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What makes a Far Side comic clever?
A single panel has to establish a situation and deliver its turn almost at once. Larson’s cartoons are especially satisfying when the image first suggests one familiar explanation, then a small detail changes how the whole scene reads. Other panels make the reversal itself the joke: animals behave as if they have their own social world, or a scientific premise is treated with the seriousness of everyday life.
| # | Preview | Product | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
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The Far Side® Gallery | $12.00 | Buy on Amazon |
| 2 |
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The Far Side® Gallery 2 | $10.08 | Buy on Amazon |
| 3 |
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The Complete Far Side: 1980-1994 | $202.13 | Buy on Amazon |
| 4 |
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The Far Side® Gallery 3 | $19.73 | Buy on Amazon |
| 5 |
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The Far Side® Gallery 4 | $10.61 | Buy on Amazon |
Those are editorial criteria, not a ranking attributed to Larson or a measured reader consensus. The publisher’s materials document the strip’s history and collections, but the sources reviewed do not establish a definitive list of individual strips judged “cleverest.”
Five kinds of cleverness to look for
Visual misdirection
In a strong misdirection gag, the scene seems legible at first glance. A second look reveals that a background detail, an expression, or the relationship between figures changes the apparent meaning. The reader’s brief correction of their first impression is part of the punchline.
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An animal’s point of view
Larson often invites readers to imagine animals as more than props in a human scene. The comic turn can come from treating animal behavior as a parallel society, with its own routines and assumptions. The humor works because readers recognize the familiar human pattern while seeing it displaced into an unexpected species or setting.
Human habits turned around
Some jokes make people look strange by shifting the perspective: humans become the creatures being observed, categorized, or misunderstood. The reversal exposes how much of what seems “normal” depends on who is looking.
Rank #2
- Author: Larson, Gary.
- Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
- Pages: 192
- Publication Date: 2003
- Edition: Illustrated
Scientific logic applied to ordinary life
A scientific or technical premise can become funny when it is presented as an everyday problem—or when ordinary life is described with the gravity of an experiment. The contrast between the explanation’s precision and the absurdity of the situation supplies the joke.
Economy of setup and payoff
Because each cartoon is a single panel, there is little room for a long explanation. A title, a prop, or one line of dialogue may establish the premise; the image then completes it. The best payoff feels surprising but, once noticed, inevitable.
Rank #3
Why a definitive “cleverest strips” list is hard to support
Without a documented poll or official ranking, naming particular panels as the objectively cleverest would overstate the evidence. The Far Side archive and the collected edition are useful ways to explore the work, but neither source establishes a ranked canon of individual gags. This selection therefore focuses on recurring techniques that readers can use to recognize and appreciate the craft across the strip.
The creator’s own description suggests how personal and unpredictable the work could be. In the preface to The Complete Far Side, Larson wrote: “Every one of these cartoons is just something that drifted into my head when I was alone with my thoughts. And, for better or worse, I ‘jotted’ them down. It was only later, when perhaps I received an angry letter from someone, that it struck me: Hey! Someone’s been reading my diary!”
Rank #4
How to read more of The Far Side
Free online selections
The Far Side’s official site offers a Daily Dose of selected classic comics and themed Comic Collections. These are curated selections rather than a complete archive, and the featured material can change.
The complete syndicated run in print
For a broad collection, Andrews McMeel Publishing’s The Complete Far Side gathers every syndicated cartoon—over 4,000 in total—and more than 1,100 cartoons that had not previously appeared in a book. The publisher says the collection also includes Larson’s chapter introductions and letters from readers. It is a substantial way to explore the work beyond a short online sample.
Best Value
| Edition | Publication date | Pages | ISBN | Publisher-listed dimensions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hardcover | September 1, 2003 | 1,272 | 9780740721137 | 10.2 × 14.2 inches |
| Trade paperback | November 25, 2014 | 1,272 | 9781449460044 | 8.3 × 12.3 inches |
These edition details are listed by the publisher; current stock and prices may vary.
The strip’s history in brief
Andrews McMeel dates The Far Side to January 1, 1980, and gives January 1, 1995, as the end of its newspaper run. The publisher reports that the strip was syndicated to more than 1,900 daily newspapers, a historical figure rather than a current count. It also records Best Syndicated Panel awards from the National Cartoonists Society in 1985 and 1987, and the Max and Moritz Prize for Best International Comic Strip/Panel in 1993. Those honors recognize the strip, not a ranking of its individual cartoons.
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