“The first website debuted only a couple years prior to my retirement”
December 17, 2019 1:28 PM Subscribe
The Far Side has a new website, Gary Larson explains why now in a letter. While the website is in its beginning stages, there is a daily selection of comic strips, plus sections for themed collections and scans from Larson’s sketchbooks.
* mumbling rapidly* dontberightwingdontberightwingdontberightwing
posted by The Whelk at 1:37 PM on December 17, 2019 [76 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 1:37 PM on December 17, 2019 [76 favorites]
Given that his letter (which is charming to the point where I wonder how much of it was added in editing) credits the Internet with helping us "maybe destroy democracy" I think we're safe.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 1:38 PM on December 17, 2019 [15 favorites]
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 1:38 PM on December 17, 2019 [15 favorites]
Safe from Gary Larson being a right-winger, I mean. Not from the Internet killing us all. That's definitely happening.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 1:39 PM on December 17, 2019 [42 favorites]
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 1:39 PM on December 17, 2019 [42 favorites]
I didn't realize that Larson retired at 45! I wonder if he was inspired by Watterson to get out with what he had and enjoy his family.
posted by Think_Long at 1:42 PM on December 17, 2019 [12 favorites]
posted by Think_Long at 1:42 PM on December 17, 2019 [12 favorites]
I didn't realize that Larson retired at 45! I wonder if he was inspired by Watterson to get out with what he had and enjoy his family.
Possibly, if they were talking retirement to each other. The Far Side ended on 1/1/1995; Calvin and Hobbes ended on 12/31/1995.
posted by ZeusHumms at 1:47 PM on December 17, 2019 [11 favorites]
Possibly, if they were talking retirement to each other. The Far Side ended on 1/1/1995; Calvin and Hobbes ended on 12/31/1995.
posted by ZeusHumms at 1:47 PM on December 17, 2019 [11 favorites]
Holy crap don't miss the sketchbooks.
posted by jquinby at 1:52 PM on December 17, 2019 [15 favorites]
posted by jquinby at 1:52 PM on December 17, 2019 [15 favorites]
I didn't realize that Larson retired at 45! I wonder if he was inspired by Watterson to get out with what he had and enjoy his family.
This was a bit of a zeitgeisty thing--newspaper comic strips were finally being evaluated seriously as artworks, for about the 17 minutes that they remained a lucrative enough profession (if you had a really popular one) to retire in your 40s. See also: Berkeley Breathed.
posted by Automocar at 1:57 PM on December 17, 2019 [13 favorites]
This was a bit of a zeitgeisty thing--newspaper comic strips were finally being evaluated seriously as artworks, for about the 17 minutes that they remained a lucrative enough profession (if you had a really popular one) to retire in your 40s. See also: Berkeley Breathed.
posted by Automocar at 1:57 PM on December 17, 2019 [13 favorites]
They also saw the examples of artists who had run out of ideas (CHARLES SCHULZ), and didn’t want to go that route.
posted by Melismata at 2:04 PM on December 17, 2019 [10 favorites]
posted by Melismata at 2:04 PM on December 17, 2019 [10 favorites]
Don't forget the example of Garfield, deliberately turned into a money-making empire.
posted by ZeusHumms at 2:08 PM on December 17, 2019 [10 favorites]
posted by ZeusHumms at 2:08 PM on December 17, 2019 [10 favorites]
It's hard to feel bad about people sharing ancient low-res jpgs of old Far Side comics when the author was able to retire younger than anybody who was afforded the chance to be the second generation of fans due to the sharing of those ancient low-res jpgs.
posted by General Malaise at 2:12 PM on December 17, 2019 [13 favorites]
posted by General Malaise at 2:12 PM on December 17, 2019 [13 favorites]
I still have all my books, and the heavy, hardcover volumes as well. Wore them out.
Some of my favorite releases of his were the letters to the Editor, complaining about his comics and why they were offensive. Sometimes more absurd than the comics themselves.
In High School, I had the inside of my locker door wallpapered with Far Side comics (and some others). I hope he figures out a way to keep the site alive.
posted by Chuffy at 2:22 PM on December 17, 2019 [7 favorites]
Some of my favorite releases of his were the letters to the Editor, complaining about his comics and why they were offensive. Sometimes more absurd than the comics themselves.
In High School, I had the inside of my locker door wallpapered with Far Side comics (and some others). I hope he figures out a way to keep the site alive.
posted by Chuffy at 2:22 PM on December 17, 2019 [7 favorites]
It's hard to feel bad about people sharing ancient low-res jpgs of old Far Side comics when the author was able to retire younger than anybody who was afforded the chance to be the second generation of fans due to the sharing of those ancient low-res jpgs.
How dare the creator of something we love find success with it? That justifies people ignoring his express wishes and even profiting off of his work!
If you can't feel bad about wealthy fatcat Gary Larson writing this letter from his vast estate, there was recently a wave of discussion on comics Twitter about comics piracy sparked by a lowly indie comics creator who expressed how frustrating and angering it was to see views/downloads of his work on pirate sites far, far exceed actual sales when he was struggling to barely make rent.
Of course, many people also found excuses for why it's okay to do it to the lowly indie creators as well.
posted by Sangermaine at 2:39 PM on December 17, 2019 [26 favorites]
How dare the creator of something we love find success with it? That justifies people ignoring his express wishes and even profiting off of his work!
If you can't feel bad about wealthy fatcat Gary Larson writing this letter from his vast estate, there was recently a wave of discussion on comics Twitter about comics piracy sparked by a lowly indie comics creator who expressed how frustrating and angering it was to see views/downloads of his work on pirate sites far, far exceed actual sales when he was struggling to barely make rent.
Of course, many people also found excuses for why it's okay to do it to the lowly indie creators as well.
posted by Sangermaine at 2:39 PM on December 17, 2019 [26 favorites]
The Far Side® cartoons, which he created for fifteen years, from January 1, 1980, to January 1, 1995.
It just struck me - 15 years at 6 or 7 cartoons per week is something in the neighborhood of 5000 cartoons!! Imagine coming up with 5000 original ideas....
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:44 PM on December 17, 2019 [5 favorites]
It just struck me - 15 years at 6 or 7 cartoons per week is something in the neighborhood of 5000 cartoons!! Imagine coming up with 5000 original ideas....
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:44 PM on December 17, 2019 [5 favorites]
It has Cow Tools. All is well. It does not have an RSS feed … ☹
posted by scruss at 2:44 PM on December 17, 2019 [9 favorites]
posted by scruss at 2:44 PM on December 17, 2019 [9 favorites]
This reminded me of one of my favorite scenes from Cheers:
WOODY: [reading a newspaper] Sigh.posted by Atom Eyes at 2:46 PM on December 17, 2019 [106 favorites]
CLIFF: What’s the matter, Wood?
WOODY: I don’t get The Far Side.
CLIFF: Hand it over here, we’ll take a look. Okay, Wood, now you see here in the first panel, the cows are standing on their hind legs, right? And in the second panel, when the car goes by, they’re acting like normal cows.
WOODY: [stares silenty]
NORM: See, the idea here is, Wood, that cows only act like cows when we’re around. Other times, they act like people.
WOODY: [stares silently]
NORM: Now, does that help clear it up for you?
WOODY: I just meant I don’t get The Far Side in my newspaper at home, but thanks for treating me like a one-year-old!
I came of age during the Far Side hayday, and I still think of Far Side lines in certain situations. 'Bummer of a birthmark, Hal' when I see someone with an unfortunate birthmark (actually, most recently this picture), and 'Midvale, school for the gifted' every time I try to open a door the wrong way. Or 'Squaaaared away' whenever I see E=MC2. Or 'CAAAR!' every time I drive by a group of cows looking too innocent.
...should I be worried?
posted by widdershins at 2:51 PM on December 17, 2019 [28 favorites]
...should I be worried?
posted by widdershins at 2:51 PM on December 17, 2019 [28 favorites]
Ha, Atom Eyes, that's the one!
posted by widdershins at 2:53 PM on December 17, 2019
posted by widdershins at 2:53 PM on December 17, 2019
WEB SIT
No matter how much money he's made, I haven't payed enough for the satisfaction that strip continues to give me.
posted by 99_ at 3:02 PM on December 17, 2019 [19 favorites]
No matter how much money he's made, I haven't payed enough for the satisfaction that strip continues to give me.
posted by 99_ at 3:02 PM on December 17, 2019 [19 favorites]
[T]he thagomizer... after the late Thag Simmons.
posted by fatbird at 3:09 PM on December 17, 2019 [23 favorites]
posted by fatbird at 3:09 PM on December 17, 2019 [23 favorites]
Is it just me or is the page not loading correctly. I
posted by octothorpe at 3:37 PM on December 17, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by octothorpe at 3:37 PM on December 17, 2019 [2 favorites]
One of my best childhood Christmases was when we convinced my Mom to buy all the available Far Side floppy collections to give to my cousins, and then read them all before wrapping. The perfect crime!
posted by lepus at 3:39 PM on December 17, 2019 [11 favorites]
posted by lepus at 3:39 PM on December 17, 2019 [11 favorites]
Whatever you may think of the ethics of the situation, the practical consequence of Larson's ill-timed aversion to seeing his strips digitally distributed (coming as it was right at the beginning of the long decline of print) has been that in effect there aren't any second or third generation fans: basically no-one under like thirty knows or cares about the Far Side. And that's a difficult position to be in, especially for humor which just inherently seems to age poorly compared to other art.
posted by Pyry at 3:48 PM on December 17, 2019 [11 favorites]
posted by Pyry at 3:48 PM on December 17, 2019 [11 favorites]
I loved The Far Side as a teenager* and I thought I'd seen every strip, but I just saw one I didn't immediately recognise ("Early microscope") and it still made me laugh.
*I used to enjoy finding an apt strip for each of my school exercise books and sticking a photocopy (sorry Gary) on the front.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 3:52 PM on December 17, 2019 [3 favorites]
*I used to enjoy finding an apt strip for each of my school exercise books and sticking a photocopy (sorry Gary) on the front.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 3:52 PM on December 17, 2019 [3 favorites]
Gary Larson - Please don't distribute my comics online!
Anyone under 40: OK Boomer
posted by Chuffy at 3:53 PM on December 17, 2019 [2 favorites]
Anyone under 40: OK Boomer
posted by Chuffy at 3:53 PM on December 17, 2019 [2 favorites]
I didn't realize that Larson retired at 45! I wonder if he was inspired by Watterson to get out with what he had and enjoy his family.
I remember reading that he was taking guitar lessons from Bill Frisell in his retirement.
posted by thelonius at 3:57 PM on December 17, 2019 [4 favorites]
I remember reading that he was taking guitar lessons from Bill Frisell in his retirement.
posted by thelonius at 3:57 PM on December 17, 2019 [4 favorites]
Cannae go outdoors in summertime without thinking of Betty.
posted by cenoxo at 4:02 PM on December 17, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by cenoxo at 4:02 PM on December 17, 2019 [4 favorites]
This is my chance to describe a paradox that nobody else seems to have noticed: the Watterson-Larson Paradox.
Bill Watterson (of Calvin and Hobbes fame, of course) and Gary Larson are, in a way, equal and opposite. The are both famous for quitting while they were ahead and refusing to create further work. They are opposite in that while Bill Watterson allowed the strip to be republished online but refused to allow any merchandise or adaptations, Gary Larson allowed merchandise and animated adaptations of his work but, until this very day, refused to allow it to be posted online. One of the two has become the target of immense frustration; one parody article depicts him as continuing to draw his comic and destroying every new installment out of spite as soon as he finishes it, and another depicts him as drugging and tattooing his stalkers.
And that man is, of cou-- wait... what?
I must clarify at this point that I do not wish for any anger or harassment whatsoever to be or have been directed toward either person. However, the relative levels of such that each received makes no goddamn sense whatsoever.
posted by BiggerJ at 4:21 PM on December 17, 2019 [6 favorites]
Bill Watterson (of Calvin and Hobbes fame, of course) and Gary Larson are, in a way, equal and opposite. The are both famous for quitting while they were ahead and refusing to create further work. They are opposite in that while Bill Watterson allowed the strip to be republished online but refused to allow any merchandise or adaptations, Gary Larson allowed merchandise and animated adaptations of his work but, until this very day, refused to allow it to be posted online. One of the two has become the target of immense frustration; one parody article depicts him as continuing to draw his comic and destroying every new installment out of spite as soon as he finishes it, and another depicts him as drugging and tattooing his stalkers.
And that man is, of cou-- wait... what?
I must clarify at this point that I do not wish for any anger or harassment whatsoever to be or have been directed toward either person. However, the relative levels of such that each received makes no goddamn sense whatsoever.
posted by BiggerJ at 4:21 PM on December 17, 2019 [6 favorites]
My favorite Far Side will always be "Well, well. Another blond hair. Conducting a little more research with that Jane Goodall tramp?"
I had a few Far Side books that I kept under my pillow all through middle school and high school, and when I woke up with nightmares I would read them until I fell back to sleep.
posted by ChuraChura at 4:32 PM on December 17, 2019 [20 favorites]
I had a few Far Side books that I kept under my pillow all through middle school and high school, and when I woke up with nightmares I would read them until I fell back to sleep.
posted by ChuraChura at 4:32 PM on December 17, 2019 [20 favorites]
Prehistory of the Far Side was, when I read it at age ten or so, the first book I'd ever read in which an artist reflected on his own craft. Bless him and his silly jokes.
posted by HeroZero at 4:55 PM on December 17, 2019 [9 favorites]
posted by HeroZero at 4:55 PM on December 17, 2019 [9 favorites]
The covers of Larson’s Sketchbook 2 and 3 are very detailed and far from his simple cartoon style. They’re not copyrighted and are likely stock illustrations used by the books’ printer.
posted by cenoxo at 5:04 PM on December 17, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by cenoxo at 5:04 PM on December 17, 2019 [2 favorites]
My wife and I still spell Cat Food, "CAT FUD".
posted by octothorpe at 5:05 PM on December 17, 2019 [42 favorites]
posted by octothorpe at 5:05 PM on December 17, 2019 [42 favorites]
I think I was maybe 12 when I read most of the Far Side I've ever read? And I'd certainly agree most people my age aren't familiar.
I don't know if I'd have chosen it, but I was spending a couple of hours a day after school in my dad's classroom, so I read the compendium someone had bought him, and A Brave New World from a classroom set that was also left in there.
I like to think I did ok, but between the two, at 12, I was rather confused by a lot of it.
posted by Acid Communist at 5:08 PM on December 17, 2019 [2 favorites]
I don't know if I'd have chosen it, but I was spending a couple of hours a day after school in my dad's classroom, so I read the compendium someone had bought him, and A Brave New World from a classroom set that was also left in there.
I like to think I did ok, but between the two, at 12, I was rather confused by a lot of it.
posted by Acid Communist at 5:08 PM on December 17, 2019 [2 favorites]
Someone I know well is fortunate enough to own the actual original of Larson's three panel "Car" cartoon where the cows are standing on their hind legs and go on all fours while a car passes and then stand again on their hind legs.
It is about 12x18" and in pen and ink on bristol board and uses that transfer tone sheet stuff for the road surface shading. It's very cool.
They were friends in the early 90s and Gary gave it to him as a gift.
posted by bz at 5:37 PM on December 17, 2019 [30 favorites]
It is about 12x18" and in pen and ink on bristol board and uses that transfer tone sheet stuff for the road surface shading. It's very cool.
They were friends in the early 90s and Gary gave it to him as a gift.
posted by bz at 5:37 PM on December 17, 2019 [30 favorites]
I used to go trick-or-treating at Larson's house--a friend lived in his neighborhood. You'll be happy to know he shared the wealth via full-size bars.
posted by sugar and confetti at 5:40 PM on December 17, 2019 [52 favorites]
posted by sugar and confetti at 5:40 PM on December 17, 2019 [52 favorites]
Another “grew up in the heyday of the strip” here. A couple years ago I was sorting through long-stored books, and I ultimately sent on my (many) FAR SIDE books, along with BLOOM COUNTY, etc. Part of it was that it hadn’t aged well, but part of it was that it was so ingrained from re-reading that having it seemed redundant.
posted by cupcakeninja at 5:49 PM on December 17, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by cupcakeninja at 5:49 PM on December 17, 2019 [1 favorite]
They also saw the examples of artists who had run out of ideas (CHARLES SCHULZ), and didn’t want to go that route.I thought that up until the end, Peanuts had some good stuff in it.
And the first one of you fuckers that okay boomers me is getting a size thirteen enema.
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 5:56 PM on December 17, 2019 [5 favorites]
Also, to avoid tampering with the timing of my previous post, I'd like to mention that while Larson is a really funny guy, one of the early Web cartoonists had a similar sensibility: David Farley's Doctor Fun. Which, sadly, has been unavailable for quite some time. I am hoping it means that Mr. Farley is publishing a collection, but I'd think there'd be some marketing bumph instead of a random error message...
He was kind of like a Gary Larson that didn't have to worry about getting edited out of the papers...
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 6:00 PM on December 17, 2019 [1 favorite]
He was kind of like a Gary Larson that didn't have to worry about getting edited out of the papers...
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 6:00 PM on December 17, 2019 [1 favorite]
My grandfather for some reason had Far Side page-a-day calendars for years. I don't think the comics meant a damn thing to him, but he used them as stationery. He was an ornery old son of a bitch, and I would get these terse notes from him in the mail on the back of Far Side cartoons.
posted by Mavri at 6:27 PM on December 17, 2019 [10 favorites]
posted by Mavri at 6:27 PM on December 17, 2019 [10 favorites]
I thought Larson retired to go and do delivery box design for Gateway 2000 computers.
posted by zaixfeep at 6:48 PM on December 17, 2019 [11 favorites]
posted by zaixfeep at 6:48 PM on December 17, 2019 [11 favorites]
I'm just wondering about him calling the front page "the daily dose." He probably doesn't know about 4chan, right?
posted by Scattercat at 6:53 PM on December 17, 2019
posted by Scattercat at 6:53 PM on December 17, 2019
→ And the first one of you fuckers that okay boomers me is getting a size thirteen enema.
Bobby, jiggle Gilgamesh's Chauffeur's rat so it looks alive, please …
posted by scruss at 7:10 PM on December 17, 2019 [19 favorites]
Bobby, jiggle Gilgamesh's Chauffeur's rat so it looks alive, please …
posted by scruss at 7:10 PM on December 17, 2019 [19 favorites]
They sat around the bench looking at the mice cages and the rolls of data sheets. A Dilbert cartoon mocked them as it peeled away from the end of the counter. It was a sign of something deep that this lab had Dilberts taped to the walls rather than Far Sides.
Forty Signs of Rain, Kim Stanley Robinson
posted by thatwhichfalls at 7:49 PM on December 17, 2019 [16 favorites]
Forty Signs of Rain, Kim Stanley Robinson
posted by thatwhichfalls at 7:49 PM on December 17, 2019 [16 favorites]
The juxtaposition with xkcd is really interesting. Larson sold books while trying to keep his comics unpublished on the web. Munroe sells books by encouraging his comics to be published on the web.
posted by cowcowgrasstree at 8:08 PM on December 17, 2019 [8 favorites]
posted by cowcowgrasstree at 8:08 PM on December 17, 2019 [8 favorites]
This is wonderful. I feel an almost irresistible urge to print some of these and post then in the office break room.
posted by exogenous at 8:11 PM on December 17, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by exogenous at 8:11 PM on December 17, 2019 [2 favorites]
Metafilter: Dilberts taped to the walls
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:14 PM on December 17, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:14 PM on December 17, 2019 [3 favorites]
I grew up on Far Side books and it really is interesting and weird to think about how much the strip exists more as a point of historical reference at this point than as something with any currency. I mean, that Larson stopped making them a quarter century ago makes it not that weird that the strip as a quantity doesn't feel current, but...it is weird how much it feels just Not Around in a more cultural sense.
And I don't know how much of that has to do with Larson specifically wanting people to not spread it around vs. the fact that it was just already calling it quits when the web was spinning up—people don't share 25+ year old stuff as much as recent stuff—but the marriage of that lack of memetic currency with his stance on sharing feels like something.
Mostly it's just weird to think of it in sheer terms of time, though. The Far Side as a marker of an era: no amount of sharing on the web that could have been happening in the mid-to-late 90s resembles, at any sort of scale, the kind of casual sharing and copypasta and redistribution of images that happens on today's internet. Larson could have begged any and all to copy and share and it'd still have been peanuts to what happens to one good tweet or one catchy webcomic strip today. What are the numbers on unattributed reposts of KC Green's "This is fine" panel vs. every digital copy of ever Far Side strip shared from 1995–2005? The world is a different place, the internet now didn't even exist when Larson would have started asking people to lay off. People copy and share shit on a scale that wasn't imaginable in the dialup days when newspaper comic strips were starting to really see the hard approaching horizon.
I love The Far Side and respect the hell out of Gary Larson for his work and for getting out when and how he wanted to, and I am glad the strip has a website now. It's a little hard to shake the feeling though that even as he makes this belated leap into the present, the whole concept of how it's happening might still be at least a decade late. I hope that's just me being too pessimistic in a weird nostalgia vortex, though.
posted by cortex at 8:43 PM on December 17, 2019 [16 favorites]
And I don't know how much of that has to do with Larson specifically wanting people to not spread it around vs. the fact that it was just already calling it quits when the web was spinning up—people don't share 25+ year old stuff as much as recent stuff—but the marriage of that lack of memetic currency with his stance on sharing feels like something.
Mostly it's just weird to think of it in sheer terms of time, though. The Far Side as a marker of an era: no amount of sharing on the web that could have been happening in the mid-to-late 90s resembles, at any sort of scale, the kind of casual sharing and copypasta and redistribution of images that happens on today's internet. Larson could have begged any and all to copy and share and it'd still have been peanuts to what happens to one good tweet or one catchy webcomic strip today. What are the numbers on unattributed reposts of KC Green's "This is fine" panel vs. every digital copy of ever Far Side strip shared from 1995–2005? The world is a different place, the internet now didn't even exist when Larson would have started asking people to lay off. People copy and share shit on a scale that wasn't imaginable in the dialup days when newspaper comic strips were starting to really see the hard approaching horizon.
I love The Far Side and respect the hell out of Gary Larson for his work and for getting out when and how he wanted to, and I am glad the strip has a website now. It's a little hard to shake the feeling though that even as he makes this belated leap into the present, the whole concept of how it's happening might still be at least a decade late. I hope that's just me being too pessimistic in a weird nostalgia vortex, though.
posted by cortex at 8:43 PM on December 17, 2019 [16 favorites]
I enjoyed the two little "Don't worry I didn't turn bad" shoutouts.
posted by bleep at 12:10 AM on December 18, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by bleep at 12:10 AM on December 18, 2019 [4 favorites]
Don't forget the example of Garfield, deliberately turned into a money-making empire.
I worked with a guy named Jim Davis, who supposedly had narcolepsy (maybe, but sometimes, he'd put his feet up before nodding off.) The production manager objected when somebody put up a poster of Garfield with the caption "I'm not sleeping. I'm checking my eyelids for leaks," and a prominent Jim Davis signature. The manager did not follow the cartoons, and thought someone had added the signature as a dig at the employee.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 4:11 AM on December 18, 2019 [4 favorites]
I worked with a guy named Jim Davis, who supposedly had narcolepsy (maybe, but sometimes, he'd put his feet up before nodding off.) The production manager objected when somebody put up a poster of Garfield with the caption "I'm not sleeping. I'm checking my eyelids for leaks," and a prominent Jim Davis signature. The manager did not follow the cartoons, and thought someone had added the signature as a dig at the employee.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 4:11 AM on December 18, 2019 [4 favorites]
My favorite Far Side strips are ones that seem like a single moment from a much larger story. Today's main comic is an excellent example.
posted by Kattullus at 4:22 AM on December 18, 2019 [8 favorites]
posted by Kattullus at 4:22 AM on December 18, 2019 [8 favorites]
Leisuretown: Dilberts stapled to the walls
that's a pretty deep cut, i know, but at least three of you will enjoy it
posted by phooky at 5:22 AM on December 18, 2019 [8 favorites]
that's a pretty deep cut, i know, but at least three of you will enjoy it
posted by phooky at 5:22 AM on December 18, 2019 [8 favorites]
also loved far side as a kid/teen. Prehistory was so cool to me! i loved reading the letters from editors about this or that completely inoffensive cartoon. it was so great.
some of the stuff is really dark too and i always liked that. just like with Calvin and Hobbes. they weren't goofy blather like Peanuts or whatever else was around.
i too love the cows standing one. and any of the ones about scientists who are shortly doomed due to their experiments.
posted by affectionateborg at 5:23 AM on December 18, 2019 [4 favorites]
some of the stuff is really dark too and i always liked that. just like with Calvin and Hobbes. they weren't goofy blather like Peanuts or whatever else was around.
i too love the cows standing one. and any of the ones about scientists who are shortly doomed due to their experiments.
posted by affectionateborg at 5:23 AM on December 18, 2019 [4 favorites]
Metafilter: I hope that's just me being too pessimistic in a weird nostalgia vortex, though.
I still have Dilbert cartoons taped to my walls. Despite Scott Adams being an asshole, the cartoons have saved my sanity so many, many times.
posted by Melismata at 9:44 AM on December 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
I still have Dilbert cartoons taped to my walls. Despite Scott Adams being an asshole, the cartoons have saved my sanity so many, many times.
posted by Melismata at 9:44 AM on December 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
Don't forget the example of Garfield, deliberately turned into a money-making empire.
Eh, turned is the wrong word. Jim Davis worked in marketing and noticed there was a lot of character merch for dog owners but none for cat owners, who where starting to overtake dogs at the time. Garfield was created to become a licensed product ala Hello Kitty, that the original comics where entertaining (whomst among us didn’t have a Garfield gag comic collection as a child?) is a nice extra.
Jim Davis is also very allergic to cats, which is the first line in every story about PAWS Inc.
posted by The Whelk at 10:47 AM on December 18, 2019 [7 favorites]
Eh, turned is the wrong word. Jim Davis worked in marketing and noticed there was a lot of character merch for dog owners but none for cat owners, who where starting to overtake dogs at the time. Garfield was created to become a licensed product ala Hello Kitty, that the original comics where entertaining (whomst among us didn’t have a Garfield gag comic collection as a child?) is a nice extra.
Jim Davis is also very allergic to cats, which is the first line in every story about PAWS Inc.
posted by The Whelk at 10:47 AM on December 18, 2019 [7 favorites]
11 Twisted Facts About ‘The Far Side’, Mental Floss, Mark Mancini, Nov. 28, 2016 [caps theirs]:
posted by cenoxo at 12:00 PM on December 18, 2019 [4 favorites]
- ...
- 1. IT EVOLVED FROM AN EARLIER STRIP CALLED NATURE’S WAY.
- 2. FROM THE GET-GO, GARY LARSON DIDN’T WANT "THE FAR SIDE" TO INCLUDE RECURRING CHARACTERS.
- 3. AN ODD CHILDREN’S BOOK WAS ONE OF LARSON’S BIGGEST INSPIRATIONS.
- [1986 Gary Larson 20/20 Interview (YT)]
- 4. ONE EARLY STRIP CONFUSED SO MANY READERS THAT LARSON HAD TO EXPLAIN ITS MEANING IN A PRESS RELEASE.
- 5. "THE FAR SIDE" GAVE BIRTH TO A WIDELY-USED PALEONTOLOGY TERM.
- 6. FANS OF THE STRIP HAVE NAMED THREE DIFFERENT INSECTS AFTER GARY LARSON.
- 7. ONE COMIC TOOK SOME HEAT FROM THE JANE GOODALL INSTITUTE.
- 8. AN OHIO NEWSPAPER SWITCHED THE CAPTIONS FROM "DENNIS THE MENACE" AND "THE FAR SIDE"—TWICE.
- 9. TWO ANIMATED "FAR SIDE" SHORTS EXIST.
- 10. A "FAR SIDE" MUSEUM EXHIBIT OPENED IN 1985.
- 11. LARSON HAS LIKENED HIS OTHER BIG PASSION—MUSIC—TO CARTOONING. ...
posted by cenoxo at 12:00 PM on December 18, 2019 [4 favorites]
Way back as a kid in my internet infancy days, I was learning how to make websites like a lot of folks. Also like a lot of folks, my foray was an eye-searing mess of personal interests and other random stuff. One of the things on that site was a Far Side comic that I had carefully cut out of the newspaper, scanned, and put on the page.
After putting it up, I realized maybe I was somehow doing something wrong (I dunno, I was like 13 or 14, I figured I needed permission or something). So I emailed Gary Larson, told him how much I loved the strip, and asked him if I could leave it on my personal website. He emailed me back letting me know (kindly, but in no uncertain terms) that what I did was called piracy and that it needed to come down immediately. I did as he asked and promptly forgot all about that experience until I read that letter he posted on the new site.
posted by backseatpilot at 1:03 PM on December 18, 2019 [12 favorites]
After putting it up, I realized maybe I was somehow doing something wrong (I dunno, I was like 13 or 14, I figured I needed permission or something). So I emailed Gary Larson, told him how much I loved the strip, and asked him if I could leave it on my personal website. He emailed me back letting me know (kindly, but in no uncertain terms) that what I did was called piracy and that it needed to come down immediately. I did as he asked and promptly forgot all about that experience until I read that letter he posted on the new site.
posted by backseatpilot at 1:03 PM on December 18, 2019 [12 favorites]
4. ONE EARLY STRIP CONFUSED SO MANY READERS THAT LARSON HAD TO EXPLAIN ITS MEANING IN A PRESS RELEASE.
Cow tools was one of many that he tried to explain.
posted by Chuffy at 2:44 PM on December 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
Cow tools was one of many that he tried to explain.
posted by Chuffy at 2:44 PM on December 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
Garfield was created to become a licensed product ala Hello Kitty, that the original comics where entertaining (whomst among us didn’t have a Garfield gag comic collection as a child?) is a nice extra.
I have to think that not-a-little inspiration/motivation came from Garfield's precursor Heathcliff utterly failing to generate interest beyond the page, cartoon series' (plural) notwithstanding.
posted by rhizome at 4:17 PM on December 18, 2019
I have to think that not-a-little inspiration/motivation came from Garfield's precursor Heathcliff utterly failing to generate interest beyond the page, cartoon series' (plural) notwithstanding.
posted by rhizome at 4:17 PM on December 18, 2019
Well but Heathcliff was boring and unfunny even to begin with.
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:38 PM on December 18, 2019
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:38 PM on December 18, 2019
Baby steps! I haven't read it since I was lo about 13 years old, but I had several books. IT'S ALL WE HAD for cat-oriented comics in the late 70s.
posted by rhizome at 5:52 PM on December 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by rhizome at 5:52 PM on December 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
The Garfield vs. Heathcliff fandom controversy was a thing back in the early 80's. I had a classmate who used to get furious when I switched their names whenever making a value judgement of the comics...
posted by Chuffy at 6:10 PM on December 18, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by Chuffy at 6:10 PM on December 18, 2019 [3 favorites]
Regarding Watterson vs Larson: the vitriol is about long story/character arcs ending. It's why people get bent out of shape with Lost or Game of Thrones: they get invested and when the book closes with a final "The End" they reject it. There's no good last page to a never-ending story. Not having another unrelated short story is entirely different. Risking an OK Boomer analogy, it's like the end of M.A.S.H. vs. the end of Car Talk.
In any case, I'm jealous of these guys retiring in their mid-40's. That's pretty awesome.
posted by netowl at 10:32 PM on December 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
In any case, I'm jealous of these guys retiring in their mid-40's. That's pretty awesome.
posted by netowl at 10:32 PM on December 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
This isn't a fully-formed thought, but here goes: I wonder if The Far Side isn't as unique as it was when it was in newspapers. I can't put my finger on what "weird humor" is, but I can only remember 2 sources of weird humor from when I was young: Pete & Pete and The Far Side. I'm sure there were others but that speaks to how hard it was to find certain things before the Internet.
These days, weird humor (whatever I mean by that) is readily available. Quite a few Hark, A Vagrant, xkcd, and SMBC comics would count, not to mention a lot of one-off memes. I think The Far Side did its style of humor very well, but it's not as unique as it was when it was in papers.
It seems inevitable that we will compare The Far Side to Calvin & Hobbes, so here goes: Calvin & Hobbes' appeal is its combination of artistry, humor, and connection to the characters. It's the combination of those things that makes it great. The Far Side's appeal, or at least part of it, is its willingness to do things that other comics weren't: science jokes, adult-ish themes (remember the one with the snake in the tent causing a wet dream?), and downright weirdness (Cow Tools). These days we can get that elsewhere, but it's hard to think of a modern comic that provides quite the same experience Calvin & Hobbes does.
This isn't a criticism of The Far Side. I love it dearly and I'm going to go make sure I have all the books in my collection and buy the remainder if I don't. I just have my doubts that it's going to make a very big splash on the internet except with people who already like it. The Far Side is very good, but it's not unique anymore.
posted by Tehhund at 6:05 AM on December 19, 2019 [2 favorites]
These days, weird humor (whatever I mean by that) is readily available. Quite a few Hark, A Vagrant, xkcd, and SMBC comics would count, not to mention a lot of one-off memes. I think The Far Side did its style of humor very well, but it's not as unique as it was when it was in papers.
It seems inevitable that we will compare The Far Side to Calvin & Hobbes, so here goes: Calvin & Hobbes' appeal is its combination of artistry, humor, and connection to the characters. It's the combination of those things that makes it great. The Far Side's appeal, or at least part of it, is its willingness to do things that other comics weren't: science jokes, adult-ish themes (remember the one with the snake in the tent causing a wet dream?), and downright weirdness (Cow Tools). These days we can get that elsewhere, but it's hard to think of a modern comic that provides quite the same experience Calvin & Hobbes does.
This isn't a criticism of The Far Side. I love it dearly and I'm going to go make sure I have all the books in my collection and buy the remainder if I don't. I just have my doubts that it's going to make a very big splash on the internet except with people who already like it. The Far Side is very good, but it's not unique anymore.
posted by Tehhund at 6:05 AM on December 19, 2019 [2 favorites]
Is there a way to get the daily post in RSS? Can't find it from the site.
posted by ellieBOA at 7:25 AM on December 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by ellieBOA at 7:25 AM on December 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
I think The Far Side did its style of humor very well, but it's not as unique as it was when it was in papers.
I think that's a good take, yeah; I'd elaborate it as, maybe, The Far Side flourished in a context where the opportunities for weird humor to gain visibility were very limited.
There were 30-40 comic slots in major daily newspapers; getting one of those regularly for a wide swath of circulation was all else aside a huge lottery win for a cartoonist, because that was it. You get in or you don't. If you don't, nobody's heard of you. If you do, you're a national cultural figure.
With the web the terrain has changed enough that there's room for more than one winner in a given category, there's room for more than 30-40 winners over all. However much there's still a lottery effect, it's much less constrained. So a dozen or a hundred talented cartoonists can make themselves known off the kind of brand of weirdness that The Far Side basically owned in the newspapers; it's not everyone in the nation reading your webcomic every morning, but it's enough to matter for it to be a career or at least a part of one. There's more room at the table.
There's the other question of how many people making good weird comics on the internet today used to be kids reading The Far Side in the paper or in anthologies. Weird begets weird, part of why Larson's work may feel less unique in today's context (though I'll say it retains a very specific, very Larson-esque voice even in today's more broadly weird cartooning context) is that the people making the weird stuff now are doing in part some combination of "yes, and..." and "hold my beer".
posted by cortex at 7:49 AM on December 19, 2019 [3 favorites]
I think that's a good take, yeah; I'd elaborate it as, maybe, The Far Side flourished in a context where the opportunities for weird humor to gain visibility were very limited.
There were 30-40 comic slots in major daily newspapers; getting one of those regularly for a wide swath of circulation was all else aside a huge lottery win for a cartoonist, because that was it. You get in or you don't. If you don't, nobody's heard of you. If you do, you're a national cultural figure.
With the web the terrain has changed enough that there's room for more than one winner in a given category, there's room for more than 30-40 winners over all. However much there's still a lottery effect, it's much less constrained. So a dozen or a hundred talented cartoonists can make themselves known off the kind of brand of weirdness that The Far Side basically owned in the newspapers; it's not everyone in the nation reading your webcomic every morning, but it's enough to matter for it to be a career or at least a part of one. There's more room at the table.
There's the other question of how many people making good weird comics on the internet today used to be kids reading The Far Side in the paper or in anthologies. Weird begets weird, part of why Larson's work may feel less unique in today's context (though I'll say it retains a very specific, very Larson-esque voice even in today's more broadly weird cartooning context) is that the people making the weird stuff now are doing in part some combination of "yes, and..." and "hold my beer".
posted by cortex at 7:49 AM on December 19, 2019 [3 favorites]
The 80s were a pretty great time for daily strips. The Far Side, Bloom County, Calvin and Hobbes were all new and amazing and even Doonebury got a second wind after his early eighties sabbatical.
posted by octothorpe at 7:54 AM on December 19, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by octothorpe at 7:54 AM on December 19, 2019 [3 favorites]
Along with Far Side, I’ve always liked Ashleigh Brilliant’s Pot-Shots. His use of old-timey illustrations with introspective humor and still relevant aphorisms were pre-Internet memes. Fittingly, his website looks like it hasn’t changed in 25 years.
posted by cenoxo at 8:15 AM on December 19, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by cenoxo at 8:15 AM on December 19, 2019 [2 favorites]
This isn't a fully-formed thought, but here goes: I wonder if The Far Side isn't as unique as it was when it was in newspapers. I can't put my finger on what "weird humor" is
It was at the time. I had been familiar with single-pane absurdities from National Lampoon in the Matty Simmons Era, and I would guess the prevalence of this form tracked the rise of observational humor in standup. Of course Family Circus and other wholesome strips populated the single-pane corner at the bottom next to the Jumble, but there was a change in popular humor at the end of the 70s that percolated markedly into the papers.
I was a Far Side fan throughout high school, and graduated to Matt Groening when I went off to college. I knew of Life in Hell before getting to college in the mid-late 80s, but seeing it in the school's daily paper was significant and something to be looked forward to. The Far Side remained a mass market panel, with Groening the evolutionary upstart poised to leapfrog the...universe.
I do feel that Groening owes some of his success to Larson, who was definitely a gateway drug for the Groening world. Akbar and Jeff was a pretty huge step back in the day (for my suburban mindset).
For the multipane dailys I see a pretty direct lineage of Doonesbury > Bloom County > Calvin & Hobbes. While it may have been sabbatical driven on the timeline, they each did push the game forward.
posted by rhizome at 1:35 PM on December 19, 2019 [2 favorites]
It was at the time. I had been familiar with single-pane absurdities from National Lampoon in the Matty Simmons Era, and I would guess the prevalence of this form tracked the rise of observational humor in standup. Of course Family Circus and other wholesome strips populated the single-pane corner at the bottom next to the Jumble, but there was a change in popular humor at the end of the 70s that percolated markedly into the papers.
I was a Far Side fan throughout high school, and graduated to Matt Groening when I went off to college. I knew of Life in Hell before getting to college in the mid-late 80s, but seeing it in the school's daily paper was significant and something to be looked forward to. The Far Side remained a mass market panel, with Groening the evolutionary upstart poised to leapfrog the...universe.
I do feel that Groening owes some of his success to Larson, who was definitely a gateway drug for the Groening world. Akbar and Jeff was a pretty huge step back in the day (for my suburban mindset).
For the multipane dailys I see a pretty direct lineage of Doonesbury > Bloom County > Calvin & Hobbes. While it may have been sabbatical driven on the timeline, they each did push the game forward.
posted by rhizome at 1:35 PM on December 19, 2019 [2 favorites]
When I was in 8th grade, in 1987-88, someone posted a Far Side comic "Mr Osborne, may I leave, my brain is full" in my English teacher's classroom, complete with the teacher's hair colored in, and "Mr" changed to "Ms" on behalf of the lovely Ms Osborne.
So that one just lives in my brain whenever I just can't handle any more thinking work.
Also, when I was probably about the same age, I went to an after-hours event at the LA County Natural History Museum, where we got to tour back behind the scenes. One of my strongest memories is just how many Far Side comics were posted around people's desks, on doors, etc.
posted by epersonae at 2:05 PM on December 19, 2019 [3 favorites]
So that one just lives in my brain whenever I just can't handle any more thinking work.
Also, when I was probably about the same age, I went to an after-hours event at the LA County Natural History Museum, where we got to tour back behind the scenes. One of my strongest memories is just how many Far Side comics were posted around people's desks, on doors, etc.
posted by epersonae at 2:05 PM on December 19, 2019 [3 favorites]
I've got the Complete Far Side on the bottom shelf of my comic book bookcase (aka the All-Ages shelf) and my daughter has been reading it lately. She's 8 so I'm not sure how much she's actually getting but hopefully a couple of them will stick in her head. A big book of comic strips is great for bored kids - I remember devouring various Peanuts and Garfield treasuries at other people's houses when I was younger.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 6:10 PM on December 19, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 6:10 PM on December 19, 2019 [4 favorites]
ONE EARLY STRIP CONFUSED SO MANY READERS THAT LARSON HAD TO EXPLAIN ITS MEANING IN A PRESS RELEASE.
And now there are entire web sites devoted to xkcd, no? Time marches on...
posted by Melismata at 12:13 PM on December 20, 2019 [4 favorites]
And now there are entire web sites devoted to xkcd, no? Time marches on...
posted by Melismata at 12:13 PM on December 20, 2019 [4 favorites]
Course, now we’re equally screwed.
posted by Fibognocchi at 8:06 PM on December 21, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Fibognocchi at 8:06 PM on December 21, 2019 [2 favorites]
Cartoonist Jim Davis Offers 30-Plus Years of 'Garfield' Comic Strips at Auction, Hollywood Reporter - Associated Press, 12/21/2019:
posted by cenoxo at 2:31 PM on December 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
The strips span from the launch of 'Garfield' in 1978 to 2011, when Davis began drawing the strip digitally. He says he still draws it by hand but now it's with a stylus on a tablet instead of on paper with a pencil, pen and brush.(“Be still my beating heart.”)
...
Cartoonist Jim Davis is offering up more than 11,000 Garfield comic strips hand-drawn on paper in an auction that will stretch into the coming years, with at least a couple of strips featuring the always-hungry orange cat with a sardonic sense of humor available weekly.
"There are just so many, and it was such a daunting task to figure what to do with them so that they could be out there where people enjoy them too," said Davis, creator of the comic strip that appears in newspapers around the world and has spawned TV shows, movies and books.
Dallas-based Heritage Auctions began offering up the strips in August. The auction house is selling two daily strips each week, along with longer Sunday strips being offered during the large-scale auctions throughout the year.
...
Brian Wiedman, a comic grader at Heritage, says the daily strips are currently selling on average from around $500 to $700, and the longer Sunday strips are selling for $1,500 to $3,000.
...
posted by cenoxo at 2:31 PM on December 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
I feel like there's some work to be done with semi-surreal/absurdist eighties strips, especially one-panels, with the Far Side on the t-shirt end of the spectrum and maybe B. Kliban in the middle and this other one that I just *cannot* remember the name of but the panel I remember was captioned, "How to bunt with a carp," and showed a man holding a carp with ball hitting the carp's mouth and making the sound "SPLUT"
HALP someone find this
posted by Caxton1476 at 9:57 AM on December 23, 2019
HALP someone find this
posted by Caxton1476 at 9:57 AM on December 23, 2019
For what it's worth, here's the most confounding Peanuts strip I can recall.
posted by Caxton1476 at 10:05 AM on December 23, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Caxton1476 at 10:05 AM on December 23, 2019 [1 favorite]
Coming from the UK, Far Side always seemed like the American version of Glen Baxter.
posted by thatwhichfalls at 10:41 AM on December 23, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by thatwhichfalls at 10:41 AM on December 23, 2019 [3 favorites]
ellieBOA: "Is there a way to get the daily post in RSS? Can't find it from the site."
I searched Feedly and found this scraped feed. Works great so far!
posted by Rhaomi at 7:47 PM on December 30, 2019 [2 favorites]
I searched Feedly and found this scraped feed. Works great so far!
posted by Rhaomi at 7:47 PM on December 30, 2019 [2 favorites]
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posted by Wolfdog at 1:32 PM on December 17, 2019 [4 favorites]