Gary Larson, how many did he kill?

[Adam Smith]

This one has been hanging in my office for years.

[Winston]

Back from the dead.

"Trouble Brewing"

[rah]

Thanks Boris, Cat Fud was always one of my favorites.

[Winston]

More trouble brewing.

[LordShiva]

Originally posted by Pekka
So his work and Dilbert are my favourite cartoons, I really don't follow anything else.

[Cort Haus]

Some Larson's are funny - like 'Jerks' above, others less so. Some I don't get at all. I think Dilbert makes me laugh harder, because he hits the nerve of coprporate BS.

[Cort Haus]

Is anyone else using the '2006 Mating Rituals' calendar?

[Winston]

.

[Q Classic]

I like The Far Side, I like Dilbert, I like Perry Bible Fellowship.

[LordShiva]

Originally posted by Winston
(dog and mailman cartoon)

This is classic Larson - the ability to take just a single moment in time, and with clever use of facial expressions (especially on animals) and a well-chosen caption, turn it into something really funny. Genius.

[Darius871]

Originally posted by embalmer42
Sorry, either I've taken too many bad drugs or I was sleeping that day but what was the "Cow Tools Controversy"?

From Larson's "Prehistory" book:

The 'Cow Tools' episode is one that will probably haunt me for the rest of my life. A week after it was published back in 1982, I wanted to crawl into a hole somewhere and die.

Cows, as some Far Side readers know, are a favorite subject of mine. I've always found them to be the quintessentially absurd animal for the situations even more absurd. Even the name 'cow,' to me, is intrinsically funny.

And so one day I started thinking back on an anthropology course I had in college and how we learned that man used to be defined as 'the only animal that made and shaped tools.' Unfortunately, researchers discovered that certain primates and even some bird species did the same thing - so the definition had to be extended somewhat to avoid awkward situations such as someone hiring a crew of chimpanzees to remodel their kitchen.

Inevitably, I began thinking about cows, and what if they, too, were discovered as toolmakers. What would they make? Primitive tools are always, well, primitive-looking--appearing rather nondescript to the lay person. So, it seemed to me, whatever a cow would make would have to be even a couple notches further down the 'skill-o-meter.'

I imagined, and subsequently drew, a cow standing next to her workbench, proudly displaying her handiwork (hoofiwork?). The 'cow tools' were supposed to be just meaningless artifacts--only the cow or a cowthropologist is supposed to know what they're used for.

The first mistake I made was in thinking this was funny. The second was making one of the tools resemble a crude handsaw--which made already confused people decide that their only hope in understanding the cartoon meant deciphering what the other tools where as well. Of course, they didn't have a chance in hell.

But, for the first time, 'Cow tools' awakened me to the fact that my profession was not just an isolated exercise in the corner of my apartment. The day after it's release, my phone began to ring with inquiries from reporters and radio stations from regions in the country where The Far Side was published. Everyone, it seemed, wanted to know what in the world this cartoon meant! My syndicate was equally bombarded, and I was ultimately asked to write a press release explaining 'Cow tools.' Someone sent me the front page of one newspaper which, down in one corner, ran the tease, 'Cow Tools: What does it mean? (See pg. B14.)' I was mortified.

In the first year or two of drawing The Far Side, I always believed my career perpetually hung by a thread. And this time I was convinced it had been finally severed. Ironically, when the dust had finally settled and as a result of all the 'noise' it made, 'Cow tools' became more of a boost to The Far Side than anything else.

So, in summary, I drew a really weird, obtuse cartoon that one understood and wasn't funny and therefore I went on to even greater success and recognition.

Yeah--I like this country.

And just one sample of the deluge of mail he received over it:

Enclosed is a copy of the "Cow Tools" cartoon. I have passed it around. I have posted it on the wall. Conservatively, some 40-odd professionals with doctoral degrees in disparate disciplines have examined it. No one understands it. Even my 6-year-old cannot figure it out... We are going bonkers. Please help. What is the meaning of "Cow Tools"? What is the meaning of life? - Reader, Texas

[snoopy369]

Y'all know that there's a "new" Farside pageaday calendar out, right? (Actually a reprise of the 2001 calendar) He's donating the artist's profits to his conservation charity.

[Arrian]

I have 28 Far Side cartoons up in my cube (from one of the Far Side calendars).

My personal favorite remains the one with God in his kitchen, with jars of different sorts of people around and the earth in a frying pan. He's shaking a jar labeled "jerks" and the thought bubble says "And just to make it interesting..."

Love it.

Edit: ah, posted by Adam Smith already. Excellent. It's one of the best. There are so many good ones, though.

-Arrian

[Cort Haus]

Originally posted by Arrian
My personal favorite remains the one with God in his kitchen, with jars of different sorts of people around and the earth in a frying pan. He's shaking a jar labeled "jerks" and the thought bubble says "And just to make it interesting..."

*cough*

[Arrian]

Eat me, I posted without reading all three pages first. I just saw it.

-Arrian