Entertainment
Gary Larson’s 5 Funniest ‘Far Side’ Comics About Scientists, Ranked
The Far Side is easily one of the best comic strips of all time, and it’s iconic enough that it probably doesn’t need much of an introduction. You’ve surely seen at least one Far Side strip before, even if not by choice, because they were made pretty consistently by Gary Larson between 1980 and 1995, with this period seeing the publication of more than 4000 strips. They appeared in newspapers, and then were further circulated thanks to books that compiled large numbers of cartoons, and also old-fashioned calendars, where you’d be greeted, every new day, by a different Far Side comic.
Most of these comics or strips were just a single panel, and they’d keep things pretty minimal in terms of text, dialogue, and captions, for the most part. Larson demonstrated a knack for being surreal, funny, and observant in ways that could be appreciated in seconds, because most Far Side strips are instantly amusing and the kind of things that make you go, “Hey, why didn’t I think of that joke before?” The Far Side could be about almost anything, but there were a particularly high number of jokes about scientists, and of those, the following strips were the funniest.
5
‘The First Rubber Band’ (1983)
Within his Far Side comics about scientists, painting them out to be immature seems to be what Gary Larson most enjoys doing. You can take offense at that, as a scientist, or be more impartial and recognize that that’s what comedy is, or can be. It’s objectively true that subversions, when done well, are funny, or else humor wouldn’t surprise, and then it wouldn’t be much. So, scientists, being typically known for being sticklers for rules and regulations while also being incredibly smart, acting like children in The Far Side? It can’t help but be funny.
Larson does appear to have plucked the date out of nowhere, because important years for the development/refinement of the rubber band appear to be 1845, 1923, and 1957. Oh well. That’s something scientists might pick up on, if they weren’t busy flicking each other with rubber bands, which The First Rubber Band implies was the main reason for such an invention coming to fruition. Honestly, if you’ve survived middle school, then you’re probably most familiar with either deploying – or being on the receiving end of – a rubber band as a weapon, rather than… uh, whatever else you’re supposed to use them for or whatever.
4
‘Scientist Hell’ (1998)
For a bit of history now, alongside all the science, The Far Side has run a little further than 1995. That was the year it officially ended, after debuting in 1980, and running consistently all that time, aside from Larson’s 1989 hiatus. Then, post-1995, there were still some Far Side comics published, and many of them thanks to an official revival online in late 2019. As for some isolated strips, you’ve got 1998’s Scientist Hell, which is more of a one-off, and yet it still very much feels in line with classic-era The Far Side. As you’d imagine from the title, Scientist Hell is indeed depicted.
It also raises the question of whether Scientist Hell is actually Psychics, Astrologists, and Mediums Heaven? Since all those people there, in their discussion group, look like they’re having a pretty good time.
Gary Larson loves going to Hell, at least in his comics. There are all sorts of comics he’s done that poke fun at the idea of Hell being a certain way or, in the case of this strip, personally horrifying for just one particular kind of person. It’s probably the “Eternal Discussion Group” part that makes it extra funny. It also raises the question of whether Scientist Hell is actually Psychics, Astrologists, and Mediums Heaven? Since all those people there, in their discussion group, look like they’re having a pretty good time, and also don’t seem too concerned about the idea that it’s going to last an eternity. Also, shout-out to the guy wearing the T-shirt that just says “Pisces.” He looks like he’s having a fun time.
3
‘Early Microscope’ (1983)
Early Microscope is right on the border of being about scientists, or science, since it more fits in with that other recurring Far Side topic: cavemen. Cavemen and science collide; these are a few of Larson’s favorite things and stuff. This strip looks at a comically crude “early” microscope that’s limited enough it feels like it’s worse than just looking at the thing entirely. Oh wait, there’s the joke. That’s the joke. Seriously, these jokes are easy to get/explain. Trying to write further feels a bit like going mad.
The only other things that can be observed would be asking questions along the lines of, “How did they get the mammoth to sit under the early microscope without realizing they were putting a mammoth under an early microscope?” That’s if you want the whole thing to feel even more surreal. It happens, with The Far Side. You look for longer, and you find yourself both more confused and more amused at the same time (conmused? Or afused?).
2
‘You’re Being Facetious, Andrews’ (1982)
Those immature scientists are returned to, in You’re Being Facetious, Andrews (sorry about the lack of a clean name/title for this one). In fact, Andrews might well be the guy who had the rubber band fired at him in The First Rubber Band. They look pretty similar. He’s sticking up for himself, maybe, after getting humiliated by the first rubber band ever. And he’s wrapped up in a conflict with another scientist (again, in the unlikely event that Andrews is a genuine recurring character throughout The Far Side), this time involving who gets to ride the dinosaur skeleton.
Well, if you want to get technical, they’re probably paleontologists, which is a kind of scientist, but also, the idea that they’re not paleontologists and have snuck out of their laboratory to play around in someone else’s field/workspace makes it funnier. Anyway, this is probably the best of Larson’s strips about immature scientists. The continued use of formal language (saying words like “facetious” and “distinctly”) while the argument at hand relates to who gets to misuse the carefully constructed dinosaur skeleton is great. And the guy not wrapped up in the argument is great, and having the time of his life, much like that aforementioned dude with the Pisces shirt.
1
‘Scientific Meat Markets’ (1987)
This one does read a bit confusingly if you’re below a certain age, but looking up the term “meat market,” it appears such an event served the same purpose, in a pre-internet age, that short-term dating apps serve in this internet age. People would go to a meat market, or it would sometimes be called a slightly nicer thing: a meet market, and they would try to find people who were looking for something physical and short-term. Hook-ups, basically. Not saying scientists couldn’t go, or wouldn’t want such a thing, but typically, you’d not really expect someone who acts like a stereotypical science guy (or gal) to be at a meat/meet market.
So, Gary Larson asked, “What if they did, and what if such a meat market was specifically made for scientists?” This all necessitates a bit more of an explanation than your average Far Side strip, just because there are people who get kind of gatekeep-y about The Far Side, having known it when it was still active (you have been seen, commenter, and you are being acknowledged; do you like that spotlight? It was made extra-bright). People sometimes get gatekeep-y about music, too. It’s weird and annoying. The term in this strip is outdated, but once you learn it, Scientific Meat Markets is made hilarious. If “Your lab or mine?” was the only speech bubble, it’d already be iconic, but the other cheesy scientist pick-up lines are also excellent, as are the scientists making eye contact instead of looking through their stereo microscope (as opposed to an early microscope) together. Is it a microscopic mammoth under there, though? That’s the real question.
Tales from the Far Side
- Release Date
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October 26, 1994
- Directors
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Marv Newland
- Writers
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gary larson
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