You’ll recall, he created ‘The Far Side’ cartoon and, I think, made millions of dollars due to a lot of papers running it. He retired at a fairly young age. The guy had talent!
Personally, I tended to like those cartoons that he did which depicted scenes of hell. One such cartoon showed this scene where these humans in the background were shown hauling coal in wheelbarrows, and their torment on their faces was very evident, save for one fellow.
In the foreground, there were these two devils wearing black capes and had horns, tails and pitchforks and goatees. And so the one, noticing that the one human was whistling and wearing a happy (though goofy) look, commented to his pal, “You know, I don’t think we’re getting to him.” :dubious:
My favorite Far Side cartoon is completely offbeat, but for some strange reason I look at the thing and can’t help but laugh:
It had no caption, and merely depicts the interior of “Bob’s Ball-Bearing, Banana Peel, and Roller Skate Factory.” Or something to that effect.
I don’t know why it makes me laugh. You can’t even see the people physically fall down, so it’s not exactly slapstick. But I’ll be darned if it doesn’t always get SOME kind of smile out of me.
Just one? How cruel. The push/pull mix-up at the school for the gifted will always be a classic, if only because it’s happened to the best of us. I have book compilations and must say, those things never, ever get old.
Certainly not the best that ever was … but still one of the greats. I love that his art, while somewhat juvenile, has no relation to other cartoons–his lumpy people, his mono-brow animals… they never remind me of anyone else’s stuff.
By way of reply I refer you to one of my earliest threads that got over 100 replies: Favorite “Far Side” Memories (MAD, too) which contains many of Larson’s more effective works.
one that has stuck with me since the first day I saw it:
in the background, a farmer is walking from the barn to the house with a basket of eggs; in the foreground, a rooster is walking from the house to the barn carrying a baby.
Another pictures limp chickens scattered around a barnyard, and the sign reads “Boneless Chicken Ranch”
My favorite was never published AFAICT, however it was in The Prehistory of the Far Side. It was a snake that had eaten a baby in a crib, and was now so bloated it couldn’t get out. The snake had a really pissed off look on its face. Larson’s comments were, “No, you didn’t see this. Turn the page.”
That’s probably the only comic that’s ever made me literally laugh out loud.
A group of Cavemen are standing around, some next to a blackboard, some looking through primitive microscopes, on the blackboard there is a geometric figure with the letters DE on it…
Sure thing. I suspect reviving that thread would amount to the “don’t tickle the zombie” violation. I seem to recall other more recent threads along the same line, but can’t remember specifics. Maybe a search on “Larson” or “Far Side” could help locate them.
Another favorite: an accidental juxtiposition of comic captions between The Far Side and Peanuts. The Peanuts one worked hilariously: it showed Lucy speaking intently to Charlie Brown; the caption something like this: “I see your petrified skull sitting on a shelf”. :eek:
Man standing on the sidewalk, leaning against a wall in surgical scrubs as he reads a newspaper. The sign on his storefront says something like, “Bob’s Discount Brain Surgery. Ask about our daily special!”
A shipwreck victim stands warily in the surf of a tiny island as a man already there, with a ventriloquist’s dummy on his hand, talks to him.
Man: “So where you from, stranger?”
Dummy: “Don’t talk to him, man! Swim away as fast as you can!”
Man: “Heh heh heh. My little friend here is just joking.”
Dummmy: “No joke! He ate the guy who landed her last week!”
And, of course, the classic “What dogs actually hear when you talk to them” (Blah blah blah blah GINGER") and “What cats actually hear when you talk to them” (silence).
