# Larson comic - what's the funny **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** comic-strips\ **Created:** [September 20, 2023, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434 "2023-09-20T20:09:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/1 "2023-09-20T20:09:25Z")
I thought I’d seen all of the Larson comics… but I recently [ran across this one](https://s3.amazonaws.com/gs-geo-images/e6f137ce-2084-4931-97ac-bd2f325bc69a_l.png). I’d never seen it before and I don’t get it. Help? I did do a search on this site and didn’t come up with it. ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/2 "2023-09-20T20:12:08Z")
> **[John Brown's Body](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Brown%27s_Body)** > > "John Brown's Body" (originally known as "John Brown's Song") is a United States marching song about the abolitionist John Brown. The song was popular in the Union during the American Civil War. The song arose out of the folk hymn tradition of the American camp meeting movement of the late 18th and early 19th century. According to an 1889 account, the original John Brown lyrics were a collective effort by a group of Union soldiers who were referring both to the famous John Brown and also, humorou... > _John Brown’s body lies a-mouldering in the grave,_ > _His soul’s marching on._ ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/3 "2023-09-20T20:17:33Z")
> [@peccavi](#): > > _John Brown’s body lies a-mouldering in the grave,_ > _His soul’s marching on._ I know about the song, how does that make this panel funny? Does the hose have any significance? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/4 "2023-09-20T20:20:40Z")
It’s a(n auto) body shop. So you could read it as “John Brown’s Body” Shop or “John Brown’s” Body Shop. I admit the former doesn’t make a whole lotta sense, but you should now see the ambiguity that makes the joke. ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/5 "2023-09-20T20:34:51Z")
_I just ‘splain em, I cain’t hep with ‘preciatin em_ It’s a pretty simple play on words. No amount of additional explanation will make it funnier to you. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/6 "2023-09-20T20:37:48Z")
I think it’s just a play on words - an extension of a famous song title into a mundane, modern use. That is what is supposed to be the joke - an absurd combination of the two things. Larson could have as easily made something about John Brown’s Body wash. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/7 "2023-09-20T20:38:12Z")
As others have said, John Brown was a famous abolitionist who lead a raid on Harpers Ferry,West Virginia, and was hanged for treason. Harpers Ferry was a Federal arms and ammuntion depot. The idea was to arm some freed slaves. The song “John Brown’s Body” was sung by northern Federal troups during the Civil War, or the War of Northern Aggression, or the War Between the States, depending upon your viewpoint. So the cartoon is about John Brown’s Body shop. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/8 "2023-09-20T20:42:03Z")
Just don’t try to figure out Cow Tools. That way lies madness. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/9 "2023-09-20T20:42:14Z")
I didn’t get that one either, since I don’t know the song, but Larson makes that exact joke all the time – taking a phrase and adding a word to make it something different and unexpected. I don’t think the hose has any signficance, although it does look like the owner is staring at it. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/10 "2023-09-20T20:45:24Z")
Larson published 4,337 Far Side cartoons. Not all of us are going to think every one of them was a gem. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/11 "2023-09-20T20:48:47Z")
I’m not one to question Gary Larson on what makes a cartoon funny but it would’ve been funnier if the John Brown shown in the cartoon looked like the one from the John Steuart Curry mural. [![](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragic_Prelude#/media/File:The_Tragic_Prelude_John_Brown.jpg) ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragic_Prelude#/media/File:The_Tragic_Prelude_John_Brown.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/12 "2023-09-20T20:51:26Z")
“AND FENDER SHOP” is in smaller lettering. It’s like an afterthought on the sign, even though it changes the meaning. It’s the same joke as in _Arrested Development_, when Tobias is doing a commercial and screams “WE’RE HAVING A FIRE sale”. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/13 "2023-09-20T21:06:43Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > Does the hose have any significance? Sometimes you have to look closely at the hose in a Far Side comic before it makes sense: > **[https://i.redd.it/xtm2hrvwoj091.png](https://i.redd.it/xtm2hrvwoj091.png)** ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/14 "2023-09-20T21:06:57Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > I don’t think the hose has any signficance, although it does look like the owner is staring at it. I guess that part threw me because it was stretched out to a dog (?) dish but no dog. I was trying to make that part of the joke. > [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > Larson published 4,337 Far Side cartoons. Not all of us are going to think every one of them was a gem. I wasn’t bemoaning the fact that it wasn’t funny, I just didn’t get the joke. > [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > That way lies madness. Indeed. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/15 "2023-09-20T21:06:59Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Just don’t try to figure out Cow Tools. That way lies madness. I’ve never figured that one out. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/16 "2023-09-20T21:22:18Z")
> **[Cheers best bits | S09E04 | "I don't get The Far Side"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EG68GfY_OSU%2F)** > > From S09E04: "Where Nobody Knows Your Name"Woody Harrelson "Woody"John Ratzenberger "Cliff"George Wendt "Norm" ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/17 "2023-09-20T21:22:18Z")
[![](https://kenwytsma.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/john-browns-body-header.jpg) ](https://kenwytsma.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/john-browns-body-header.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/18 "2023-09-20T21:29:46Z")
It’s purely absurdist/surreal. There’s not much to get. I’ve always found it amusing, but then I love the nonsensical. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/19 "2023-09-20T21:55:45Z")
Is that a dog dish? It looks more like a hubcap to me. I don’t think it (like the hose) adds anything to the joke, but it’s something I’d logically expect to see around an auto body shop. If someone can explain the significance of the hose and the hubcap, please do so. BTW, the lyrics I learned while growing up are _John Brown’s body lies a-mouldering in the grave,_ (3x) _but his soul goes marching on._ ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2023, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/20 "2023-09-20T22:02:06Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I’ve always found it amusing, but then I love the nonsensical. I’ve never understood the confusion. It’s just a bit meta. Animals talk and do other human stuff in The Far Side and other comics (somehow, no one is bothered by how the cow is standing on two legs). So why not make tools also? But cow tools are going to be stupid and useless because cows are dumb and don’t have great manual dexterity. It’s just a tiny bit of real-world logic invading the comic universe. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434.md?page=2)