effects if ingested in large quantities, it is indeed appropriate that there be a caffeine drinking contest that is equivalent to an alcohol drinking contest. Some unpleasant effects of high caffeine consumption can include headaches, irritability, and increased thirst, just to name a few. These cowboys who are deeply involved in the competition will definitely be uncomfortable. It’s basically a given that no one truly wins in contests like these.
7
“Nervous puppies get ready for the day”
1991
Small dogs can be quite hyperactive and energetic. The question was raised: where do these pups get their boundless energy? The Far Side gives the answer to this question: espresso. Showing a small, nervous dog getting ready for the day by pouring a nice cup of espresso, The Far Side adds a surreal yet hilarious explanation to the behavior of some anxious canines. You would never imagine a dog eating espresso, mainly because caffeine is toxic to dogs, which makes the comic completely absurd to the point of making people laugh. Hopefully, in The Far Sidecaffeine is much gentler on dogs’ bodies than it is in real life. The Far Side has shown dogs performing many silly actions that defy the laws of the real world, but in this wacky alternate reality, dogs can get ready for the day just like anyone else.
6
“That settles it, Carl!”
November 10, 1980
Caffeine can cause some effects in people, such as nervousness, tachycardia and even anxiety. The Far Side adds another potential side effect, becoming trigger happy. With two people with their legs up, the culprit is Carl, holding a shotgun with his wife, emotionally telling her that he can only decaffeinate from now on. If shooting two people isn’t enough to stop drinking decaf coffee, there’s not much else in the world that will make someone stop. Then again, it would probably be easier (and safer) for Carl not to own a gun. Although, this is The Far Side after all, where common sense is not typically found in its human characters. Given that Carl’s wife told him before his caffeinated coffee ban “That solves everything”, it’s safe to assume that Carl has had some strange and abysmal effects from caffeinated coffee before.
5
“Latte, Jed?”
December 19, 1991
Cowboys are generally recognized as tough, tough guys who forgo creative comfort. However, this sacrifice is not necessary for the cowboys in The Far Side. Gary Larson’s portrait of frontiersmen is of someone making a latte in the desert and offering some to his traveling companion. A very nice gesture and a surprisingly likeable protagonist The Far SideThis comic adds an absurdist twist to the cowboy comics that Larson loved to do in his comic strips. The presence of an Italian cafe that has a specific process in a Wild West setting makes the whole scene ridiculous. Likewise, a latte is a step above a typical coffee and is a bit more sophisticated, completely contradicting what most people think when faced with the setting and characters that are at the center of this comic.
4
“The coffee is cold!”
1995
This comic wouldn’t be Gary Larson’s first work that depicts hell. He made Hell and Heaven a setting for countless comic strips throughout The Far Side history. This time, imagine that The Far Side Hell’s version offers the dreamy horror of cold coffee, having a damned individual exclaim that Hell has thought of absolutely everything to make its inhabitants unhappy. Cold coffee can be pretty gross, especially for those who don’t like iced coffee. Consequently, it’s just another aspect to add to the long list of things that make Hell, well, hell. While cold coffee may seem like small beans, pun intended, it’s the straw that breaks the camel’s back for the citizens of Hell. What makes the strip even funnier is that no one complains about being whipped, seen by the demon shown with a whip above everyone, but still the cold coffee is what bothers them.
3
“The African Dawn”
April 26, 1987
There are some behaviors that we must keep in mind for savannah animals. However, drinking coffee and tea at dawn isn’t exactly a behavior you’d assume animals would engage in. On the other hand, these animals need a lot of energy to live in the wild. In The Far SideIt turns out that animals also start the morning by drinking some caffeinated drinks, just like humans. If anyone needs energy, it is the animals in the cerrado that need to hunt and run after food, or escape to avoid becoming food. Interestingly, the African dawn scene of The Far Side shows animals letting each other drink their morning caffeine in peace, with rhinos and lions coexisting in close proximity, at least while drinking their coffee.
2
“The Boy with the Teapot”
October 2, 1992
There are some cool names for Western figures, like Man with No Name, Billy the Kid, and Hopalong Cassidy. In The Far Sidehowever, one unlucky cowboy has a not-so-cool name, Teapot Kid. As the strip shows, a cowboy entertains the salon’s customers by singing and dancing to the song “I’m a Little Teacup”. Although he decided to sing a children’s song for a bunch of rough and tough cowboys, The Teapot Kid built himself quite a reputation.in doing his unorthodox actions, but never receives any jokes from others about it. The other cowboys are certainly eager to mock The Teapot Kid, but they know better than to ridicule him. Subverting typical expectations of cowboy behavior, Gary Larson creates a silly comic strip.
1
“I have a bad feeling about this, Harriet.”
March 19, 1980
Many are familiar with the saying “Like a bull in a china shop,” which basically means to destroy or destroy everything. As a result, the women in the comic are completely understandable for their anxiety at seeing not just one, but two bulls in their china shop. Afraid that their merchandise will be torn to pieces by their potential bovine customers, the two women have a bad feeling. Given that the bulls appear to be respectfully buying tea sets, they have pretty much jumped the gun on their concerns. Judging a book by its cover, well, in this case bulls, both women are nervous at the sight of bulls if they are just inspecting a beautiful china teacup. Can’t two bulls just walk into a china shop and peruse some elegant tea sets in peace?