Top 10+ Best The Far Side Comic Strips From The '70s, Ranked

Known for its outlandish premises depicting animals as humans, The Far Side by Gary Larson is regarded as one of the best comics of all time, focused on examining the humor and absurdity of the human condition. First debuting in 1980, The Far Side immediately captured readers' attention, in both good ways and bad, with some finding Larson's humor too dark and depicting everyone as idiots (which it does). While Larson found himself officially entering the world of cartooning when The Far Side went into syndication, the origins of the strip actually began in the '70s.

Fed up with his job at a music store, Larson decided to try his hand at drawing and drew six single-panel comics, which he brought to his local newspaper the next day. Much to his surprise, the paper bought his cartoons and Gary Larson officially entered into the far side of his creativity. While originally published under the name Nature's Way, the cartoons are still within the world of The Far Side, as the publisher only changed the name of the comic a week after its release, but not the comic itself. Larson's early work not only gives an insight into his endless creativity but also showcases many of the themes that would become staples of The Far Side.

The First Step Into The Far Side

Larson established the tone of the cartoon instantly

Photo via Gary Larson.

Part of the original six, one of Larson's first cartoons featured two campers being confronted by a group of animals in the forest as they build a fire. With the leader of the animals resembling Smokey the Bear, the other animals stand behind him like an angry biker gang. Meanwhile, the two humans try to put out the fire, with one hiding a hot dog behind his back and nervously smiling at the angry protectors of the forest.

This original cartoon of The Far Side shows that Larson knew what he wanted to do with the strip early on, with the panel showcasing nearly every major theme Larson often showcased in later cartoons. One of the biggest topics Larson enjoys portraying in his work is the relationship between humans and nature and how humanity is often the stupid ones on the planet. The animals confronting the humans is a great parallel to The Far Side's introduction to readers. It establishes the tone and humor that The Far Side would be built on, and makes a statement just as the animals do to the human characters in the panel.

Humans Are Strange

Larson looks at the world through the eyes of crabs

Photo via The Far Side.

In another one of Larson's original six cartoons, the cartoonist depicted a day at the beach with two crabs observing kids building a sand castle. With a look of curiosity, one of the crabs comments on how humans are strange during the larval stage, with the kids playing in the background. While the crabs are drawn pretty well, Larson makes the kids look odd and unsettling, which would become another recurring theme of human characters in The Far Side.

Portraying how animals most likely see us as being strange, Larson explores the humorous irony of humans calling insects or animals strange for simply not understanding what they are. The panel also executes a tool Larson would later become known for with hiding the true punchline in the small details. While Larson already draws the children looking weird, one is clearly sitting in a full diaper, and the other has a fish carcass right next to her. Easily missed when first looking, these subtle details work to enhance an already funny concept and add depth to Larson's punchlines as they often reflect his true outlook on the world.

Stone Age Graffiti

No one appreciates good art

Photo via Gary Larson.

Another cartoon centering around the stupidity of humans, Larson depicts two people standing in a cave that features an ancient painting of a buffalo hunt. The two stand and stare at the cave painting with their hands on their hips and mouths open, with the caption reading "Vandalism!". A simple and straight-forward joke, but this panel also came with a prediction of the future from Larson.

While originally making the cartoon one panel out of a having a short attention span, Larson's ability to create an entire world in just one panel that readers could just stumble into is what makes his storytelling so unique and innovative. However, his often bleak and disdainful view of humanity caused many to object to his style of humor and cartooning, just as the two humans in the panel object to the cave painting. Not understanding the significance or message behind the painting left in the cave, the two write it off as just pointless vandalism without ever looking deeper, much like many critics of The Far Side would later do with Larson's own work.

Snails Reflect The Issues Of Married Life

Even the best snail couples fight from time to time

Photo via Gary Larson.

Finding the humor in looking at the world through the lens of the surreal, Larson often created the perfect punchline with some of the simplest concepts. Depicting a common argument between a married couple, Larson imagines the couple as snails who are fighting over the husband bringing slime into the house after his wife had just cleaned. A hilarious and relatable panel, the page cartoon also saw Larson finding his voice and style that would carry over to The Far Side.

The panel of the snail couple is a brilliant example of Larson's genius in his ability to tell a complete story through just a few small details that make the whole joke work. The concept of a snail getting yelled at by his wife is funny, but the different facial expressions of each of the snails and the comparison between the two is where the joke truly lies. The panel is made even funnier upon the reflection that, since his wife is a snail, she must be dragging slime in as well, making the whole argument silly and pointless, just like most are between couples.

Everyone Has Their Superstitions

The rabbit's lucky foot

Photo via Gary Larson.

Often taking jabs and pointing a finger at the strange parts of human nature that most don't take the time to consider, Larson would often explore different myths and superstitions commonly shared by people, such as being lucky or encountering lake monsters. One of Larson's early Nature's Way panels hilariously shows Larson's unique observation on the concept of luck by showing a rabbit wearing a human foot around its neck and two others looking back and unimpressed with the caption reading "He says it's for good luck."

In typical Far Side fashion, Larson flips the world of humans and animals to highlight the silly things people do. Believing a rabbit's foot is lucky is a commonly held belief by many, but few probably even know the reasoning behind it, which Larson emphasizes with the reaction of the other rabbits, who clearly don't believe it. What really makes the punchline work, however, is the intense and focused look the rabbit wearing the foot has, portraying the strong conviction people have over superstitions, even if they are obviously kind of silly.

The Far Side of OZ

Doctor Frankenstein can't bring everyone to life

Photo via Gary Larson.

While mainly focusing on the humor of everyday life, The Far Side cartoonist also mixed in famous characters from pop culture into his strips, which made readers see iconic characters or situations in a more comedic way. One of Larson's favorite properties to pull from was Frankenstein, with this early strip showcasing the doctor and his monster encountering the characters from The Wizard of Oz. Seeking a brain for the Scarecrow, and a heart for the lion, Doctor Frankenstein tells them he, unfortunately, just used his last heart and brain and to try the wizard up the road.

Having Doctor Frankenstein be one of the houses on the yellow brick road is absurd, but Larson makes it seem obvious. The panel is a great showcase of Larson's creative style of taking two seemingly opposite things and showing the commonality between them, which is where much of the humor in The Far Side comes from. The page is even funnier upon further analysis, as it shows Frankenstein's monster hiding behind the door and the lion holding it open with his paw and preventing Frankenstein from closing it, indicating he is the one scared of them.

Monsters Are Hiding Everywhere

Gary Larson's greatest fear became his funniest gag

Photo via Gary Larson.

Along with the weird and absurd, another of Gary Larson's favorite subjects is monsters. Being his biggest fear as a child, Larson's imagination of monsters lurking just out of sight was a major influence on his darker style of humor featured in his work. One early example of this comes from an early Nature's Way page depicting a bird pulling on a worm, but it's actually the tentacle of a giant monster living under the ground.

While simple and straightforward, this first cartoon by Larson featuring a monster captured the universal humor and fear that everyone can relate to concerning the unknown. Something that would be a recurring theme throughout Larson's work, balancing humor and horror, is one of the things that makes The Far Side so unique and universally relatable, especially when depicting mundane situations. The page can also be seen as a literal interpretation of the phrase "don't bite off more than you can chew," with the bird having no idea what he has just gotten himself into.

Dragons Grab A Quick Snack

A subtle jab at another famous comic strip

Photo via Gary Larson.

Going along with Larson's love for monsters, his fascination with anthropology and mythology often led to hilarious cartoons featuring historical monsters in mundane situations. Another one of Larson's first cartoons playing on the humor of monsters shows two dragons standing over a pile of armor with the caption "Of course, I never eat the shells," as a person would with peanuts or shellfish. Using dragons to highlight a silly aspect of humanity is a classic Larson gag, but this early comic could also have an even funnier meaning underneath its main punch line.

This joke could very well be a subtle jab by Larson at the famous Peanuts comics by Charles M. Schulz. Already legendary by the time Gary Larson ever put pen to paper, the knights representing the Peanuts strip can be seen as a harmless jab at the most popular comic strip of all time, but also a statement of what The Far Side would be. Unlike Peanuts, Larson sought to tackle the weird and unsettling aspects of life, making the dragons a visual statement of the differences between the two newspaper cartoons. However, Larson ensures readers that it's all in good fun with the other dragon looking at the armor and licking its lips, showing that there's no reason that readers can't enjoy both for different reasons.

Human Beings Are Not Special

The human experience is not unique

Photo via Gary Larson.

Part of the genius in Larson's work comes from its simplicity, which provokes the reader to consider things they may never have before. Much of Larson's best work comes when there is no caption at all and readers are just thrown into the middle of a story already taking place. Featuring two aliens taking a road trip on Jupiter and passing a sign for an alien Xing, this early cartoon featuring the alien road trip captures many of the iconic elements that make The Far Side a masterclass in visual storytelling.

A lot of the humor from Larson's cartoons comes from the realization that humans are no different from any other species. Whether it be aliens, animals, or monsters, humans are no different from the majority of other species, real or imaginary. The panel is a perfect example of Larson being able to create an entire world with just one simple punchline and drawing, but has multiple different layers to its comedy. In addition to the humor of imagining aliens acting like humans, a closer look shows that the road ends when reaching the mountains, showcasing that the aliens are also just as dumb as humans and brings the two punchlines together in a subtle and ingenious way.

Gary Larson Brings Readers to The Far Side

Nature made its way into history

Photo via Gary Larson.

Developing his skills and tone with Nature's Way, Gary Larson perfected the art of single-panel cartoons and established himself in a lane of his own. Combining physical comedy with his love of observing the human condition through biology and psychology, Larson brought all of his tools together, and the first Far Side cartoon launched on December 31, 1979, right before the turn of the decade. The cartoon features three boys sitting on a stoop with one of their mothers coming out in shock to see one of the boys has been sucked into his soda bottle after the kids were trying to see how far they could suck their lips into the bottle.

The first official Far Side cartoon is a perfect balance of everything Larson envisioned The Far Side to be and established itself as something unlike any other cartoon featured in the paper. Larson didn't see the cartoon as simple jokes, but a statement on life, and its bizarre nature. The panel first hits readers with the initial punchline of a kid getting stuck in a bad situation from doing something stupid, but takes it even further by adding in the horror of the mother and the terrified look of the kid's warped face and hands being trapped within the bottle. Larson was here to make others laugh, feel disgusted, and enlighten us to our place in the world, and the world of cartoon storytelling changed forever.