[HN Gopher] The Far Side - By Gary Larson
___________________________________________________________________
The Far Side - By Gary Larson
Author : keepamovin
Score : 136 points
Date : 2024-01-31 15:27 UTC (7 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.thefarside.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.thefarside.com)
| the__alchemist wrote:
| Hey - I've been wondering about this for a while: Does anyone
| have an explanation of the Farside/AI crap that has been flooding
| Facebook for the past few months? Generally, the punchline is
| that animals are turning the tide on humans, and hunting them
| instead; husbands and wives hate each other; old men like
| creeping on young women while their wives gets mad.
|
| The comics linked seem different.
| evan_ wrote:
| I'm sure it's just your regular, everyday bid for eyeballs and
| clicks.
|
| The linked comics are the "real thing", selections from a
| syndicated single-panel comic that ran in newspapers for years
| until the mid-90s. The gags tended to be pretty surreal.
| dylan604 wrote:
| > The comics linked seem different.
|
| Whaaat? Say it ain't true! The AI crap isn't as good as the
| original? No! That's impossible!
| nullhole wrote:
| Worth noting is Gary Larson's original response to the WWW was an
| open letter asking fans not to post his cartoons online. Akin to
| the Bill Gates letter on copying software, but, perhaps, more
| understandable. This website is a reversal of that original
| position. He was thoughtful then, and is thoughtful now.
|
| The original letter:
| https://www.portmann.com/farside/index.html?home.html
|
| And the reversal: https://www.thefarside.com/about/48/a-letter-
| from-gary-larso...
|
| ... for cartoons, my favourite has always been:
|
| [A cow, wearing jewellery and holding a martini glass, stands by
| the picture window of a well-appointed suburban home, while a
| bull sits in an armchair, watching TV, with a beer in his hoof]
|
| Cow: "Wendell... I'm not content"
| jacquesm wrote:
| For me it's also a cow one: 'Car!'.
| mccolin wrote:
| I've always loved "Beware of Doug"
| chris_wot wrote:
| My favourite was only published in his hardcover book.
| Newspapers universally rejected it:
|
| http://doubleplusundead.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/far-side...
| rilindo wrote:
| I feel wicked laughing at this.
| LordDragonfang wrote:
| Honestly, it's a real shame that it took so long for that
| reversal, because Far Side comics already had an almost perfect
| vibe for joining the early rise of internet meme culture, with
| the postmodernist elements they had in common. Hopefully for
| Larson things haven't moved on too far that he's totally missed
| that boat, because his comics absolutely deserve wider
| recognition among internet culture.
| omoikane wrote:
| I think the expectation from the early days of the internet
| was that information could be contained, and the realization
| from recent years is that the expectation no longer holds. So
| creators either have to make their own contents accessible or
| someone else will do it anyways, possibly poorly. Gary Larson
| might have arrived at this realization relatively late, but I
| don't think he is the last one.
| m463 wrote:
| I always recall turbulence.
| Arrath wrote:
| I've always been particularly fond of the humble farmer dooming
| the planet to destruction by earnestly grasping the hand-shaped
| alien's entire head for an introductory handshake.
|
| https://twitter.com/faineg/status/1387409269620985863?lang=e...
| zem wrote:
| my favourite was the horse parliament one. someone posted it to
| reddit:
| https://www.reddit.com/r/europe/comments/b6g2ti/i_love_it_wh...
| entropicgravity wrote:
| Pilot to co-pilot, "What's that goat doing up here in this
| cloud bank?"
| OldGuyInTheClub wrote:
| If I had to pick a favorite, it'd be all of them. I only wish I
| had a thagomizer for the routine problems of work and day-to-day
| living.
| dylan604 wrote:
| Mine was School For the Gifted
| OldGuyInTheClub wrote:
| I was drinking coffee when I saw "Early vegetarians returning
| from the kill". But not for long.
| dylan604 wrote:
| I have redecorated with my morning beverage on many
| occasions myself.
| geoelectric wrote:
| I think of that one every single time I try to use a door the
| wrong way.
| psunavy03 wrote:
| Didn't "thagomizer" work its way into paleontologists' slang,
| since they really didn't have a word for it?
| gramie wrote:
| I think it worked its way into the official vocabulary!
| stonogo wrote:
| It's definitely a thing:
| https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&q=thagomizer
| AlbertCory wrote:
| Bummer of a birthmark
|
| https://i.pinimg.com/originals/86/64/d6/8664d684518509081caf...
| xoxxala wrote:
| "Bummer of a birthmark, Hal" has made its way into my everyday
| lexicon. Most of my coworkers immediately got the reference.
| There is something about Far Side humor that appeals to people
| in tech beyond all the science and nerd jokes.
| jancsika wrote:
| Is there a name for a cartooning style where the creatures seem
| to always be drawn as wide as possible?
|
| I remember a few animators for Sesame Street who did the same
| thing. It was always striking.
|
| Larson seems to also give them tiny heads for maximum
| ridiculousness. :)
|
| It make me think of that Aubrey Beardsley illustration of Ali
| Baba where he's got the curved lines running off the page
| suggesting these gi-normous flowing comfy pants:
|
| https://images.fineartamerica.com/images/artworkimages/mediu...
| alibrarydweller wrote:
| Not cartooning exactly, but there is Boterismo -
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernando_Botero
| Modified3019 wrote:
| I'm not certain there's a name, but Larson was heavily
| influenced by the work of B. Kliban
| artie_effim wrote:
| We still refer to cat food as 'cat fud' in my house.
| thebruce87m wrote:
| "Fud" means something very different in Scotland. It used to be
| a common derogatory term.
|
| https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/fud
| m463 wrote:
| It was also used microsoft to great effect.
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear,_uncertainty,_and_doubt
| NickC25 wrote:
| Wow, The Far Side really brings back some cherished childhood
| memories. Larson is, IMO, one of the best to ever do it. His
| humor is really unique, and he's quite a thoughtful person as
| well, letting his work speak for itself. A relic of a bygone era.
|
| One of my faves: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/oh-my-god-its-
| leonard-hes-stuf...
|
| Gets me every time. I still have _It came from the Far Side_ as
| well as _Gallery_ and _Gallery 2_ on my bookshelf. Timeless.
| EvanAnderson wrote:
| I've been reading the entire The Far Side (from the massive two
| book set) with my 10 y/o daughter. It's interesting to see how
| apparently the culture of the time of Gary Larson's upbringing
| imprinted itself on the strips. Reading 10 or so strips at a
| sitting makes it very apparent (along with making apparent
| Larson's go-to characters and tropes).
|
| My daughter commented on there being few depictions of female
| scientists, academics, doctors, etc (instances if the archetypal
| The Far Side character in a lab coat) as an example. The strips
| that feature singles bar-type settings feel a little skeevy, too.
|
| I'm not trying to say anything negative about the strips or Gary
| Larson. It's interesting to me to reflect on something I enjoyed
| in my childhood "showing its age", even as I enjoy it now.
| ghaff wrote:
| Pop culture (and, good as it is, The Far Side is pop culture)
| always reflects current society to some degree. I would
| actually say that The Far Side (and Calvin and Hobbes) probably
| less directly reflects when they were drawn.
|
| For a more obvious example, see Dilbert. Leaving aside all the
| other baggage, with few exceptions, it's really more about
| 1990s PacBell cubicle life than anything about the current era,
| certain common stereotypes notwithstanding.
| DonHopkins wrote:
| Nerd! ... Dang!
|
| https://i.pinimg.com/564x/c9/08/a0/c908a02a8dfa42db9973f743b...
|
| Dang! ... Who ate the middle out of the daddy longlegs?
|
| https://ifunny.co/picture/dang-who-ate-the-middle-out-of-the...
| OldGuyInTheClub wrote:
| Two Far Side mentions (at least) for our moderator? And here I
| envisioned him as a much younger man.
| TJSomething wrote:
| I just found out that Larson started drawing comics again on a
| very irregular schedule: https://www.thefarside.com/new-stuff
| Loughla wrote:
| The nudibranch beach got me.
| b450 wrote:
| I have several well-worn Far Side collections, including one with
| a lovely introduction by Jane Goodall, which has a funny story
| behind it [1]
|
| Linking my favorite below [2]
|
| > Donning his new canine decoder, Professor Schwarzman becomes
| the first human being on Earth to hear what barking dogs are
| actually saying.
|
| [1]
| http://www.hopkinsandcompany.com/Books/The%20Complete%20Far%...
|
| [2]
| https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FNZar0hX0AQB98d?format=jpg&name=...
| noSyncCloud wrote:
| What a great story. Love that
| Ringz wrote:
| This is also my favorite, which I have been able to laugh at
| for years.
| AlbertCory wrote:
| that's funny, because some comedian stole the idea, and had all
| the dogs saying "Fuck you! Fuck you!"
|
| I still always think of that when I hear dogs barking.
| arbuge wrote:
| Everybody has their Far Side favorite... here's mine:
| https://www.pinterest.com/pin/54184001740077889/
| polygotdomain wrote:
| Growing up my best friend and I loved The Far Side. In many ways
| it was the basis to the quirky humor we both shared, and would
| continue to explore throughout our youth. In elementary school we
| had countless Far Side books between us, and by middle school a
| few shirts too (I remember having "Midvale School for the
| Gifted").
|
| Well he turned 40 just a few weeks ago, and I needed to find a
| present. I don't know why, as The Far Side hadn't crossed my
| conscious in quite some time, but I thought "I'll get him 'The
| Chickens are Restless'". After some quick searching, he ended up
| with the Complete Works containing every thing from The Far Side.
|
| Wrapped, he didn't have a clue what I'd got him or why it was so
| damn heavy. The first glance as he opened in and realized what it
| was instantly brought a smile to his face. It's amazing how small
| things bring people together, and The Far Side will always be one
| of them for my best friend and I. I'm sure there will be some new
| comics we'd missed and there will be some new chuckles.
| codexb wrote:
| I don't know why, but I was convinced that Gary Larson died like
| 15 years ago.
| jonathankoren wrote:
| I am so happy that Cow Tools has become a meme.
___________________________________________________________________
(page generated 2024-01-31 23:00 UTC)