The Far Side
Encyclopedia
The Far Side is a popular single-panel comic
created by Gary Larson
and syndicated
by Universal Press Syndicate
, which ran from January 1, 1980, to January 1, 1995. Its surrealistic
humor is often based on uncomfortable social situations, improbable events, an anthropomorphic view of the world, logical fallacies, impending bizarre disasters, or the search for meaning in life. Larson's frequent use of animals and nature in the comic is popularly attributed to his background in biology
. Reruns are still printed in many newspapers.
The Far Side was carried by more than 1,900 daily newspapers, translated into 17 languages, and collected into calendars and 22 compilation books.
The series was preceded by a similar panel called Nature's Way
, also by Larson.
.
Most of Larson's comics relied on some combination of a visual and verbal gag, rather than just one or the other. Some recurring themes in the comic include people being stranded on desert island
s, aliens
, heaven
, hell
and the life of cavemen. Many cartoons focused on animals, especially cows, bears, dogs, flies
and ducks. Notably, virtually all human characters portrayed in the comic were overweight
or obese, and usually wearing glasses.
Larson was recognized for his work on the strip with the National Cartoonist Society Newspaper Panel Cartoon Award for 1985 and 1988, and their Reuben Award for 1990 and 1994.
The Complete Far Side
and The Prehistory of The Far Side
include letters from angry readers alongside the comics. The letters were written to newspaper publishers and often demanded the removal of The Far Side. Despite these protests, The Far Side remained popular and continued to run in many newspapers. Larson himself often laughs at the controversies as evidenced in The Prehistory of The Far Side, in which he writes that the people complaining have usually misunderstood the cartoon.
The five The Far Side Gallery books are the most popular, each of them collecting together the best cartoons from three smaller books, along with a humorous foreword by celebrity fans, including Stephen Jay Gould
, Stephen King
, Robin Williams
and Jane Goodall
.
In 1989, The Prehistory of The Far Side was published to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the strip. In this book, Gary Larson discussed the development of The Far Side, the public's reaction to it, and presented a selection of his personal favorites from the cartoon's history, as well as previously unpublished sketches and strips rejected by his editor.
In 2003, The Complete Far Side was released, containing nearly every The Far Side comic ever published (except for a few cartoons written for Christmas cards). The collection is also missing parody art pieces from Wiener Dog Art, some material from The Prehistory of The Far Side, and a panel run for a caption writing contest in the Telegram-Tribune newspaper. The set was released in two volumes (1980–1986 and 1987–1994), with a foreword by Steve Martin
and an introduction by Larson's long-time editor Jake Morrisey. The first edition hardcover boxed set weighs 19.5 pounds (8.8 kg). Some of the comics were altered for this book, either featuring a different caption, correcting errors, or simply becoming colorized.
In 2003, Gary Larson drew a cover for the November 17 edition of The New Yorker
magazine, a prestigious offer he said he couldn't refuse.
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
created by Gary Larson
Gary Larson
Gary Larson is the creator of The Far Side, a single-panel cartoon series that was syndicated internationally to newspapers for 15 years. The series ended with Larson's retirement on January 1, 1995. His 23 books of collected cartoons have combined sales of more than 45 million...
and syndicated
Print syndication
Print syndication distributes news articles, columns, comic strips and other features to newspapers, magazines and websites. They offer reprint rights and grant permissions to other parties for republishing content of which they own/represent copyrights....
by Universal Press Syndicate
Universal Press Syndicate
Universal Press Syndicate, a subsidiary of Andrews McMeel Universal, is the world's largest independent press syndicate. It distributes lifestyle and opinion columns, comic strips and other content. Popular columns include Dear Abby, Ann Coulter, Roger Ebert and News of the Weird...
, which ran from January 1, 1980, to January 1, 1995. Its surrealistic
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
humor is often based on uncomfortable social situations, improbable events, an anthropomorphic view of the world, logical fallacies, impending bizarre disasters, or the search for meaning in life. Larson's frequent use of animals and nature in the comic is popularly attributed to his background in biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
. Reruns are still printed in many newspapers.
The Far Side was carried by more than 1,900 daily newspapers, translated into 17 languages, and collected into calendars and 22 compilation books.
The series was preceded by a similar panel called Nature's Way
Nature's Way (comic strip)
Nature's Way is a newspaper cartoon series by Gary Larson published in the late 1970s. It launched his career in cartooning and eventually led to his popular The Far Side series in 1980.-History:...
, also by Larson.
The comic
Most The Far Side cartoons are a single rectangular panel, occasionally split into small sections of four, six, or eight for the purposes of a storyline. A caption or dialogue usually appears under the panel as typed text, although word-balloons are sometimes used for conversations. Sunday comics were double-sized, done in watercolor or colored pencils, with captions handwritten in Larson's own cursiveCursive
Cursive, also known as joined-up writing, joint writing, or running writing, is any style of handwriting in which the symbols of the language are written in a simplified and/or flowing manner, generally for the purpose of making writing easier or faster...
.
Most of Larson's comics relied on some combination of a visual and verbal gag, rather than just one or the other. Some recurring themes in the comic include people being stranded on desert island
Desert island
A desert island or uninhabited island is an island that has yet to be populated by humans. Uninhabited islands are often used in movies or stories about shipwrecked people, and are also used as stereotypes for the idea of "paradise". Some uninhabited islands are protected as nature reserves and...
s, aliens
Extraterrestrial life
Extraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth...
, heaven
Heaven
Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
, hell
Hell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
and the life of cavemen. Many cartoons focused on animals, especially cows, bears, dogs, flies
Fließ
Fließ is a municipality in the Landeck district and is located5 km south of Landeck on the upper course of the Inn River. It has 9 hamlets and was already populated at the roman age; the village itself was founded around the 6th century. After a conflagration in 1933 Fließ was restored more...
and ducks. Notably, virtually all human characters portrayed in the comic were overweight
Overweight
Overweight is generally defined as having more body fat than is optimally healthy. Being overweight is a common condition, especially where food supplies are plentiful and lifestyles are sedentary...
or obese, and usually wearing glasses.
Larson was recognized for his work on the strip with the National Cartoonist Society Newspaper Panel Cartoon Award for 1985 and 1988, and their Reuben Award for 1990 and 1994.
The Complete Far Side
The Complete Far Side: 1980-1994
The Complete Far Side: 1980–1994 is set of two hard-cover books which contains the entire run of The Far Side comic strip by Gary Larson. The two volumes are presented in a slipcase. The collection contains more than 1,100 comics that had not previously appeared in any other Far Side books. The...
and The Prehistory of The Far Side
The Prehistory of the Far Side
The Prehistory of The Far Side: A 10th Anniversary Exhibit is a book chronicling the origin and evolution of The Far Side , giving inside information about the cartooning process and featuring a gallery of Larson's favorite Far Side cartoons from the 1980s.- Part 1: Origin of the Species :Larson...
include letters from angry readers alongside the comics. The letters were written to newspaper publishers and often demanded the removal of The Far Side. Despite these protests, The Far Side remained popular and continued to run in many newspapers. Larson himself often laughs at the controversies as evidenced in The Prehistory of The Far Side, in which he writes that the people complaining have usually misunderstood the cartoon.
Publications
Gary Larson produced 23 The Far Side books, which were all on the New York Times bestseller list. The cartoons were first collected in small books (see list below), and some were then republished in larger best-of collections such as The Far Side Galleries. Additional best-of collections were published, such as The Prehistory of The Far Side, culminating in the final publication, The Complete Far Side in 2003.Collections
- September 1982: The Far Side (ISBN 0-8362-1200-2)
- August 1983: Beyond The Far Side (ISBN 0-8362-1149-9)
- August 1984: In Search of The Far Side (ISBN 0-8362-2060-9)
- April 1985: Bride of The Far Side (ISBN 0-8362-2066-8)
- August 1985: Valley of The Far Side (ISBN 0-8362-2067-6)
- August 1986: It Came from The Far Side (ISBN 0-8362-2073-0)
- April 1987: Hound of The Far Side (ISBN 0-8362-2087-0)
- October 1987: The Far Side Observer (ISBN 0-8362-2098-6)
- July 1988: Night of the Crash Test Dummies (ISBN 0-8362-2049-8)
- April 1989: Wildlife Preserves (ISBN 0-8362-1842-6)
- October 1990: Wiener Dog Art (ISBN 0-8362-1865-5)
- November 1991: Unnatural Selections (ISBN 0-8362-1881-7)
- November 1992: Cows of Our Planet (ISBN 0-8362-1701-2)
- November 1993: The Chickens are Restless (ISBN 0-8362-1717-9)
- November 1994: The Curse of Madame "C" (ISBN 0-8362-1763-2)
- October 1996: Last Chapter and Worse (ISBN 0-8362-2131-1; published after the end of the strip)
Other books
- November 1984: The Far Side GalleryThe Far Side GalleryThe Far Side Gallery is an anthology of Gary Larson's The Far Side comic strips. Cartoons from previous books The Far Side, Beyond the Far Side, and In Search of the Far Side are featured, all of which were printed from 1982-1984....
(ISBN 0-8362-2062-5) - October 1986: The Far Side Gallery 2The Far Side Gallery 2The Far Side Gallery 2 is the second anthology of Gary Larson's The Far Side comic strips. Cartoons from previous collections Bride of The Far Side, It Came from the Far Side, and Hound of the Far Side are featured, all of which were printed from 1985-1987. The foreword was written by Stephen King...
(ISBN 0-8362-2085-4) - October 1988: The Far Side Gallery 3The Far Side Gallery 3The Far Side Gallery 3 is the third anthology of Gary Larson's The Far Side comic strips. Cartoons from previous collections The Far Side Observer, Night of the Crash Test Dummies, and Wildlife Preserves are featured, all of which were printed from 1987-1989. The volume is dedicated to guitar maker...
(ISBN 0-8362-1831-0) - January 1989: The Prehistory of the Far Side: A 10th Anniversary Exhibit (ISBN 0-8362-1851-5)
- October 1993: The Far Side Gallery 4The Far Side Gallery 4The Far Side Gallery 4 is the fourth anthology of Gary Larson's The Far Side comic strips. Cartoons from previous collections Wiener Dog Art, Unnatural Selections, and Wildlive Preserves are featured, all of which were printed from 1990-1992, featuring more than 20 full-color pages. The foreword...
(ISBN 0-8362-1724-1) - September 1995 The Far Side Gallery 5The Far Side Gallery 5The Far Side Gallery 5 is the fifth and final anthology of Gary Larson's The Far Side comic strips. Cartoons from previous collections Cows of Our Planet, The Chickens are Restless, and The Curse of Madame "C" are featured, all of which were printed from 1992-1994. The foreword was written by Jane...
(ISBN 0-8362-0425-5) - April 1998: There's a Hair in My Dirt!: A Worm's Story (ISBN 0-06-093274-0; not a collection of single panels)
- August 2003: The Complete Far Side: 1980-1994The Complete Far Side: 1980-1994The Complete Far Side: 1980–1994 is set of two hard-cover books which contains the entire run of The Far Side comic strip by Gary Larson. The two volumes are presented in a slipcase. The collection contains more than 1,100 comics that had not previously appeared in any other Far Side books. The...
(ISBN 0-7407-2113-5)
The five The Far Side Gallery books are the most popular, each of them collecting together the best cartoons from three smaller books, along with a humorous foreword by celebrity fans, including Stephen Jay Gould
Stephen Jay Gould
Stephen Jay Gould was an American paleontologist, evolutionary biologist, and historian of science. He was also one of the most influential and widely read writers of popular science of his generation....
, Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
, Robin Williams
Robin Williams
Robin McLaurin Williams is an American actor and comedian. Rising to fame with his role as the alien Mork in the TV series Mork and Mindy, and later stand-up comedy work, Williams has performed in many feature films since 1980. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance...
and Jane Goodall
Jane Goodall
Dame Jane Morris Goodall, DBE , is a British primatologist, ethologist, anthropologist, and UN Messenger of Peace. Considered to be the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees, Goodall is best known for her 45-year study of social and family interactions of wild chimpanzees in Gombe Stream National...
.
In 1989, The Prehistory of The Far Side was published to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the strip. In this book, Gary Larson discussed the development of The Far Side, the public's reaction to it, and presented a selection of his personal favorites from the cartoon's history, as well as previously unpublished sketches and strips rejected by his editor.
In 2003, The Complete Far Side was released, containing nearly every The Far Side comic ever published (except for a few cartoons written for Christmas cards). The collection is also missing parody art pieces from Wiener Dog Art, some material from The Prehistory of The Far Side, and a panel run for a caption writing contest in the Telegram-Tribune newspaper. The set was released in two volumes (1980–1986 and 1987–1994), with a foreword by Steve Martin
Steve Martin
Stephen Glenn "Steve" Martin is an American actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, musician and composer....
and an introduction by Larson's long-time editor Jake Morrisey. The first edition hardcover boxed set weighs 19.5 pounds (8.8 kg). Some of the comics were altered for this book, either featuring a different caption, correcting errors, or simply becoming colorized.
In 2003, Gary Larson drew a cover for the November 17 edition of The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
magazine, a prestigious offer he said he couldn't refuse.