The Far Side featured a number of very unusual pets, from classic domestic animals who did shocking things to animals that were domesticated and didn’t need to be kept in people’s living rooms. Gary Larson satirized the very idea of pets in a number of memorable short stories, offering variations on this premise, all of which will strike a chord with readers in some way.
In these hilarious Far Side Pet panels, Gary Larson took two different paths, each ultimately leading to some solid laughs. Larson presents surprising and, in some cases, moving bonds between humans and wild animals. These jokes are rooted in the basic absurdity of keeping animals like rhinos and giant squids as pets.
Alternatively, Larson has subverted the pet-owner relationship in a different way by featuring domesticated creators, such as goldfish and dogs, who reprimand or rebel against their humans, to great comedic effect. .
10. The goldfish on the other side are up to something (but what is their point of view?)
First published: February 28, 1983
In this “Far Side” goldfish panel, a woman walks through a front door into a waiting trap set by her pet fish, only to find herself hanging upside down by a rope around her ankles. The question of why these fish were willing to upend the pet-owner relationship and set this trap remains unanswered, but the details of the fish bait next to their bowls may help readers understand this. It suggests that you may not have thought it through completely. Through.
The joke here isn’t just about upending the relationship between pet and owner, it’s about doing it in a logically impossible way. It’s the gap between what’s being portrayed and the “how” and “why” that makes it a powerful example of Gary Larson’s iconic absurdist style of humor.
9 Gary Larson’s Pet Jokes Were Out of This World (What Are They Saying?)
First publication date: February 9, 1984
In one of The Far Side’s best alien panels, a green extraterrestrial creature coaxes a three-eyed pet into mischief, demanding “coona hoony” on command. When an alien pet’s owner becomes dissatisfied, its companion stretches out its eyeballs to earn its owner’s smile.
Captioned “Pet Tricks from Other Planets,” the humor here centers less on the set of images and more on the use of invented alien language. In The Far Side, Gary Larson often interpreted familiar human actions and activities from an outsider’s perspective, and this is perhaps the most extreme example of that. Critics may claim that many of the Pharcyde comics were “nonsense,” but most of them had more internal logic than even Gary Larson would admit. The nonsense here is intentional and effectively funny.
8 Giant squid were common pets on the other side (but why?)
First publication date: February 17, 1984
In this “Far Side Squid” panel, a man storms down the street in anger with a stick, enraged that his pet squid “jumped over the fence again”, and a poor squid crouches in a dark alley. The situation is depicted. The squid’s eyes are the most effective part of this panel, conveying the true sense of fear it feels when it is caught by its mean owner, mixing humor with a bit of sadness in this panel.
Related: 10 Far Side comics that will turn museums and zoos upside down
Gary Larson provides multiple hilarious far-side panels set in museums and zoos, sharply subverting the reader’s understanding of these places.
Gary Larson has drawn numerous pet squids in various Far Side comics over the years. In fact, the squid was probably Larson’s favorite recurring unnatural pet. One of Larson’s go-to creative moves was to take something out of its normal context and place it in a radically unexpected setting or scenario. Or, in the case of his pet giant squid, both. Because there’s nothing more unnatural than giant tentacles. Sea creatures that appear on land and are tamed.
7 Funny pet squid panel on the other side (how fast can the door-to-door salesman get out of there?)
First publication date: July 13, 1984
Gary Larson once again finds great humor in his pet giant squid. This squid’s eyes are the key to this Far Side cartoon, except this cephalopod’s face has an expression of anger instead of fear. “Oh, no, he’s completely harmless,” the squid’s owner said to the salesman-like figure who was hesitating in the doorway, but added, “Just don’t show fear. You can feel the fear.”
In addition to being one of Larson’s most laugh-out-loud punchlines, this is perfect because the squid’s size contrasts both with the much smaller humans and the cramped apartment the squid lives in. It is also an illustration. its natural habitat. Meanwhile, the angry eyes of a squid charging at an intruder in its territory will surely pierce the heart of Far Side readers.
6 Surprising and moving Far Side Psycho Comic (When will Dad come home?)
First publication date: August 6, 1984
This Far Side Rhino panel is strange in its premise featuring a pet rhinoceros, but it’s still one of the very, very rare comics created by Gary Larson, and it’s no wonder that It can be called “sweet” in any form. Larson uses a split-panel format to depict a man on a business trip calling home from a phone booth while his wife holds the phone up to their pet rhino and asks him to “grow one grunt to daddy.” .
This may be silly and strange, but implicit in the joke is that rhinos are good pets, valued family members, and are lonely when “daddy” is away. It means that it is. In fact, this is the crux of the joke, making it one of the most memorable Far Side comics about unexpected and unconventional pets.
5 Farside’s two pet giant squid reach the pound at once (what is the probability?)
First publication date: September 20, 1984
In this pet squid panel from The Far Side, Gary Larson not only takes the idea that some people keep giant deep-sea squids as pets, but takes it to the next level by making fun of it. I’m creating a joke. The scenario presented is the highly unlikely scenario in which two different pet giant squid are lost by their owners and end up in the pound at the same time.
The Far Side Complete Collection
Save $71 $125 $54
Fans of the other side won’t want to miss this master collection of Gary Larson’s best work. Published in hardcover in 2003, this paperback set includes a newly designed slipcase that will look great on any shelf. The Complete Far Side includes every Far Side manga ever published, over 4,000, plus over 1,100 never before published in a book, and more. It also includes comics created after Larson’s retirement.
Adding another layer to the punchline, the caption shows that the owner of one of these squids is standing in front of the squid in the foreground of the panel, but pointing to one of the squids, making it look like the two It is revealed that they cannot even tell the difference between squid. – stepped well out of frame and said, “Wait! It’s my mistake! It’s him over there,” and almost took the wrong thing home.
4 The price of a pet rhinoceros should be astronomical (is it worth it?)
First publication date: January 10, 1986
Every pet owner knows that the love and companionship of their animal is a return on a very real and very large financial investment. That investment includes both expected costs, such as food, and unexpected costs, such as in the case of a pet dog. In the case of rhinos, they cause damage to homes.
Gary Larson provides hilarious details about the fact of pet ownership here. In the foreground is a panel featuring a rhino’s horn breaking through the front door of its owner’s home, while in the background the woman of the home places her hand on the rhino. “A spoiled rhino will bark or lunge at the door all night until we let him in,” he complains.
3 The Other Side proves you can teach an old fish new tricks (but can he do it again?)
First publication date: April 10, 1986
Gary Larson once again features a seemingly ordinary pet goldfish doing something completely unexpected. In fact, it seems rather expected, but no less surprising. “I’m doing it! I’m doing it!” the man yelled to his wife as the goldfish jumped out of the bowl and landed on his finger. The implication is that a man has been trying to train a fish to do exactly this, and it finally happened.
What makes this Far Side manga particularly interesting is the wide range of facial reactions from the characters. In the background of the frame, the wife looks confused, if not completely indifferent, while the husband looks in a mixture of shock and glee. Most interesting of all, the goldfish seems surprised and alarmed by the outcome, suggesting it may not become a habit.
2 All pet owners make sacrifices for their animals (but how much is too much?
First publication date: October 4, 1986
In this particularly funny Far Side Bear panel, a man proudly talks about the bear he raised from a cub, but then learns that “don’t try to take away the food trough until she’s finished.” This was a lesson that cost him dearly. It is proven that there was a hook in his arm, in that place.
Related The Far Side’s First 5 Cow Comics and Last 5 Cow Comics (And How Gary Larson’s Style Evolved During That Time)
Cows have been a staple of The Far Side for years, and a look at the first and last five cows to appear in the comic shows how Gary Larson’s style has grown.
The worried expressions on the guest’s faces complete the punchline here, but the incredibly precise composition makes it one of Gary Larson’s best works. In the foreground, a bear is shown with its nose buried in the food bowl in question, and the pet bear is depicted as absolutely gigantic. Meanwhile, the proud owner and his friend are sitting at a small table near the corner of the room, in the background of the frame. This suggests that pet bears could be easy prey if they were so inclined.
1 One of The Far Side’s Darkest Pet-Owner Conflicts (How Will It End?)
First publication date: February 6, 1988
According to Gary Larson, some Far Side comics have elaborate backstories that make this feel like a joke that means even more than what’s shown in the panels. It also ranks among The Far Side’s darkest dog jokes because its premise is rooted in the idea of animal abuse. The comic depicts a dog with dynamite strapped to its chest, perhaps not for the first time, valiantly kicking its owner and finding out the consequences.
Of all the pets that confronted their owners in the “Far Side” panel, this one is the most extreme and desperate. The image of a dog with a bomb on its hip and its aggressive outburst in the caption may strike readers as immediately funny, but the more time you spend with the dog, the more you realize it’s one of the most uncompromisingly dark things. It starts to feel like something. side comic.
The Far Side Complete Collection
Save $71 $125 $54
Fans of the other side won’t want to miss this master collection of Gary Larson’s best work. Originally published in hardcover in 2003, this paperback set comes with a newly designed slipcase that will look great on any shelf. The Complete Far Side includes every Far Side manga ever published, over 4,000, plus over 1,100 never before published in a book, and more. It also includes comics created after Larson’s retirement.
