The Far Side became legendary for his otherworldly perspective on the foibles of human existence, with Gary Larson’s comics often carry the underlying message that life on Earth was one big cosmic joke. Over and over, Larson’s jokes reminded readers that the universe was laughing at them, not with them.
The mood of The Far Side often involved a certain degree of alienation – an effect Larson has achieved repeatedly over the years by using real aliens in Far Side panels, as well as monsters, anthropomorphized animals and other recurring types and elements of characters that changed readers’ conception of things.
Sometimes this included taking an extraterrestrial view of Earth itself, or otherwise crafting panels that led readers to ruminate on the truly astonishing scope and grandeur of existence in comparison to their own.
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From the start of The Other Side, Gary Larson was interested in asking the big questions
First published: July 9, 1980
Before Gary Larson ventured into outer space with The Far Sidehe had already established that comic book cosmology was one in which Earth’s beings played only a small – some would say insignificant – role in the grand scheme of things. Here, two ants sit on a mushroom, looking at the stars, while realizing that the vastness of space leads them to “I feel kind of small and insignificant.”
Humans and ants are never more comparable than when discussing space and its infinite reaches, and this Far Side The panel sums this up astutely, emphasizing that, on the scale of the entire universe, there is really no discernible difference between the smallest insect life and the most prosperous humans.
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Gary Larson had the world on the other side on a string
First published: October 4, 1980
In this early classic Far Side astronaut panel, two space explorers enter orbit only to make a disconcerting discovery – planet Earth is actually a balloon, attached to a string, carrying who knows where. Hilariously, one turns to the other and says, “Listen. I think we’d better keep this a secret.”
One of the fundamental precepts The Far Side the humor was the idea of discovering that the world was not as readers expected; This cartoon helped set the precedent for Gary Larson’s style, executing this idea in a completely literal way. As time went on, Larson crafted more esoteric iterations of this premise, but since this joke is hard to ignore, this remains one of his most unforgettable. Far Side comics.
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Humanity was little more than a light snack at the Far Side’s cosmic buffet
First published: February 27, 1982
The Far Side aliens did not have a monolithic opinion about Earth; some considered it a pleasant place to visit, while others had a dismissive opinion of humanity. That said, the closest thing to a universal position on the planet that Gary Larson’s aliens could be said to have is that it was a backwater, a relatively unimportant stop on a tour of the Milky Way galaxy.
In more than one case, Larson has described the Earth as the equivalent of a fast food restaurant – with the implication in this Far Side cartoon being that the bite to eat that these aliens are about to grab will be one or two Earthlings. In other words, rather than a new species with which to make first contact, humanity is little more than a snack.
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More than once, Gary Larson has imagined a spectacular and tragic ending for planet Earth
First published: October 5, 1982
Gary Larson often depicted the end of the world, and some of his best “Armageddon” cartoons presented an outside perspective on humanity’s self-destruction. This is the first example of this, as this Far Side cartoon features a group of aliens watching in awe as Earth erupts in a spectacular explosion, mushroom clouds of nuclear bombs blooming across the world.
Larson’s Cold War anxieties are subtly evident here, as the explosions seem to correspond to North America and what was, at the time, the Soviet Union. More than just a product of fear, however, this Far Side The panel, in particular, comes across as a subtle expression of anger at the very idea that humanity could endanger itself on a civilizational scale with atomic weapons.
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The other side reveals the “undercooked” nature of life on Earth
First published: November 23, 1985
Some of Gary Larson’s most controversial comics were Far Side panels depicting God, which some readers complained were sacrilegious. However, rather than satirizing religion, Larson used the popular conception of the Christian Almighty to put a familiar face on his cosmic humor. In other words, rather than mocking believers, the author teased the abstract idea of a creative deity itself.
This is perhaps the most powerful example of this, as God takes a smoking Earth out of the oven, while thinking to himself: “Something tells me this thing is only half cooked.” Some others Far Side cartoons so effectively convey the idea that there is something wrong, imperfect, or otherwise rushed in the very nature of existence itself, whether created or naturally evolved.
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These aliens from the other side invaded Earth’s garden as an afterthought
First published: July 13, 1986
Returning to the idea of Earth as a diversion, that Far Side extraterrestrial comics have the caption: “alien student drivers“, and features a flying sauer who made a dangerous passage through Earth. This panel pokes fun at a familiar human situation – teenagers learning to drive and the terror that follows – but by using aliens to achieve this end result, the byproduct is that Gary Larson offers another reminder that humanity is part of the joke for the rest. of the universe.
Larson’s sense of humor resulted in different layers in which many of his jokes operated, and the different elements he used were calibrated to evoke different responses from his readers. As is the case here, when aliens appeared in The Far Sidethe idea was to capture a sense of wonder, as well as to provoke laughter.
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Gary Larson Contrasts the Wonder of Space and the Space Between Humans’ Ears
First published: November 6, 1987
That Far Side The panel contrasts the wonder of the universe with the insipid nature of the human experience – in what is possibly one of Gary Larson’s most blunt statements about his feelings about humanity. Subtitled, “a full moon and an empty head“the panel portrays exactly that: a vibrant full moon in the upper right corner of the frame, while in the lower left corner, a man looks out of an apartment window with a silly, distracted expression on his face.
Interestingly, there seems to be an “ignorance is bliss” subtext to this joke; the man with the “empty head“is smiling, gazing at the moon – but the downside of this serenity is that he is not taking this lunar vision as a pretext to think very deeply about his role in the cosmos.
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The Biblical Origin of Humanity, Far Side Style
First published: April 9, 1988
In this Far Side cartoon, Gary Larson reinterprets the biblical origin of humanity, in his own style. Subtitled “humanity arrives on Earth“, Adam and Eve are depicted falling to the surface of the planet after being spat out by God, as a voice from the clouds says: “I’m sorry sir, I don’t know how they got into your soup!“
The humor of this panel comes from subverting the Adam/Eve story in a way that makes the first humans a nuisance, inadvertently discarded on Earth rather than having been carefully and lovingly created by the divine. Here, humanity is firmly at the heart of the conclusion, which has ontological implications for how Larson viewed humanity’s role in creation. In other words, Larson seemed to consider humans annoying, not inheritors of the Earth.
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One Giant Leap for Humanity, Plus One Minor Inconvenience for This Alien Janitor
First published: June 12, 1988
Here, Gary Larson depicts a giant purple janitor cleaning the moon – which includes launching the lunar lander left behind by the US like any piece of space junk. No need for subtitles, this Far Side The panel perfectly expresses Larson’s perspective on how humanity fits into the cosmic hierarchy.
Similar to the previous “Ants Stargazing” cartoon, this Far Side the cartoon plays with perspective to great comedic effect. More than just perspective in the image, here Larson throws a wrench into readers’ perspective on humanity’s relative prominence. Not only are the remains of the greatest technological achievement in world history nothing more than trash to this alien, they are also tiny and easily disposed of.
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‘A Sprinkling Of Jerks’: The Far Side Confirms The Joke Is On Us
First published: July 22, 1994
Here, Gary Larson revisits the God as cook premise, this time adding spice to the Earth, thinking.”.and just to make it interesting…“while he spreads a healthy dose of idiots across the planet. Again, this Far Side the cartoon uses the image of God as a manifestation of the cosmic unknown; that is, the joke apparently stems from Larson questioning the inequalities and conflicts of human life, and then imagining a force, deity or otherwise, doing so for his own amusement.
In that sense, this is the ultimate “the universe is laughing at humanity, not with humanity” Far Side panel – how why God would want to make the Earth “interesting” rather than “perfect” is, like the classic question of good and evil, beyond human understanding.