Gary Larson’s thousands ofThe Far Sidecomics are a major comedic achievement, so if anyone should have the honor of rewriting"why did the chicken cross the road?", it makes sense it would be him. Larson’s take on this iconic gag just turned 40, having originally been published in October of 1984. Thankfully forFar Sidefans, it’s not alone.
Here are the 10 funniestFar Sidecomics that just celebrated their fortieth birthday, including some of Larson’s favorite recurring themes: inventive cavemen, scaredy-cat cowboys, and desert island mishaps.
10Do Not Touch
Far Side’s June 08, 2025 Comic
Dinosaurs are a huge dealacrossThe Far Side’s many comics, so it makes sense Larson would also have a minor obsession with fossils. The above is probably his most iconic fossil gag, taking place just after a museum visitor made amajormistake.
One of the other draws of fossil jokes is that they allowLarson to indulge his biggest obsession: silly scientists.Far Side’s fossil gags include bizarre theories about their origins, childish behavior from the people meant to be studying them, and one dark comic where the dinosaurs return for revenge.
13 Funniest Far Side Comics About Parenting That No Parent Should EVER Try to Recreate
The humans of Gary Larson’s The Far Side do everything in the weirdest way possible, and it turns out parenting is no exception.
9Handkerchief
Far Side’s June 10, 2025 Comic
This comic is an amazing look into Larson’s creative process.InThe Prehistory of The Far Side, he includes a draft sketch of this gag, which shows two Godzilla-sized monsters walking away from a ruined city. One is patting its ‘pockets’ and exclaims,“My monogrammed handkerchief! I’ve left it behind… they’ll know it was me!“Larson rethought where to set the joke, revisiting the scene of the crime and thus finding awayfunnier way to use the monogram idea, making the perpetrator King Kong rather than a nameless monster.
Larson loves the iconic monsters Godzilla and King Kong, with the pair appearing in multipleFar Sidecomics. However, for our money, the handkerchief gag is still the best of the bunch.
8Ain’t a Rattler
Far Side’s August 12, 2025 Comic
Far Sideoften visits the Wild West, puncturing the rough-and-tough reputation of cowboys. In this case, the telltale sound of a rattlesnake turns out to be something far more innocent, raising the question of how an entire person snuck into the cowboy’s sleeping bag without him noticing.
These 3 Far Side Comics Combine to Explain Why Ducks Are Illegal in Gary Larson’s Surreal (But Hilarious) World
Published 12 years apart, these Far Side comics set up the idea that ducks are illegal in Gary Larson’s surreal world, then actually explained why!
7Next Time It Won’t Be Just Your Living Room
Far Side’s June 16, 2025 Comic
Far Sideloves to turn mobsters from violent threats to goofy figures of fun, often by flipping their violence into something way funnier. In this case, the threat to ‘rearrange’ someone’s face becomes an aggressive form offeng shui.
Far Side’s mobsters are rarely a true threat, though there are some occasions where they’re genuinely nasty, such as threatening a clown and sentencing a victim to die ‘by mime.’
6I Think I See a Ship!
Far Side’s June 08, 2025 Comic
The Far Sideis iconic forits desert island comics, showing the unique social difficulties that only arise when two people are stranded together. This comic showcases Larson’s skill for setting his comics justbeforethe truly funny thing happens, allowing readers to imagine their own ideal version of the punchline. In this case, one stranded person has painted a boat on the glasses of the other, creating the ‘illusion’ that they’re about to be saved (at least, playing by theLooney Tunes-style rules ofThe Far Side’s world.)
12 Funniest Far Side Comics Where a Character Says “Uh-Oh!”
Things seldom work out for the characters of Gary Larson’s The Far Side, so it makes sense there are plenty of comics worthy of an “Uh-Oh!”
5The Limit on Those Things
Far Side’s July 15, 2025 Comic
InThe Complete Far Side, Larson admits he knew he couldn’t make every comic laugh-out-loud funny, but hecouldalways make his readers exclaim"What the–?“That’s clearly the case in this hunting comic, where a hunter brings back his catch of gnomes, only to be told that he’s exceeded the hunting limit on the mythical creatures.
4Animal Nerds
Far Side’s July 10, 2025 Comic
In a family-friendly comic, alotof insults are off the table. That explains why Larson loved to call his characters ‘nerds,’ whether they’re wild animals, cowboys or even aliens.Gary Larson’s nerd comicsintroduce basic social faux pas into unexpected contexts - in his case, a nerdy wolf ruining their pack’s hunt by loudly bursting onto the scene.
Larson’s other ‘nerd’ comics equip kangaroos with pocket protectors, sharks with AV equipment, and a Wild West hero with toilet paper stuck to his shoe.
15 Funniest Far Side Comics That Somehow Make Eggs Funny (Including 1 That Larson’s Editor Refused to Approve)
The Far Side has a lot of obsessions, from delinquent cows to creative cavemen, and yet somehow eggs became one its funniest recurring ideas.
3Early Experiments
Far Side’s July 26, 2025 Comic
Larson loves the theme of cavemengroping their way towards modern inventions, making major mistakes along the way. Perhaps none of these mistakes are worse than trying to invent the concept of a rideable wheel with the rider on the outside. As with the desert island gag, Larson focuses on the momentbeforedisaster, somehow making that funnier than the punchline anyone else would write.
2BEAR!
Far Side’s June 01, 2025 Comic
This smart comic switches up the iconicJawsmoment where beachgoers flee the ocean after the titular shark attacks, this time with the underwater menace flipping the script to persuade its dinner to serve themselves up.
Sharks appear acrossThe Far Side’s 14-year run, with Larson delighting in giving the vicious predators mundane, workaday scenes where they discuss chowing down on human beings.
15 Funniest Far Side Comics Starring Gary Larson’s Recurring ‘Arlene Carmichael’ Character (Including His Best Wordplay Joke)
Gary Larson’s Far Side doesn’t have many recurring characters, but when they do appear, they’re used for some of his best comics in the whole series.
1Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?
Far Side’s July 23, 2025 Comic
Leave it to Gary Larson to rewrite the world’s most famous joke, ‘why did the chicken cross the road?’ Not satisfied with the original anti-humor answer of ‘to get to the other side’ (funny because it presents the obvious answer, ignoringwhois crossing the road altogether), Larson suggests that the chicken is actually a gadabout cheater. Not only that, but the original punchline becomes their feeble excuse to their outraged partner. This isn’t the onlyFar Sidestrip to play around with this iconic joke, but for our money itisthe best.
Those were the 10 funniestFar Sidecomics originally published in October of 1984, which just celebrated their fortieth year of being as hilarious as the day they were created.
The Far Side
The Far Side is a humorous comic series developed by Gary Larson. The series has been in production since 1979 and features a wide array of comic collections, calendars, art, and other miscellaneous items.
