Summary

• Larson's Far Side humor sparked controversy, with "Bobbing for Poodles" drawing ire from animal lovers.
• The Far Side's unique approach to surreal, one-off gags defied the usual recurring character structure of comic strips.
• Larson's dark humor explored existential questions through animals, with dogs often surviving better than humans in his strips.

One of The Far Side's most controversial cartoons was originally more shocking than the version that caused outrage. Gary Larson’s Far Side is noted for its punchy, left-of-center humor, but not every gag landed well with readers. Over the course of The Far Side’s existence, Larson received hate mail for several comics, with one in particular drawing ire from animal lovers – despite Larson originally intending it to go even darker.

The Far Side became wildly popular during its time as a syndicated newspaper comic strip largely because there was nothing else quite like it at the time. Other popular comic strips at the time – such as Peanuts, or Garfield – used recurring characters, but The Far Side opted for a different approach, emphasizing surreal, one-and-done gags.

Some critics have even suggested The Far Side could be viewed as a forerunner to meme culture. True to Larson's interest in the natural world, the strip often revolves around animals – though it was one such strip that earned Gary Larson disapproval from dog lovers.

Gary Larson’s The Far Side remains one of the most beloved comic strips in history. After his previous strip, Nature’s Way, ceased publication, Larson created The Far Side, which debuted at the start of 1980 and ran through the end of 1994.

This Dark Far Side Strip Could Have Been Far More Outrageous

Critics Should Be Thankful

While dogs were frequently in danger in The Far Side, they were just as likely to pull a gun on their owners. Such was the world of Gary Larson's twisted imagination.

One infamous Far Side strip from 1986, captioned 'Bobbing for Poodles,' featured a riff on a human Halloween tradition: bobbing for apples. However, instead of apples, Larson depicts a group of alligators, who have chosen a more carnivorous alternative for their competition. In the book The Prehistory of The Far Side, Larson shared a piece of reader mail he received in response to the strip, which read:

You have offended millions of pet owners with this garbage. If you can not do better than this, we suggest you seek another occupation.

In response, Larson noted, "Thank god I didn't go with my first caption, 'Bobbing for babies.'"

While it seems as though The Far Side's creator is being sardonic, in response to criticism, it wouldn't be entirely shocking for this to have been his original, much more gruesome joke. The Far Side regularly featured moments of mortal peril, and many of its characters met grisly ends. That said, even Larson did seem to have some limits to the bleakness of his humor – and while dogs were frequently in danger in The Far Side, they were just as likely to pull a gun on their owners. Such was the world of Gary Larson's twisted imagination.

In Gary Larson's Far Side, No One Was Safe

Man's Best Friend Fared Better Than Man

Gary Larson's humor was never cruel. If anything, it was obsessed with the cruelty of life itself, and used humor to chip away it major existential questions about the unavoidability of suffering and death.

Dogs were often featured in The Far Side, as were numerous other animals, ranging from ducks and chickens, to bears and elephants. As far as their exposure to danger, death, and destruction, dogs can actually be said to have had a higher survival rate in The Far Side than most other species – humans most certainly included. To be part of a Gary Larson joke was an inherently dangerous existence, which is part of what made the strip stand out among its contemporaries, and has made it endure in people's memories.

Many animals died during the making of The Far Side, but just as often, human characters met grim ends at the paws, or teeth, of some predator or another. Larson's work was also regularly critical of human practices like hunting for sport, and modern society's casual disregard for nature. In fact, a pro-animal stance was often implict in Gary Larson's work, making criticism for the fate of the unfortunate dogs in the "Bobbing for Poodles" strip even more amusing. Admittedly, there's likely no deeper message to the strip itself – it's just a macabre joke, but it is far from cruel.

That can be said confidently, because Gary Larson's humor was never cruel. If anything, it was obsessed with the cruelty of life itself, and used humor to chip away at major existential questions about the unavoidability of suffering and death. Time and again throughout its run, Larson refused to compromise The Far Side's darkness, because even with a joke as inane as "Bobbing for Poodles," a larger purpose was being served, as unlikely as it may have seemed during the daily publication of the comic.

The Far Side Helped Make Controversial Humor More Acceptable

Yesterday's Controversey Is Today's Tuesday

Tastes have shifted over the years, thanks in part to strips such as The Far Side, and "Bobbing for Poodles" would not raise the ire today that it did during The Far Side's original run.

“Bobbing for Poodles” was not the first The Far Side cartoon to land Larson in trouble, and Larson noted in The Prehistory of the Far Side that the implication of harm to children or animals – even at the hands of a fairy tale witch – would reliably prove controversial. While not considered as particularly 'dark' to modern-day readers, The Far Side was informed by Larson's real observations about the animal kingdom, which often means things can take a turn for the grisly when predators are involved – though uniformly in a hilarious way.

Larson’s claim about his original idea of "Bobbing for Babies" would have certainly drawn even bigger piles of hate mail than "Bobbing for Poodles." At the same time, tastes have shifted over the years, thanks in part to strips such as The Far Side, and "Bobbing for Poodles" would not raise the ire today that it did during The Far Side's original run. Today, the irreverent, slightly morbid mindset of The Far Side is more relevant than ever - helping to explain why the comic continues to be loved by fans the world over.

Source: The Prehistory of The Far Side