Gary Larson’sFar Sidehas plenty of celebrity fans, fromhorror icon Stephen Kingto comedy legend Steve Martin. One of the luminaries on that list is the lateRobin Williams, who wrote the foreword to Larson’sThe Far Side Gallery 4, laying out exactly what he loved about the strip.
Here are 10Far Sidecomics that show exactly what theGood Will Hunting,Mrs. DoubtfireandDead Poets Societystar loved about Larson’s work, according to his own words.
10Only Hibernating
Robin Williams Praised This Hilarious Far Side Comic
In his foreword toThe Far Side Gallery 4,Robin Williams wrote that readingFar Sidemade him feel like he was"watching a National Geographic special on Prozac.“In particular, Williams calls out the procession of"talking sharks, cigar-smoking termites, lustful flies, squirrels in cop uniforms, cows with attitudes…“It’s likely that Williams was thinking about this strip, where a murderous squirrel tries to convince the police that her husband was just hibernating in the refrigerator, rather than that being where she stashed his body.
9BEAR! BEAR!
Robin Williams Wasn’t Afraid of Dark Humor
This strip is a great candidate for the"talking sharks"Williams mentioned, as one of the lethal fish convinces beach-goers to sprint into its jaws by pretending they’re about to be attacked by a bear. It’s no coincidence that Robin Williams notedFar Side’s preference for using animals - Larson originally pitched the comicunder the titleNature’s Way, but his editors asked for a wider brief. Ultimately, Larson’sFar Sidedepicts everything from aliens to single-celled bacteria, but he has a clear soft spot for the animal kingdom.
8Are Those Her Lips?
Our Pick for Robin Williams' ‘Lustful Flies’
Even given his love of nature, Larson seems to have particular love for insect life. In this strip, two flies share a romantic moment that’s stretched out because they can’t figure out how to kiss with such bizarre physiology.As much as Larson loves insects, the world of entomology loves him back, with multiplebugs named in Larson’s honorby scientist fans - for example, the lousestrigiphilus garylarsoni.
7I’m Not Content
Far Side Isn’t Short on ‘Cows with Attitude’
Far Sideisn’t exactly short on the"cows with attitudes"that Williams mentions, to the point that Larosn’s blank-eyed bovines have become the official mascots for his comic. In this strip, a typical soap opera scene plays out, as a refined woman tells her slovenly husband that she’s not content with their humdrum life.This is seemingly a reference to the tagline of Carnation condensed milk, which boasted,“From contented cows, green grass the year round.“Larson clearly found some humor in the idea of cows experiencing a complex emotion like contentment, and wondered what the opposite would look like.
6SHOE!
Robin Williams Imagines Gary Larson as a “Demented Doctor Doolittle”
Williams wrote inThe Far Side Gallery 4that given Larson’s treatment of animals, he couldn’t help but imagine him"wandering through zoos and aquariums, talking to all the animals and insects like a demented Dr. Doolittle. He approaches a boll weevil, hands it a contract, and says, “I’d like to sketch you for my next cartoon. Who’s your agent?”
OneFar Sideweevil who definitely has an agent is the bug in the comic above, who has written a popular autobiography about their harrowing incident being crushed under a human foot. The gag hinges on the bug’s appearance, squashed almost flat by their experience.
5What a Hideous Creature!
Robin Williams Liked More Than Far Side’s Animals
As much as Robin Williams lovedFar Side’s animals, he was even more of a fan of Larson’s"flair for drawing humans.“Williams speculates that,“future civilizations may dig up his cartoons in archaeological expeditions. Their scientists will examine them and they’ll think twentieth-century man was a lumpy troglodyte with bad eyesight, buck teeth, and cowlicks.“Open the image gallery below for moreFar Sidecomics where Larson draws grotesque humans.
4Maniacal Laughter
How Robin Williams Imagined Gary Larson
In this comic, a group of future mad scientists learn the vital importance of how to laugh maniacally as their experiments come to life.This is apparently how Robin Williams saw Gary Larson, writing:
I suppose most people have this image of a cartoonist as a quiet person sitting in a cozy den, puffing on a pope, and carefully drawing on a sketch pad. Sort of like Norman Rockwell. My image of Gary is more like Norman Bates. I imagine Gary in a dark and mysterious laboratory with chemicals brewing and static electricity crackling. He stands over his sketch pad, cackling like a mad scientist. He raises his arms to the sky. Lightning strikes. And he maniacally shouts, “Give my creation LIFE!!!”
3The Best Medicine
Far Side Does Patch Adams
With Williams' love forFar Side, it’s not surprising to find out that he and Larson often explored similar themes. In 1998’sPatch Adams, Robin Williams plays a doctor who believes that introducing humor into medical care can hugely benefit patients - the application of the idea that"laughter is the best medicine.“In Larson’s morbid world, that theory is applied in a slightly different way, with the doctors laughingattheir patients rather thanwiththem.
2Three Wishes
This Is Definitely Something Robin Williams' Genie Would Do
Robin Williams famously played the Geniein 1992’sAladdin, helping the titular hero go from street rat to part of the royal family of Agrabah. In the movie, the Genie saves Aladdin’s life, turns him into a prince, and transforms Jafar into a powerful sorcerer. InThe Far Side, the genie ends up accomplishing far more minor (but way more bizarre) feats after his lamp is discovered by a kid who really just wants his parents out of his hair.
Of Course This List Needs Some Physical Humor
In this strip, Captain Hook tracks down his missing dog, who apparently escaped by making a break for it and taking the pirate’s hook-hand with it. It’s a fitting fate for one of Robin Williams' celluloid enemies, having played an adult Peter Pan in Steven Spielberg’s 1991 movieHook, across from Dustin Hoffman as the titular pirate. With a zany punchline and physical humor, this strip is a lot of what Williams professed to love about Larson’s comics.
Those are the 10 funniestFar Sidecomics every fan of Robin Williams needs to see - let us know in the comments which others you think belong on this list, and any similarities between Williams and Larson’s sense of humor that we missed.
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.
Robin Williams
Discover the latest news and filmography for Robin Williams, known for Good Will Hunting and Mrs. Doubtfire.
