Ranking the 10 Best Far Side Comics by Gary Larson

Measuring the greatness of comic strips is difficult. A daily newspaper comic relies on only a few panels to land a joke or sentiment. Because of this brevity, people often trivialize the medium as disposable entertainment found next to the obituaries.

Characters like Snoopy and Garfield proved that comic strips become cultural fixtures. Greatness is possible, but defining that greatness depends on the strip. Strips like Peanuts and Calvin and Hobbes explored deep themes. Other strips found success through clever gags or visual appeal. For Gary Larson’s The Far Side, greatness is measured differently.

The Far Side avoided life-affirming philosophy. Larson used intentionally grotesque characters and skipped recurring figures to focus entirely on the joke. His work did not set out to change science books, even though a famous Stegosaurus strip actually led to a new scientific term for a dinosaur bone.

Larson aimed to deliver the funniest daily joke possible. The following 10 comics represent his best work because they rely on clever humor rather than profound life lessons.

10. Find Peter

Larson trusted his audience to solve comedic scavenger hunts hidden within panels. This joke only pays off once you spot the correct cubicle.

9. A deconstructionist masterpiece

Larson occasionally broke the fourth wall to mock the art of cartooning itself. This comic features deliberately crude drawings to joke about sketchy-looking characters.

8. And the complete opposite kind of masterpiece

Some strips worked without subtlety through sheer overkill. Dumb cops fail to solve a murder despite standing among hundreds of potential weapons.

7. A clever twist

Larson often put fresh spins on classic stories. Pinocchio provides plenty of laughs by exploring a situation where the wooden boy would definitely not want to become real.

6. More deconstruction

Newspapers often featured hidden image puzzles alongside standard comics. Larson mocked this format by scattering poorly hidden appliances across a forest and claiming the drawing contains 127 items.

5. Find the punchline

This panel uses another visual scavenger hunt. The viewer notices the giant fly woman first, then the artist, and finally the detail reflected in the artist’s glasses.

4. Reconstruct the punchline

This comic takes the hidden joke concept even further. The humor hits a few seconds later when you realize a window washer was working outside right before the woman opened the window.

3. Snakes

Larson frequently tackled the absurdity of existence. Imagining that God created snakes using the exact methods of a child playing with Play-Doh cleverly trivializes creation.

2. Love triangle

Similar to the bowling pin investigation, the humor in this island scene stems entirely from the characters lacking common sense.

1. Smoking dinosaurs

This famous comic brings together multiple classic Larson traits. Larson loved drawing dinosaurs and crafting dark, morbid jokes. The surface image of dinosaurs smoking cigarettes is lowbrow, but attributing their extinction to lung cancer is remarkably clever. The panel captures everything that makes Gary Larson brilliant in a single rectangle.

Source: Polygon