The Insightful Single Panel Genius of ‘The Far Side’

The Gaze took a look at the absurdist Gary Larson comic series The Far Side, noting the amazing and insightful genius that was contained in a single panel and several lines of commentary.

The Far Side by Gary Larson is one of the best and most praised cartoons in history. But what makes The Far Side so good? What is the legacy of Gary Larson? And most importantly: what can we learn from The Far Side?

He explains that though Larson’s work featured animals, it was really commenting on humanity, specifically the stupid choices that humans make.

The most important theme of The Far Side, I’m talking about stupidity. Our own human stupidity. And to uncover that human stupidity, Larson uses animals…The animals of The Far Side aren’t always so clever, alot of them are ignorant as well. But that doesn’t mean that Larson thinks animals are stupid, because in his cartoons they all act like humans.

Far Side Genius
Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.