The Far Side

Infobox Comic strip
title=The Far Side
creator=Gary Larson


caption=Wiener Dog Art, one of many "Far Side"
collections published in the United States, features an artist stamping a paint-covered dachshund on a canvas.
current=
status=Ended
syndicate=Chronicle Features (1980–1985)
Universal Press Syndicate (1985–1995)
comictype=print
genre=Humor, Satire
first=January 1, 1980
last=January 1, 1995
preceded by=Nature's Way

"The Far Side" is a popular one-panel syndicated comic created by Gary Larson. 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. Due to Larson's biology background, use of animals and nature facts is extremely common. The strip ran from January 1, 1980 to January 1, 1995. Reruns are still printed in many newspapers.

"The Far Side" was carried by more than 1900 daily newspapers and has been translated into 17 languages, inspiring 22 compilation books. [ cite web
url = http://www.andrewsmcmeel.com/products/?isbn=0740721135
title = The Complete Far Side
publisher = Andrews McMeel Publishing
accessdate = 2008-09-03 ]

The series was preceded by a similar panel called "Nature's Way", also by Larson.

The comic

Most "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 utilized for conversations. Sunday comics were double-sized, done in watercolor or colored pencils, with captions hand written in Larson's own cursive.

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 islands, aliens, the life of cavemen, and many cartoons focusing on animals, especially cows.

Larson was recognized for his work on the strip with the National Cartoonist Society Newspaper Panel Cartoon Award for 1985 and 1988, [ cite web
url = http://www.reuben.org/ncs/archive/divisions/panels.asp
title = NCS Awards—Newspaper Panel
publisher = National Cartoonists Society
accessdate = 2008-09-03 ] and their Reuben Award for 1990 and 1994. [ cite web
url = http://www.reuben.org/ncs/archive/divisions/reuben2.asp
title = The Reuben Award 1975 to present
publisher = National Cartoonists Society
accessdate = 2008-09-03 ]

Criticism

Larson's comic has been attacked by people and groups to whom it caused offense. Several "Far Side" jokes have involved violence and murder, often between animals or humans and animals. Though not visually gory, some readers have found such strips to be too gruesome and dark for the comics page.

One cartoon shows two chimpanzees grooming. One finds a human hair on the other and inquires, "Conducting a little more 'research' with that Goodall tramp?" The Jane Goodall Institute considered this to be in bad taste, and its lawyers drafted a letter to Larson and his distribution syndicate in which it described the cartoon as an "atrocity." It was stymied, however, by Goodall herself, who revealed that she found the cartoon amusing. Since then, all profits from sales of a shirt featuring this cartoon have been donated to the Institute. Larson was attacked by Frodo, a chimp described by Goodall as a bully, while visiting Gombe National Park in 1988. [ cite web
url = http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-10878_11-6105462.html
title = Geek Trivia: Quite a tail to tell
author = Jay Garmon
work = Tech Republic
publisher = CNET Networks, Inc.
date = 2006-08-15
accessdate = 2008-09-03 ]

Larson has occasionally engaged in self-censorship, acknowledging that some of his cartoons were seriously over the line. "The Prehistory of the Far Side" shows a number of these.

In "" as well as "The Prehistory of the Far Side", interspersed with the comics, there are letters from angry citizens to newspaper publishers, demanding the removal of "The Far Side" from their pages, and often citing a canceled subscription if this was not met. However, these protesters constituted a small enough minority that papers were able to continue to run the strip, with the matter becoming moot when compilation books were produced. Larson himself often laughs at the controversies of his comic as evidenced in "The Prehistory of the Far Side", in which he writes that these people have usually misunderstood the cartoon.

Publications

Gary Larson has produced 23 "Far Side" books, all of which have made it to 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 ("The Far Side Galleries"). Additional best-of collections were published, such as "The Prehistory of The Far Side", culminating in the final, most complete publication, "The Complete Far Side".

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 Gallery" (ISBN 0-8362-2062-5)
*October 1986: "The Far Side Gallery 2" (ISBN 0-8362-2085-4)
*October 1988: "The Far Side Gallery 3" (ISBN 0-8362-1831-0)
*January 1989: "" (ISBN 0-8362-1851-5)
*October 1993: "The Far Side Gallery 4" (ISBN 0-8362-1724-1)
*September 1995 "The Far Side Gallery 5" (ISBN 0-8362-0425-5)
*April 1998: "There's a Hair in My Dirt!" (ISBN 0-06-093274-0; not a collection of single panels)
*August 2003: "" (ISBN 0-7407-2113-5)

The five "Far Side Galleries" are the most popular of the books, each of them collecting together the best cartoons from three smaller books, along with a humorous foreword by a celebrity fan, 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, which contains nearly every "Far Side" comic ever published, although some cartoons written for Christmas cards were not included. 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 nineteen and a half pounds (8.8 kilograms). Some of the comics were altered for this book, either featuring a different caption or correcting errors or simply colorised. In 2003 Gary Larson drew a cover for the November 17th edition of The New Yorker magazine, [ [http://www.cartoonbank.com/product_details.asp?sid=68648&keyword=larson The Times cover 17-Nov-2003] ] a prestigious offer he said he couldn't refuse. [ [http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2003/nov/30/gary_larson_revisits/ The Lawrence Journal-World] ]

On television

In 1994, Larson produced an animated special, "Tales from the Far Side", featuring his art style and gags from the strips. He followed up with a sequel in 1997.

Online

It is difficult to find many "Far Side" cartoons online, since Larson (and/or his publishers and lawyers) has been very effective at persuading people to not infringe on his copyright. There is a widely distributed [http://www.portmann.com/farside/home.html letter] online, attributed to Gary Larson, in which he explains the "emotional cost" to him of people displaying his cartoons on their websites, and asks them to stop doing so.

ee also

*Thagomizer
*"Strigiphilus garylarsoni"

Notes

External links

* [http://www.thefarside.com/ Gary Larson's "The Far Side" (official site)]
* [http://www.toonopedia.com/farside.htm Toonopedia entry on "The Far Side"]
*imdb name|0488989|Gary Larson
* [http://www.reuben.org/ncs/awards.asp NCS Awards]