There is no publisher-issued ranking of Gary Larson’s best Santa Claus or Christmas Far Side cartoons. A trustworthy selection has to be made panel by panel, checking the exact caption, attribution and original publication date against an authorized source. That matters because unattributed reposts often crop, retitle or misdate Larson’s single-panel comics.
What can be established about The Far Side
Gary Larson’s The Far Side debuted in January 1980 and ran in newspapers through January 1995, according to the strip’s official About material. It was a single-panel comic built around abrupt shifts in logic, anthropomorphic animals, scientific absurdity and socially awkward human situations.
| # | Preview | Product | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
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The Complete Far Side | $101.02 | Buy on Amazon |
| 2 |
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The Far Side® Gallery | $12.00 | Buy on Amazon |
| 3 |
|
The Far Side® | $8.31 | Buy on Amazon |
| 4 |
|
The Far Side® Gallery 2 | $10.08 | Buy on Amazon |
| 5 |
|
The Far Side® Gallery 3 | $19.73 | Buy on Amazon |
Andrews McMeel describes the newspaper syndication as lasting fourteen years and says the strip appeared internationally in more than 1,900 daily newspapers and was translated into 17 languages. Those are publisher-reported historical figures, not a current circulation count.
Why “best” is an editorial judgment
For a Santa or Christmas shortlist, the useful tests are specific rather than numerical:
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#1 Best Overall
- Seasonal specificity: Santa, presents, a Christmas tree, reindeer or an unmistakable holiday setting is central to the joke.
- Immediate clarity: the premise works without a long explanation or an out-of-context caption.
- Distinctive Larson premise: the panel shows the strange reversal, animal viewpoint or deadpan escalation associated with The Far Side.
- Verifiable metadata: the caption, panel attribution and original date can be checked in an authorized collection or on the official site.
- Range: a good group should not repeat the same gift-opening or Santa-at-work setup.
These criteria produce a defensible reader’s selection; they do not create an official ranking. The sources available for this article do not themselves identify a canonical set of Christmas panels, so any list claiming otherwise should be treated cautiously.
Where to verify Santa and Christmas panels
The official online archive
Andrews McMeel’s December 17, 2019 announcement identified TheFarSide.com as the only official website and described a Daily Dose, weekly themed collections, sketches and doodles, plus occasional new work by Larson. The site’s current features and access terms can change, so confirm what is live when you visit. Use the official page to read the complete caption and, where supplied, the date or collection context rather than relying on a repost.
Rank #2
The Complete Far Side
The Complete Far Side is the broadest print archive, not a Christmas-only anthology. The publisher says it contains every syndicated Far Side cartoon—more than 4,000—arranged roughly by publication year, with more than 1,100 that had not previously appeared in a book. It also includes additional material and chapter introductions.
| Edition | ISBN | Pages | What it is |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 hardcover | 9780740721137 | 1,272 | General chronological archive; not a seasonal collection |
| 2014 paperback | 9781449460044 | 1,272 | General chronological archive; not a seasonal collection |
Publisher-listed prices and retailer stock are volatile, so check the current Andrews McMeel page or its linked retailers before buying. Do not assume a particular Santa panel is in a particular edition until you verify it in that copy or in the publisher’s listing.
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A practical way to build your own short list
- Start with an authorized page or edition. Record the panel’s full caption exactly as printed.
- Check the holiday connection. Keep panels where Christmas imagery or Santa is part of the central setup, not merely a background detail.
- Record the publication evidence. Note the stated date, collection location or other attribution supplied by the authorized source.
- Compare unlike premises. Prefer a small group showing different comic situations instead of several near-duplicates.
- Credit the source and respect rights. Quote only the caption needed for identification and link readers to the authorized presentation; do not reproduce full comic art without permission.
What the archive tells you about Larson’s appeal
The publisher attributes this sentence to Larson’s preface to The Complete Far Side: “Every one of these cartoons is just something that drifted into my head when I was alone with my thoughts.” That description helps explain why the Christmas material ranges beyond conventional holiday sentiment: the joke may come from an animal’s assumptions, an impossible workplace problem or a tiny visual detail that overturns the scene.
Andrews McMeel’s Gary Larson author page lists more than 41 million Far Side books and 79 million calendars sold, but gives no reporting year for those totals. A separate December 2019 company announcement cited more than 40 million books and 77 million calendars and nearly 2,000 newspapers at the time of Larson’s retirement; those figures are historical, not present-day totals.
Rank #4
- Author: Larson, Gary.
- Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
- Pages: 192
- Publication Date: 2003
- Edition: Illustrated
How to read online panels responsibly
- Prefer TheFarSide.com or a licensed book over image aggregators and social posts.
- Keep the original caption with the image; cropped panels can remove the line that makes the joke intelligible.
- Do not treat a fan-made title as Larson’s title.
- Separate a panel’s original newspaper date from the date of a later book, calendar or web posting.
- Remember that the official site’s features may change, while the print archive remains a fixed edition once purchased.
Bottom line for a Christmas reading list
The strongest “best of” list is a verified, varied handful—not an invented ranking assembled from reposts. Use the official site for authorized online browsing and The Complete Far Side for the full chronological archive, then select panels that meet the seasonal, clarity, distinctiveness and metadata tests above. Because no authoritative source reviewed here names a definitive Santa or Christmas canon, the exact panel list should be finalized only after those individual checks.
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