The Far Side was published daily in newspapers from the early 1980s until New Year's Day 1995 – and with only a few exceptions, it meant a new Far Side cartoon on New Year's Eve morning. This list brings together all of Gary Larson's comics running on December 31, from start to finish.
Stylistically, The Far Side – which was a vehicle for Gary Larson's strange sense of humor – didn't change drastically between his early and late years, but evolved, slowly and steadily, in a number of ways that become increasingly apparent to fans as they become more familiar. with the artist's work.
To explore the small but remarkable paths The Far Side developed, it is better to choose something to look for over time; Larson's New Year's comics offer a perfect way to see the note on which he ended each year of his career.
12
This side panel is Gary Larson asking, "What's the use of hiding what I'm doing?"
First published: December 31, 1980
In The Far Side first New Year's Eve cartoon, a pair of hunter-gatherers try - and fail - to disguise themselves as a buffalo, hoping to attack the real thing, with one portrayed warning the other that "act with indifference"prevents the hissing, as a bison in the foreground of the panel looks at them from the side, annoyed.
At the end of the first year of The Far Side With this cartoon, it's almost as if Gary Larson, consciously or unconsciously, is struggling with the fact that there's no point in obfuscating, or trying to hide, the strangeness of his sense of humor, even if he wanted to. Like the buffalo in the comics, readers quickly recognized that The Far Side It wasn't your average comic book.
11
The other side's brutal biblical response to the question, "Why don't unicorns exist?"
First published: December 31, 1981
Gary Larson hasn't shied away from making jokes about God, setting comic strips in heaven and hell, or making his share of biblical allusions with The Far Side. A particular favorite religious tale for him to riff on was the story of Noah's Ark, about which he made a number of jokes over the years, most of which deftly toed the line between sacrilege and profound.
This initial instance presents Larson's hilarious, albeit bloody, explanation for why unicorns aren't real - that is, they were, until the other animals on the Ark devoured themprompting an irritated Noah to accept the loss, while also stipulating that "all carnivores will be confined to 'C' deck"for the rest of the trip.
10
A distant comic for readers who feel like the past year has crushed them
First published: December 31, 1982
In this Far Side cartoon, a crowd gathers around tthe fallen body of King Kong, including a woman who narrowly avoided being crushed by the falling Giant Ape, fortunately only losing her supplies in the process. Other Far Side the characters weren't so lucky, including one character who suffers the same fate as this cartoon's tomatoes, in one of Gary Larson's most understated dark jokes.
While that wasn't necessarily Larson's intention, it's not hard to imagine someone who's had a rough year opening the newspaper, taking a look at this cartoon, and relating to the bag of goods crushed in this comic — and, hopefully, laughing their way to a better year ahead.
9
The other side ends the year on a quiet note - well, sort of
First published: December 31, 1983
Of the many things The Far Side is famous, among the most memorable are his distorted "slice of life" drawings like this one, which depicts a family of praying mantises at the dinner table, while one brother complains about the other"making that clicking sound again"to your mother.
Like so many of the best Far Side in the comics, the humor here is the result of Gary Larson's incredible ability to transpose human experiences into the behaviors of animals or, in this case, insects; Everyone can relate to the feeling of being irritated by the everyday human habits of a family member, roommate, or romantic partner, and here Larson highlights the innate absurdist comedy of this by substituting an example from the insect world.
8
A distant comic for readers who are proud to have survived another year
First published: December 31, 1984
"InvoluntarilyIrwin has an encounter with Death", the caption of this Far Side comic informs readers, as the panel shows a man bumping into the Grim Reaper on the sidewalk; One of the funniest interpretations of Gary Larson's Reaper, this cartoon pokes fun at dwelling on mortality - something Larson obviously did a lot of.
The end of the year is, naturally, a time that encourages reflection on death and life, and is therefore thematically appropriate for this Far Side have been published on New Year's Eve, as many readers would feel especially vulnerable to death jokes, especially those who might have had a "brush with death"is in recent memory.
7
This Far Side comic aims to break away from the past to reach the future
First published: December 31, 1985
Honestly, this Far Side the comic could have been published at any time of year, but once again, in posterity, it appears as thematically appropriate for the New Year holiday, as it evokes both the past and the future. The cartoon depicts two archaeologists breaking skulls with hammers, with one of them unrolling a small scroll of paper and commenting "This is getting really weird, Simmons... Another skull, another fortune."
New Year, as a holiday, tends to be seen as a time to leave the past behind, to discover what the future holds, and this Far Side the cartoon evokes this feeling humorously, albeit in a characteristically strange way, of course.
6
A comic from the other side for those who want to get smarter in the new year
First published: December 31, 1986
This is strange Far Side The cartoon is perhaps not the most accessible of Gary Larson's comics. The panel is uncaptioned, but its joke doesn't come across as clearly as in some uncaptioned ones Far Side comics manage. That's not to say the joke is confusing, but it will leave many readers unsure why it's funny.
In the comics, two men - portrayed as stereotypically "pinhead" - walk away from "Jack's Dinner”, hands stuffed in pockets, while the cook in a stained apron points to a sign in the window that says: “no brain, no service." To be honest, it's a surprisingly inauspicious end to what many consider to be the best year of the year. The Far Side run.
5
A Comic From The Other Side for Anyone Trying to Get Dating Down to a Science in the New Year
First published: December 31, 1987
A classic “New Year, New Me” trope is the declaration that this is the year to find love or stop chasing the same type of romantic partner. For those who feel this way as 2025 approaches, this Far Side cartoon has the perfect energy to channel, as features a party full of scientists acting out against each other, with lines like "Your lab or mine?" and "Has anyone ever told you that your irises reflect the blue spectrum more adequately??”
Science was a guiding concern for Gary Larson, and scientists created for some of The Far Side funnier characters; What this cartoon exemplifies is the way in which Larson not only thought a lot about scientific matters, but about scientists themselves as subjects, as he sought to reveal the peculiarities of these serious professionals.
4
Gary Larson's alien jokes reveal he was waiting for the truth to shake humanity to its foundations
First published: December 31, 1990
It's unknown whether Gary Larson actually believed in aliens, but he certainly thought about them enough to star in some of his films. The Far Side most hilarious jokes. This cartoon is, admittedly, not one of Larson's funniest extraterrestrial jokes, but it suggests why the artist was so concerned about life among the stars.
Subtitled "another photograph from the Hubble Space Telescope," depicts the unstable image of a flying saucer, its alien driver smiling and waving at the camera. The joke humorously suggests that the Hubble Telescope produces unstable images, a joke that in turn suggests a deeper truth: whatever the level of human technology, proof of the existence of extraterrestrials would profoundly shake life on Earth.
3
The opposite side's niche way of saying "The more things change..."
First published: December 31, 1991
In this Far Side panel, Gary Larson portrays a bustling futuristic metropolis – where the nightly entertainment is still a George Burns performancethe legendary comedian who was at the height of his fame between the 1950s and 1970s and who was just a few years away from passing away when this cartoon was published.
Although this is an example of Far Side joke that hasn't exactly aged well, is effective in its execution for those who "get" the reference and recognize the joke as an elaborate, if also niche, way of repeating the timeless adage that "the more things change, the more they stay the same."
2
A distant side for those who are still litigating past conflicts
First published: December 31, 1992
Subtitled "Ichabod Crane versus the Headless Horseman in the People's Court," this panel portrays just that, as Ichabod testifies that he "never insulted [the Horseman's] horse, no way," while the judge looks on awkwardly. Over the years, Gary Larson has delivered many memorable works Far Side court scenes, this one also standing out for the way it recontextualizes a classic story, another common Larsonian comic technique.
While this joke may leave some readers wanting more, sly Far Side fans will recognize that the true humor of the panel depends on the absurdity of the ethereal Headless Horseman standing behind a podium, patiently waiting his turn to plead his case, submitting to a man-made tribunal even as he is a disembodied ghost.
1
The Far Side visits the Wild West to ring in the new year
First published: December 31, 1993
In this strange Far Side cowboy comics, Gary Larson depicts a man named "Zeke"Trying to go to bed, only to find that"somebody"put one"mint chocolate...in your sleeping bag." Although it can be inferred that the “somebody" in question was the other cattle rustler sleeping soundly nearby, The Far Side The tendency to anthropomorphize animals means that horses tethered nearby cannot be ruled out as suspects either.
One of many Far Side cartoons that seemed to have more to the story, this one will probably lead readers to ask "What?"as much as laughing, but actually, that was the beauty of The Far Side – that year after year, from one day to the next, no one knew for sure what they would achieve with comics.