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The Far Side – By Gary Larson

thefarside.com

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Re: The Far Side – By Gary Larson

#131

Post by jacquesm »

Wistar wrote: post #130
jacquesm wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me it's also a cow one: 'Car!'.

Someone close to me has the original of the “Car” cartoon. Gary gave it to him as a gift shortly after it was published. It is pen and ink and Letratone on paperboard and is about 18” wide. For a year or two in the late 90s, the artwork went missing and was thought to have been stolen, but was eventually found to have been put in storage.

Wow, that is incredible. First that it wouldn't have pride of place somewhere (it's as if the gift wasn't properly appreciated), second that it would end up in storage and then that it was found again. If they need a safe place to store it give them my email ;)

Re: The Far Side – By Gary Larson

#132

Post by vmurthy »

aksss wrote: post #126
justworkout wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The creepiness is something nobody ever seems to mention about The Far Side and that's my biggest lasting impression of the comics. They're deeply unsettling and have a weird uncanny valley feeling to me. That's not to say they're bad. But something about them always has a tinge of horror to me.

Well a lot of it is quite dark. One of my favorites being the jet pilots asking each other why there’s a mountain goat in the clouds.

This reminds me of the sub Reddit /r/twosentencehorror.

https://www.reddit.com/r/TwoSentenceHorror/>.

Re: The Far Side – By Gary Larson

#134

Post by southernplaces7 »

I've loved the far side since childhood and couldn't even begin to name a favorite. In a somewhat (though maybe darker and more cynical) similar vein, I also recommend checking out "Perry Bible Fellowship" and his comics. Google search leads right to the site where they're all posted.

Re: The Far Side – By Gary Larson

#135

Post by dspillett »

justworkout wrote: post #124
7thaccount wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My mother used to drag me to the Hallmark store as a kid and she'd spend unreasonable amounts of time chatting with the workers and browsing who knows what. I think this was before I had a Gameboy and my only salvation was reading those Farside books. I both enjoyed them and was seriously creeped out by them. They also had Calvin and Hobbes which I adored.

The creepiness is something nobody ever seems to mention about The Far Side and that's my biggest lasting impression of the comics. They're deeply unsettling and have a weird uncanny valley feeling to me. That's not to say they're bad. But something about them always has a tinge of horror to me.

Surreal humour and art seems to trigger a little of that disgust reflex that makes it feel darker than it might otherwise be, and it tends to have a dark tinge to start with. That Far Side is often just a little surreal can make this worse in an uncanny valley sort of way, also it often takes the sort of thing that might be a simple kid's joke¹ a step or few further which touches that “I'd have rather kept that bit of innocence, thanks” nerve.

It isn't really that dark often² IMO, but it pushes your buttons and your head makes it so. Many people like that, some really find it creepy.

--

[1] a simple joke for kids, not a joke for kids who can't get into Midvale!

[2] except, of course, when it is!

Re: The Far Side – By Gary Larson

#136

Post by [deleted] »

philipkglass wrote: post #80
tpoindex wrote: post #58

I love the Far Side, glad to have it online. The two volume set has a featured spot on my bookshelf. And fun to see other commenters here share some of my favorites Far Sides. What contemporary comics are people following? Two of my current daily views are: Bizarro - clever puns + such, single frame: https://www.arcamax.com/thefunnies/bizarro/ Dark Side of the Horse - low key sublime: https://www.gocomics.com/darksid…

Perry Bible Fellowship: https://pbfcomics.com/ One of the best known strips, and a fine joke about historical fiction (or maybe just history itself): https://pbfcomics.com/comics/now-showing/

[deleted]

Re: The Far Side – By Gary Larson

#137

Post by [deleted] »

nullhole wrote: post #3

Worth noting is Gary Larson's original response to the WWW was an open letter asking fans not to post his cartoons online. Akin to the Bill Gates letter on copying software, but, perhaps, more understandable. This website is a reversal of that original position. He was thoughtful then, and is thoughtful now. The original letter: https://www.portmann.com/farside/index.html?home.html And the reversal: https://www.thefa…

[deleted]

Re: The Far Side – By Gary Larson

#140

Post by dmurray »

b450 wrote: post #20

I have several well-worn Far Side collections, including one with a lovely introduction by Jane Goodall, which has a funny story behind it [1] Linking my favorite below [2] > Donning his new canine decoder, Professor Schwarzman becomes the first human being on Earth to hear what barking dogs are actually saying. [1] http://www.hopkinsandcompany.com/Books/The%20Complete%20Far%... [2] https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FNZar0…

I'm a fan of the SMBC take on this one:

https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/springtime

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