# 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:** 11\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2025, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/201 "2025-10-30T01:51:35Z")
> [@Baal\_Houtham](#): > > The Chase is thematically similar to another Larsen drawing, “Although skilled with their pillow arsenal, the Wimpodites were favorite targets of Viking attacks”. I also recall a comic involving Columbus’ maiden voyage, and the sign “Eat our wake Pintaheads!” ---
**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:** [October 30, 2025, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/202 "2025-10-30T02:14:54Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > Hard to beat the classics… [The Thagomizer!](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKYyufOdALpEkjlDuFxl3woh2mPIaj28zKATxXKBrMbxm7GJI3Y6iZBunJWVyLihvvDY5v-alU4a1RffpdSenz8_lyFXFN_4pln4_6856Kjvy5WHYHLCdTTsjurk77weP0LotSXebErVdtpsTL5mPcIQetFNKivUIZqjzTOBFmzqxxkYhEzsD0Y2Pj/s1190/thagomizer.png) I love the fact that “thagomizer” has been adopted as a real term used by paleontologists to refer to the spikes on a stegosaurus’ tail. > **[Thagomizer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thagomizer)** > > A thagomizer (/ˈθæɡəmaɪzər/) is the distinctive arrangement of spike-shaped osteoderms on the tails of some stegosaurian dinosaurs. These spikes are believed to have been a defensive measure against predators. > The arrangement of spikes originally had no distinct name. Cartoonist Gary Larson invented the name "thagomizer" in 1982 as a joke in his comic strip The Far Side, and it was gradually adopted as an informal term sometimes used within scientific circles, research, and education. > The ter... ---
**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:** [October 30, 2025, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/203 "2025-10-30T17:45:24Z")
I think for pure, devilish humor the basement monster is hard to beat. > **[Reddit - The heart of the internet](https://www.reddit.com/r/TheFarSide/comments/yab06q/basement_monster/)** ETA: Someone in that thread mentioned The Floating Head of death comic. I had never seen that one! > **[Reddit - The heart of the internet](https://www.reddit.com/r/TheFarSide/comments/ik7wk6/floating_head_of_death/)** ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2025, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/204 "2025-10-30T19:28:58Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > I think for pure, devilish humor the basement monster is hard to beat. I wonder if that would work for my kid. Too bad we don’t have a basement. ---
**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:** [October 30, 2025, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/205 "2025-10-30T19:36:03Z")
Presumably, the Wimpodites’ modern-day descendants include **[Rudy](https://ifunny.co/picture/ho-money-huh-well-let-s-see-if-rudy-and-T2TEOkzt7)**. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2025, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/206 "2025-10-30T19:37:49Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > > [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > > > I think for pure, devilish humor the basement monster is hard to beat. > > I wonder if that would work for my kid. Too bad we don’t have a basement. Well, that…and the fact that it probably qualifies as child abuse. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2025, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/207 "2025-10-30T22:33:14Z")
Another one of my favorites. [![](https://breatheandburn.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/how-nature-says-do-not-touch.jpg?w=590) ](https://breatheandburn.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/how-nature-says-do-not-touch.jpg?w=590) ---
**Author:** ![Newtosite](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/newtosite/32/8623_2.png) [@Newtosite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Newtosite)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2025, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/208 "2025-10-31T05:04:17Z")
I’ve always liked this one. Scroll down for the caption. [The Far Side | Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/groups/franksthefarside/posts/1685911788784262/) ---
**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:** [October 31, 2025, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/209 "2025-10-31T15:30:54Z")
Faux paw, ha ha. That’s rich. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2025, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/210 "2025-10-31T23:26:08Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Sadly, I think that’s on Larson’s inability to make it clear that it is an eye on a couch (more like a mattress) rather than a couch with an eye. I remember in one of his books, he commented that sometimes the reduction from draft size to print size would obscure an important detail, like bunny ears being mistaken for a hair bow. [far side cows at grand canyon - Search](https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=XDEvd3Q7&id=E6CEFC217A4A718AE2D4CA027241C8C1954D2C68&thid=OIP.XDEvd3Q7NW8aeNuVzFuxgQHaFP&mediaurl=https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/far-side-most-confusing-comic-cows-on-holiday-but-now-in-color.jpg&exph=992&expw=1400&q=far%20side%20cows%20at%20grand%20canyon&ck=1BDF47BB54D60B5CA7EDA31267399FE7&idpp=rc&idpview=singleimage&form=rc2idp&ajaxhist=0&ajaxserp=0) ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2025, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434/211 "2025-11-01T21:08:19Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > Hard to beat the classics… [The Thagomizer!](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKYyufOdALpEkjlDuFxl3woh2mPIaj28zKATxXKBrMbxm7GJI3Y6iZBunJWVyLihvvDY5v-alU4a1RffpdSenz8_lyFXFN_4pln4_6856Kjvy5WHYHLCdTTsjurk77weP0LotSXebErVdtpsTL5mPcIQetFNKivUIZqjzTOBFmzqxxkYhEzsD0Y2Pj/s1190/thagomizer.png) I was at an event one evening at our local museum that has dinosaurs. One display mentioned the Thagomizer, and one of the people I was talking to wouldn’t believe me when I explained the origin of the term. They had to google it before they believed it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/larson-comic-whats-the-funny/990434.md?page=10)