10 perfect front page comics about penguins

When visiting The front sideOne pleasant surprise that awaits readers is the distribution of penguins that appear in panels during the comic’s time in publication. While the other birds of The front side – from its buzzards and vultures, to Gary Larson’s obsessive depiction of ducks and chickens – often get more attention, their flightless Antarctic cousins ​​starred in many equally memorable installments.

Larson’s Penguin cartoons convey a variety of punchlines, delivered in a wide-ranging tone: these include everything from murders and marital affairs, to deep philosophical musings, with some musical interludes thrown into the mix as well.

Penguins allowed Gary Larson to tell jokes that played with the tension between individualism and community, and to reflect on existential loneliness – and when all else failed, the artist could always simply plug in The front side Limitless reservoir of absurdity. whatever the case, Larson instinctively understood how and when to use penguins as his main charactersTo elicit a response from his readers.

10

The penguins from the far side need some color in their lives

First published: April 4, 1988

In this penguin panel from the top of The front side popularity, A conversation between two of the black-and-white birds leads one of them to a surprising realization – that it does not dream in color. “I guess I only dream in black-and-white,” says one penguin after having his mind blown by another, though the speaker tries to keep it cool by calling the “An interesting bit of trivia.”

Although Gary Larson illustrated his share of full-color penguin panels, they were a natural fit for his black-and-white pencil sketch illustrations, as rendered here. Likewise, the question of whether a person dreams in color or not has long been a topic of conversation among humans, and penguins offered the perfect perspective for Larson to transform the uncertainty in the animal kingdom.

9

The penguins on the front page were among the most three-dimensional characters

First published: February 1, 1987

Time and again, Gary Larson depicted penguins that stood out from the crowd with their behavior, if not their appearance. Here, a pair of penguins lead an illegal madman, standing on one far side of a huddle, One of them said anxiously, “I have to go, Charles. Frank becomes more and more suspicious” – While on the other side of the panel, Frank looks skeptically at a cardboard cut-out of his wife.

While the punchline may initially be easy to miss, it’s incredibly effective once it lands. The reader’s attention will be immediately drawn to the penguin’s dialogue on the left, and while this may be amusing in itself, it is only upon closer inspection, and the realization of the penguin woman’s cardboard stand-in, that it becomes An all – great time For side Cartoon.

8

On the face of it, Penguin Justice is never black-and-white

First published: August 26, 1986

“He’s dead alright – kicking in the back,“A penguin version of The front side Recurring detective character intones, adding, “And you know this won’t be easy to solve,” as a crowd of identical-looking penguins surrounds the scene of the crime, stretching into the horizon..

Here, Gary Larson skillfully twists the recognizable murder mystery setup by translating the trope of a cold case mystery into the world of penguins, with the punchline being tied to the uniformity of penguins in close proximity to one another. Larson achieves this with the perfect confluence of image and caption, as the investigator’s solemn recognition that a crime among a colony of penguins is a difficult case to crack is emphasized by the many penguins packed into the frame.

7

Gary Larson left no room for ambiguity in this penguin mystery

First published: March 12, 1984

The laugh-out-loud For side Panel combines Gary Larson’s love for bears with his penchant for drawing penguins. In this case, a group of penguins on an ice float begin to grow suspicious about a rash of disappearances. “And now Edgar is gone“, one of them says, conclude that “Something is going on here“- as a thinly disguised polar bear sits in their midst, with a penguin beak haphazardly strapped to his nose.

Essentially, Gary Larson puts a wild twist on the “Wolf in sheep’s clothing“idiom, by depicting a bear masquerading as a bird, with the absurdity dialed up by the fact that in no way, shape, or form should the bear’s deception be effective. But it apparently allowed him to devour more than one Of the penguins undetected, like this For side Cartoon captures them at the moment that they have only just begun to realize that something is horribly wrong.

6

The far side penguins are thoughtful about their place in the world

First published: November 13, 1982

“Well, once again, here we are,” says one of a small group of penguins on a tiny ice floatAs if they had just returned from a long trip, leaving nothing for the reader. Or, perhaps, it is instead a comment on the repetitive nature of daily existence – something that, as acute as it feels to humans, is even more powerful for penguins and other members of the animal kingdom.

The front side often featured animal protagonists in its panels; Whether overtly anthropomorphized or not, they are nonetheless always a lens through which Gary Larson offers an outside perspective on human nature and the human experience. The overarching project underlies the humor of the panel, which gets a laugh by giving a penguin a voice, prompting it to pose a perennial question.

5

The far side penguin is more than just a beak in the crowd

First published: August 9, 1982

Once again, Gary Larson utilized a dense population of penguins, all in lock-step, in order to avoid the behavior of one of their number to very strange effect. In this panel, a crowd of penguins stretches into the distance, Innumerable and merge into one another – that is, except for one who sticks his head above the crowd and sings out “I have to be me, really I just have to be me…“

In a way, this is the essential For side panel on the divide between uniformity and individuality; As an artist, Gary Larson was notoriously idiosyncratic, and did not exactly operate like his peers. That is, he distinguished himself, with his career as a cartoonist, allowing him to be the proverbial penguin who stands out from the rest, raising his voice and stepping out of line as the rest march silently in the same line. Direction.

4

The Far Side penguins have what it takes to make it in the great tundra

First published: July 10, 1982

Any small-town performer dreaming of escaping anonymity in order to find success playing bigger and better venues can relate to this For side funny, which features a penguin playing the piano, while another – wearing a straw hat and wielding a cane – tap dances to the tune. “No, no, no! Now try it again“, the piano player barks, pointing out to the dancer that “This is our only ticket out of here!“

The fact that their practice space is a tiny ice float in a vast expanse of ocean effectively accentuates the sense of isolation from artistic peers, and the desire many creative types feel to escape the limitations of their hometowns – making this one of The front side Most metaphorically-effective cartoons, whatever Gary Larson might have to say about mining his work for meaning.

3

The most philosophical penguin panel from the far side

First published: August 25, 1981

One reason readers are drawn to The front side – and what has continued to be enduringly popular in the decades since it ceased publication – is Gary Larson’s ability to ask life’s biggest questions in an irreverent, but still thought-provoking way. This cartoon perfectly exemplifies that, as A group of penguins crowded on a small ice float look at the expanse of blue ocean surrounding them, and the purple twilight sky above, and ask: “On the other hand, what if we are not alone in the universe?“

In this way, Gary Larson engages with a question that has dominated the 20th century, but rather than using one of The front side Extraterrestrial panels to do this, he makes it penguins, illustrating their geographical isolation to emphasize that their isolation and limited world view mirrors the Earth’s, and humanity’s, place in the cosmos.

2

Even a giant rampaging penguin can’t get any respect on the far side

First published: July 22, 1981

In its own right, the image here is funny, but the caption effectively lifts the humor of it For side Cartoon to the next level, like An intruder watches as a skyscraper-sized penguin terrorizes a city, only to complain to a shotgun-wielding police officer that “Other cities get giant gorillas or dinosaurs…but what do we get?”

Of course, by any look, this kaiju-like penguin is no less destructive than its primate peers, but apes and prehistoric lizards have a mystique that captivates the imagination in a way that a giant penguin does not – at least, This is, according to this one special personality pedestrian.

1

The front side’s penguins can be pests sometimes

First published: July 15, 1981

In this hilarious early For side Cartoon, a married couple is Affected by an infestation of penguins, with the wife prompting her husband to remember to “Choose one of the non-Penguin strips“While he’s in the store. This is particularly odd given the casual nature of the delivery in the headline, which comes at the end of a list that starts with conventional supermarket fare, including “milk, eggs, [and a] Loaf of bread.”

This early penguin panel served as a prototype for the way Gary Larson repeatedly used the flightless cold-weather birds over the years, as they proved popular with the artist, consistently provoking his imagination in ways that lead to a series of unique and memorable . For side Panels.