Though a comic from the 1980’s The Far Side by Gary Larson is a cult classic, perfect for all the strange and twisted people of the world. There is no central theme other than satire that runs throughout The Far Side; characters range anywhere from Satan to cows. Larson’s work is full of puns that sometimes bring out a groan of terrible hilarity from even the most strong-minded reader (that is if the joke does not offend you). His “punny” words are juxtaposed with iconic drawings done usually within one frame. Larson has been known to use mini-frames set within a larger one, but you do not see that very often.
The Far Side is however, only appreciated by people with a slightly sardonic sense of humor. The problem is that Larson depicts controversial issues- gender relations, animal rights, and even religion- in a light of irony that many people find offensive. The Far Side work is meant to point out some of the idiosyncrasies of human nature and the inconsistencies of our society in addition to being just another comic. It is most assuredly not a comic for the easily offended and when reading The Far Side it is very important to take everything that Larson writes with a grain of salt, remembering that what you are reading is a satire.
The Far Side in all its glory only ran from 1980- 1995, and is best known in compiled book form. The comic may not be popular in its own right, but it is still quite common to find Far Side calendars, t-shirts, and other merchandise. I recommend The Far Side as an easy way to laugh at yourself and ridicule the world in which we live. Feel free to look it up on-line or in your favorite bookstore.
Leah's Honors Core 4 blog 
January 25, 2007 at 3:24 am |
Exactly 300 words!!!!!!
January 25, 2007 at 5:11 am |
You took very interesting comic, especially if it offends the majority of the people. I find your review very good, the wording is neat!
January 25, 2007 at 10:01 pm |
Nice Review. The first sentence is a little awkward but after that the flow is quiet nice. I would also break the paragraphs up with a space to make it appeal more to the eyes. Good Post!
January 26, 2007 at 1:02 am |
You express well what is so enduring about the Far Side, and why it was such a landmark comic. Yet some of your commentary reveals a lack of understanding of its context. “Only” ran 15 years? That’s a lengthy run by any standards. It’s no better known in book form than Peanuts, Calvin and Hobbes or other strips that are no longer found in the newspapers; you seem to imply that it didn’t become popular until it was collected in books, which is not at all the case. I don’t know of any evidence that the Far Side ever offended people — no protests, no calls for it to be pulled from newspapers. Its twisted sense of humor was and is well understood by a large public, and it never caused controversy that I know of, certainly not on any major scale as Doonesbury sometimes does with politics, or strips that feature crude humor do. You’ve tried to make some assertions here about the importance of the strip that unfortunately stray from the actual facts, and you will have a lot of readers who remember the Far Side era well. As a critic you have to either know your stuff or refrain from speculating!
January 26, 2007 at 2:15 pm |
I can testify that The Far Side is a favorite of science professors; walk through any academic science building and you’ll probably find some taped to professors’ doors. I use them frequently on tests and sometimes give students extra credit for explaining the cartoon or re-writing the caption using appropriate psychological or neuroscience terminology. A professor even named a new species of lice after Larson in appreciation for his work.
Though I am not aware of any major public outrage regarding the strip, of the type that occured, as an example, in For Better or For Worse when Laurence came out of the closet, Larson did attract his share of contoversy, as documented in The PreHistory of the Far Side collection. He got complaints from one strip that some interpreted as depicting a dog having sex with a car, and was threatened with a lawsuit from the Jane Goodall Institute, because some thought he was implying that she had had sex with chimpanzees. Goodall herself, it should be noted, was not aware of this action; she loved the cartoon and put a stop to the legal action as soon as she learned of it.
January 28, 2007 at 2:24 am |
It is a good review. It needs better formating. Without spaces between paragraphs it was too busy.
I will just say that I agree with Louise. I have never really hear of groups of people being so outraged at Farside. Maybe one or so people every now and again. But it sort of sounds like the or close to the majority of people were angered by Larson from your review.
January 28, 2007 at 9:50 pm |
Amen to Anthony. The spacing between paragraphs is essential to electronic formatting. I do get a bit of a confused vibe from the review. You recommend it to readers at the end, but I can’t tell whether your review is a positive or negative reaction to the strip. While that is not as important in this movement of the class, it is important to convey yourself with consistency. If you spend the review talking about its offensive nature and its appeal to only a select audience, don’t feel obligated to pull the punch at the end.
February 3, 2007 at 5:50 am |
It was a good review, but I saw a few things that could have been tweaked:
When you first switch to second person in the first paragraph, I thought it felt a little awkward.
According to Toonopedia, Larson’s comic ended in 1994, Calvin and Hobbes in 1996 – I didn’t see 1995 anywhere. Maybe different sources, which is not all that uncommon from the internet, eh?
Like Mr. Simmons and Sensei Snook said, paragraphing is essential. It allows the reader to read along with you instead of becoming wrapped up in your formatting. Think of it like rolling the story in different sized blankets – if you use too much blanket, the story will suffocate – too little and it’s too exposed.
Good job overall, though. On the science note, did you look at Farside or Gary Larson? Do a google image search for garylarsoni and see what you get and then you’ll see why scientists loved him.
February 10, 2007 at 6:10 am |
AUTHOR’S NOTE:
Topic: Enjoyment, simple pure pleasure of sick twistedness (offensive according to wikipedia)
Thesis: Farside if purely enjoyable, but not for all people because it tends to have a darkside to most of its humor.
Significance: We all have a darkside to our sense of humor. Farside is a healthy way to give that darkside some exercise. Much healthier than torturing kittens.