The Far Side I had a dense population of characters named “Ernie”, a name Gary Larson has used repeatedly in jokes over the years. Far Side Fans will know that Larson had a habit of recycling names across different comics over the years, and the proliferation of Ernies is just another prominent example.
From the caveman character Thag, to the infamous comic book detective, one of Larson’s favorite tropes, to the oft-mentioned “Arlene Charmichael”, The Far Side it had much more familiar characters than most fans realize. However, given the nature of the strip’s publication, it was not fully appreciated during its original publication.
Only in hindsight Far Side readers were able to draw connections between comics published years apart, identifying where Gary Larson engaged with the same ideas in different cartoons, where there was crossover between his many recurring themes – and occasionally, where the same character appeared more than once.
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Ernie the alien starred in one of the first episodes of Far Side Head-Scratcher (where’s the humor here?)
First published: September 20, 1982
One of Ernie’s first appearances occurred in this Far Side alien panel, which can typically be overlooked because its humor is on the harder to parse side of the Larsonian comedic spectrum. “Very good, Ernie!” an alien teacher says to his student, as the young extraterrestrial scribbles a photo of his father; taken literally, the joke here is simply the transposition of human behaviors onto alien characters.
As a result, this comic will have many readers asking “What?” rather than laughing out loud, but in the context of Ernie’s many subsequent appearances, in many different forms, it’s notable that he started out as an alien child.
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Ernie is cat bait in this ridiculous comic (what are his chances of survival?)
First published: October 21, 1982
Here, Gary Larson presents a human version of Ernie – and immediately puts him in great danger, as one of the The Far Side most dangerous alligators throws himself into a couple’s rowing boat, with the woman on the other side shouting “rub his belly, Ernie!“in a futile attempt to help him fend off the beast.
That Far Side The cartoon’s predominant appeal is its mix of grave danger and outright silliness; Even attributed to a panic response, there is no sensible world in which rubbing a crocodile’s belly is the solution to surviving an attack, and of course that touch of insanity is the point of the joke.
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The other side proves that nose cramps are as devastating as a Charlie horse (Didn’t Ernie hydrate?)
First published: July 11, 1985
“Suddenly, just a kilometer into the race, Ernie feels a cramp in his nose.“, the caption of this Far Side comic book readings, with Ernie easily identifiable among the swarm of marathon runners in the illustration by the way his nose is painfully curved upward.
The joke is based on the idea that the nose is generally not an area of concern for runners – but it actually comes down to the simple and effective humor of the image. Despite being one of Gary Larson’s sparsest drawings, the artist somehow manages to elicit sympathy for Ernie, perhaps because he suffered cramps so early in the race.
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A much more placid encounter between Ernie and a crocodile (is Ernie impressed?)
First published: March 8, 1986
In this comic, one of the The Far Side many Ernies once again come face to face with a crocodile, but under very different circumstances. “He’s going to keep that chicken there until I say ok”, explains the owner of the alligator, delicately balances a live chicken on its nose, hoping to receive permission to eat it, with the owner asking the guest.”you want to say ok, Ernie?”
Again, the humor of this panel focuses on how its illustration realizes the absurdity of its premise. As the majority appointed Far Side characters, “Ernie” is here simply to facilitate the joke and to add detail and specificity to increase the joke’s connection with the reader.
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The other side shows what too much time alone does to Ernie (who would you trust more?)
First published: June 3, 1986
In this classic Far Side desert island comic, a man appears on the shore of a small island to find another shipwreck survivor named Ernie and his ventroliquism doll, Gus – with the doll immediately warning the newcomer that Ernie is actually a cannibal.
This joke is equal parts disturbing and amusing, given the chaotic interaction that arises from the argument between Ernie and “Gus”, with the man standing in the shallow water being a proxy for the reader, in the sense that he is a wary witness to this spectacle. The panel is also notable for its excessive use of back-and-forth dialogue, a rarity in The Far Side.
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The Far Side is a perfect jazz joke (why is it actually moving?)
First published: April 6, 1987
In The Far Side Most iconic comic starring anthropomorphized objects, Gary Larson riffs on the famous jazz standard “Mack the Knife”, depicting Mack’s pre-hit daysliving in [a] miserable apartment” wwith roommates”Bob the Spoon and Ernie the Fork“the latter of whom is depicted sitting diligently at the piano in the background practicing, despite the caption revealing that he will never find it”fame and fortune.”
Larson himself was a jazz musician, but as hilarious as this reference is, what’s so amazing about it Far Side comic is the level of pathos that it manages to include in this panel, as it manages to make readers viscerally feel the scene, and feel for Bob and Ernie, that “ended up in an old cutlery drawer.”
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On the other side, all the pigs and some humans went to heaven (how did he get there?)
First published: November 9, 1987
In this laugh-inducing Far Side panel set in the afterlife,”some unfortunate celestial mistake” leads to a man named Ernie being “sent to Hog Heaven”, with the image depicting him surrounded by pigs sporting halos and angel wings.
Life was essentially a cosmic joke for Gary Larson, and cartoons like this emphasize that, in this case portraying admission to heaven as something that can be screwed up. Whether Ernie’s unhappy ending can be reversed by some angelic clerical enlightenment is an unanswered question, but even so, this classic Far Side the play on words will probably elicit a lot of laughter from most readers.
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An ant on the other side makes a bold fashion statement (why did Ernie think this was a good look?)
First published: March 21, 1988
In this hilarious Far Side ant panel, a young ant named Ernie inadvertently massacres his own family by using a giant pair of human shoes in his home. “Look what you’re doing“, cries the mother ant in the apron, begging Ernie to”Take those shoes off this instant before you do any damage.”
In this way, Gary Larson provides a great example of his jokes focusing on the intrusion of human technology into the natural world. It’s an absurd elaboration on this topic, but that’s precisely what makes it such an unforgettable event. Far Side cartoon and why it stuck with readers for years after its publication.
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“Buick Head” is the weirdest side at its weirdest (why not remove it?)
First published: October 3, 1988
Some Far Side comics are truly inexplicable – not that they can’t be explained superficially, but how Gary Larson conceived them is a true and enduring mystery. That’s the case with this cartoon, in which a man meets his old acquaintance”Ernesto Wagner“for the first time in decades, and its surprise Ernie still has”that thing growing [his] head that looks like a Buick.”
The sheer absurdity of the image may well provoke laughter from readers, the lingering effect of this Far Side cartoon will be the irrepressible desire to ask “What?”, even if no adequate conclusion can be reached.
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These shipwreck survivors on the other side didn’t expect this (are they prepared to be approached?)
First published: July 12, 1990
In this silly Far Side “lost at sea” panel, Gary Larson extrapolates the existence of “sea ants“from the fact that they exist”fire ants” – and an unfortunate turn of events for this couple in an inflatable life raftwho are about to be overtaken by ants in vessels similar to Viking longboats.
In this way, Larson makes a silly joke, but also introduces a clever historical reference, which The Far Side It contained much more than the author gets credit for. Still, the panel’s humor ultimately comes from the speaker’s exasperation as she realizes what’s coming her way, wearily asking “and now?” before acknowledging what’s in store.
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Gary Larson once again reinvents a stock phrase (who let the cat have that wheelbarrow?)
First published: April 29, 1991
Some of the best Far Side the comics featured Gary Larson’s take on classic sayings, and this cartoon is an underrated example. Through the window of your suburban home, a woman is pictured telling her husband Ernie not to let the cat in the house as he will try to bring in a wheelbarrow full of snakes and rats.
Playfully subverting the phrase “look what the cat dragged in,” Gary Larson drives home the fact that he was a tirelessly inventive creator, always looking at the familiar from unexpected angles and managing to find the humor there time and time again.
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Ernie Miller’s First Appearance On The Opposite Side Explained (What Was His New Life Like?)
First published: July 24, 1992
In this Far Side cartoon, Gary Larson effectively employs a split panel to tell a joke that requires two locations and a time span. In the top half of the frame, a man named Ernie Miller leans out of the window and shouts to the people on the street below that he is “moving to an island in the South Pacific“and for”kiss [his] goodbye, human cesspool.”
In the bottom half, Ernie is shown – a little more sunburned – sitting on a crowded beach full of tourists.mocking the growing inability to escape civilization. In addition to being a well-executed and laugh-out-loud film, Far Side joke, this panel is also notable because Ernie Miller would return in a subsequent cartoon.
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Ernie Miller’s Second Appearance on the Opposite Side, Explained (Who Was God Calling?)
First published: January 1, 1993
In another multipane Far Side cartoon, God accidentally dials the wrong number and briefly ends up on the phone with Ernie Miller, whom the caption informs readers “for the rest of his life… he told his friends that he had talked to God“, despite the fact that the deity quickly hung up on him.
This is a perfect Far Side joke, and what’s more, Ernie Miller’s character here is completely in line with the one who appeared the year before. Although they need not share “continuity”, these connections between Far Side The panels continue to be one of the things that contemporary fans of the strip most excite, and Ernie Miller’s two appearances are a fantastic example.