# Is The Far Side Returning? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 15, 2019, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-far-side-returning/840244 "2019-09-15T02:22:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2019, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-far-side-returning/840244/1 "2019-09-15T02:22:47Z")
[https://www.thefarside.com/](https://www.thefarside.com/) Hmmmm… any ideas as to what this is? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2019, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-far-side-returning/840244/2 "2019-09-15T02:40:01Z")
The simplest explanation is that they’re going to run old Far Side cartoons on that site. Probably a new (old) one each day. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2019, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-far-side-returning/840244/3 "2019-09-15T02:41:22Z")
Well, I sure hope so, though my online searches haven’t turned up anything. But I’ve booked that website and I’ll be eagerly following it. It does appear to be a new drawing by Larson, and one that surely implies some sort of revival. Ever since Berke Breathe revived Bloom County, I’ve hoped for such news. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2019, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-far-side-returning/840244/4 "2019-09-15T02:41:25Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > [https://www.thefarside.com/](https://www.thefarside.com/) > > Hmmmm… any ideas as to what this is? No idea…but it occured to me: Surely people like Larson or Alan Moore would often just have great ideas. I wonder if Larson kept an idea jar. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2019, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-far-side-returning/840244/5 "2019-09-15T02:46:13Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > No idea…but it occured to me: Surely people like Larson or Alan Moore would often just have great ideas. I wonder if Larson kept an idea jar. I wonder if he kept a [jar idea](https://www.google.com/search?q=The+far+side+jar&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi21tu759HkAhXiGjQIHRCdCUwQ_AUIBygC&biw=408&bih=646) jar? ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2019, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-far-side-returning/840244/6 "2019-09-15T02:48:47Z")
Well, I’d offer Larson more likely than Moore. It’s pretty clear that Moore is just a goddam lunatic at this point. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2019, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-far-side-returning/840244/7 "2019-09-15T03:27:40Z")
Was there a time when he wasn’t? ---
**Author:** ![Lare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/53a042/32.png) [@Lare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lare)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2019, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-far-side-returning/840244/8 "2019-09-15T19:37:45Z")
Huh. A web search only returns this page so I, too, will wait on tinterhooks for more news. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-far-side-returning/840244/9 "2019-09-16T02:30:15Z")
> **[Gary Larson | Retirement](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Larson#Retirement)** > > By late 1994, Larson thought the series was getting repetitive and did not want to enter what he called the "Graveyard of Mediocre Cartoons." He retired the strip on January 1, 1995, when he was 44 years old. Since retiring from The Far Side, Larson has done occasional cartoon work, including magazine illustrations and promotional artwork for The Far Side merchandise. For the most part, he has also retired from public view: "He refuses to have his picture taken and avoids being on TV", Time > [@](#): > > Since 1999 Larson has objected to his work being displayed on the internet, and has been sending takedown notices to owners of fan websites and users posting his cartoons.[22] In a personal letter included with the requests, Larson claimed that his work is too personal and important to him to have others “take control of it”.[23][22] Larson has been criticized for not providing a legitimate online source for the Far Side series and negatively compared to cartoonists who have embraced the internet.[24] > > In September 2019, the Far Side web site promised that “a new online era of the Far Side is coming!”[25] Doesn’t really add anything but the implication may be that it will be an official online collection of far side cartoons. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-far-side-returning/840244/10 "2019-09-16T15:07:01Z")
No, no update except to mention that The New York Times, The A.V. Club and The Daily Cartoonist noted the update to The Far Side website. The bit I found slightly sad was that The A.V. Club thought it was necessary to [explain what The Far Side was](https://news.avclub.com/throw-away-your-calendars-the-far-side-is-finally-comi-1838129806). Perhaps they’re being facetious, or perhaps it’s been long enough that a good percentage of the public never saw it in the wild, so to speak. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-far-side-returning/840244/11 "2019-09-16T15:29:03Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > No, no update except to mention that The New York Times, The A.V. Club and The Daily Cartoonist noted the update to The Far Side website. The bit I found slightly sad was that The A.V. Club thought it was necessary to [explain what The Far Side was](https://news.avclub.com/throw-away-your-calendars-the-far-side-is-finally-comi-1838129806). Perhaps they’re being facetious, or perhaps it’s been long enough that a good percentage of the public never saw it in the wild, so to speak. It’s been a LONG time since it was in newspapers. Checking, it stopped Jan 1, 1995. So we’re looking at nearly 25 years. That’s a lot of people born after it ended. I’ll welcome it’s return, if it is doing so. But I don’t doubt that a lot of people don’t know it except - at best - by reputation, if that. ---
**Author:** ![sps49sd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@sps49sd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sps49sd)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-far-side-returning/840244/12 "2019-09-16T15:40:57Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Well, I sure hope so, though my online searches haven’t turned up anything. > > But I’ve booked that website and I’ll be eagerly following it. > > It does appear to be a new drawing by Larson, and one that surely implies some sort of revival. > > Ever since Berke Breathe revived Bloom County, I’ve hoped for such news. I’m waiting for Bill Watterson to come back. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-far-side-returning/840244/13 "2019-09-16T15:51:49Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > > > No, no update except to mention that The New York Times, The A.V. Club and The Daily Cartoonist noted the update to The Far Side website. The bit I found slightly sad was that The A.V. Club thought it was necessary to [explain what The Far Side was](https://news.avclub.com/throw-away-your-calendars-the-far-side-is-finally-comi-1838129806). Perhaps they’re being facetious, or perhaps it’s been long enough that a good percentage of the public never saw it in the wild, so to speak. > > It’s been a LONG time since it was in newspapers. Checking, it stopped Jan 1, 1995. So we’re looking at nearly 25 years. That’s a lot of people born after it ended. > > I’ll welcome it’s return, if it is doing so. But I don’t doubt that a lot of people don’t know it except - at best - by reputation, if that. Even weirder; a percentage of those have probably really never read a printed newspaper. (And I suspect that some of the younger generation is familiar with The Far Side only in the form of a page-a-day calendars.) ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-far-side-returning/840244/14 "2019-09-16T17:28:56Z")
> [@sps49sd](#): > > I’m waiting for Bill Watterson to come back. ☹ Hear, hear. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-far-side-returning/840244/15 "2019-09-16T17:36:57Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > Well, I’d offer Larson more likely than Moore. It’s pretty clear that Moore is just a goddam lunatic at this point. [Do not fuck with Alan Moore.](https://www.somethingpositive.net/sp02132008.shtml) ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-far-side-returning/840244/16 "2019-09-16T17:55:47Z")
> [@sps49sd](#): > > I’m waiting for Bill Watterson to come back. ☹ The thing is tho, Bill has allowed C & H to go on in reruns. Larson, for whatever reason, does not, unless this is a way for him to control the process (vs. putting them on GoComics and/or the syndicates). ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-far-side-returning/840244/17 "2019-09-16T18:16:58Z")
Is the comic on his site with the guy torching the ice-blocked cow new? ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-far-side-returning/840244/18 "2019-09-16T18:21:43Z")
heres an amusing tweet from the guy who writes “questionable content” : Full Time Unicron Blogger Retweeted Charli XCXKCD ✔ @jephjacques It’s a fuckin sign of the times that Gary Larson is coming back and everyone’s response isn’t “omg yay” but “oh no what if he’s a nazi now” ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-far-side-returning/840244/19 "2019-09-16T20:06:09Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Is the comic on his site with the guy torching the ice-blocked cow new? I don’t recall seeing it before in any Far Side collection, and I own all the standard ones ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2019, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-far-side-returning/840244/20 "2019-09-16T20:23:58Z")
Jonathan Chance: > [@](#): > > So we’re looking at nearly 25 years. That’s a lot of people born after it ended. Even a sizable number of people born and themselves becoming parents after it ended. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-far-side-returning/840244.md?page=2)