40 Years Later, This Far Side Comic Is Still the Greatest Comic Strip of All Time

Gary Larson’s The Far Side ran in syndication from 1980 to 1995, serving up surreal, sometimes morbid, but always hilarious comics day after day. The master of single-image gags, Larson created some of the most enduring comic strips ever made – and today we’re here to argue he penned the single greatest of all time.

An amateur musician who inherited his sense of humor from his family – and especially the brother who tormented him – Larson has a deep love for the natural world that shines through in his work, earning him the nickname of “the unofficial cartoonist laureate of the scientific community.”

However, Larson also has a keen eye for human foibles, and his greatest comic of all time has nothing to do with the natural world and everything to do with the human condition.

Larson’s ‘School for the Gifted’ Comic Is the Greatest of All Time

Published November 24, 1986, The Far Side‘s best comic strip depicts a schoolkid pushing with all his might against a door clearly marked ‘PULL.’ Making his mistake all the more shameful, the student is trying to gain access to the ‘Midvale School for the Gifted’ – seemingly proving he doesn’t belong before he can even get in the door.

The strip is widely acknowledged as the best Far Side comic of all time, requiring no prior knowledge of Larson or his work to land. The premise is perfect, and open to several layers of interpretation, from a general reflection on human foibles to the more targeted assertion that what the ‘gifted’ have in academic knowledge may be missing in street smarts.

While Garfield, Calvin and Hobbes and Peanuts all have some great strips, none of them have the economy of The Far Side. With a single image and no spoken words, Larson crafts a gag that everyone can enjoy – across generations, with no need for recurring characters, and without dumbing down or embracing milquetoast humor.

The Nerdy Kid Deserves His Place in Far Side History

Custom Image by Robert Wood (from Gary Larson)

While we just described The Far Side as having no need for recurring characters, that’s not the whole truth. Against his editor’s advice, Larson avoided repeat characters from the start, reasoning that he preferred characters who could be ‘crunched, speared, shot, beheaded, eaten, stuffed, poisoned, and run over about twice a week’ without offending readers.

However, Larson DID have stock character models he returned to again and again, with one comic even characterizing them as the ‘cast’ who starred in his various gags.

Alongside the woman in horn-rimmed glasses and the mad scientist, the ‘Nerdy Little Kid’ is one of Larson’s most used stock characters, appearing in a variety of hilarious comics. From antagonizing his shop teacher to hiding from monsters, the Nerdy Little Kid combines relatability and wish fulfillment.

Indeed, it’s fair to say that Larson sometimes uses the Nerdy Little Kid as a stand-in for himself. As Larson lays out in The Prehistory of The Far Side, several of the strips below were inspired by his own childhood experiences (in particular, the idea for a ‘monster snorkel.’)

However, for all the Nerdy Little Kid’s ubiquity, when we polled Screen Rant readers on the best Far Side comics starring the character, ‘Midvale School for the Gifted’ got a whopping 42% of the vote. The next highest entry got 9%.

The Far Side Has Aged Like Fine Wine

There are several all-time great comic strips, but Larson’s The Far Side is the best: his perfectly composed single images showcasing a master craftsman who can assemble a visual gag like no-one else before or since. The ‘Midvale School for the Gifted’ strip showcases The Far Side at its best – as hilarious today as in 1986, and as it will be in 2066.

Let us know below what you consider the best Far Side comic of all time, and your own nominee for the greatest comic strip of all time.

Writer

Gary Larson

Colorist

Gary Larson