A 1991 comic by Gary Larson (courtesy of FarWorks, Inc.)
For years, there has been an official website for Gary Larson’s beloved comic strip The Far Side, but it only contained information on the published collections of the series. In the decades since the strip ended its 15-year run in 1995, Larson has been highly reticent to put any of it online and has been outright hostile to people uploading his comics. He was insistent that the only way to read the comic would be either through the books or whatever newspaper clippings fans had preserved. This past September, however, the antiquated site received a major redesign, with hints that the comic was preparing a return. And on Tuesday, December 17, a batch of classic strips was posted on the site — the first of many such updates.
Going forward, The Far Side will be posting a “Daily Dose” of different comics from throughout its run, as well as pairs of weekly collections of comics that share common themes. (One inaugural collection is “Hands Off My Bunsen Burner,” featuring comics about scientists at work.) There are also selections of sketches by Larson available to peruse. New strips and other material will also be periodically appearing, which is certainly the most exciting prospect for fans of the comic.
In a letter on the site, Larson explains two primary motivators for finally putting the strip online. First, he wants to take a new approach to corralling the sharing of his work on the internet: “Trying to exert some control over my cartoons has always been an uphill slog, and I’ve sometimes wondered if my absence from the web may have inadvertently fueled someone’s belief my cartoons were up for grabs. They’re not … So I’m hopeful this official website will help temper the impulses of the infringement-inclined.” The other is that the quality of web visuals has drastically increased since he initially dismissed it as a medium for his comics. (And indeed, the color comics posted so far look excellent on the site, far better than any fan scan.)
The Far Side is one of the canonical newspaper comics and easily stands out from peers like Peanuts and Calvin & Hobbes for its singularly weird, often warped sense of humor. Its jokes are based on riffs on science and history, or playing on turns of phrase, or just finding anything that cows do inherently funny. As a perennially popular strip, it’s never been hard to find, but being legally available online could help a whole new audience discover its charms.
The Latest
They Managed to Mess Up an Art Heist Movie
There must be a lesson in Vasilis Katsoupis’s film Inside about the vacuousness of the art market or the claustrophobia of exhibition spaces — I just don’t care.
Ten Painful Stories of the Dutch Colonial Slave Trade
The Rijksmuseum’s traveling show strives to remind us that we are all, in some way, a part of this chapter of human history, whose legacy continues today.
The Milton Resnick and Pat Passlof Foundation Presents The Feminine in Abstract Painting
Curated by Jennifer Samet and Andrea Belag, this group exhibition in NYC explores the feminine through aesthetics, as opposed to identity or gender.
Textured Histories at Shiprock Santa Fe
The Santa Fe gallery features Indigenous textiles and jewelry from the early 19th century to today.
Renaissance Portrait of “Ugly Duchess” Likely Depicts a Man
A curator at London’s National Gallery believes the subject of painter Quinten Massys’s painting “is most likely a he.”
NYU Steinhardt Opens 2023 MFA Thesis Exhibitions
Taking place at 80WSE Gallery in New York’s Greenwich Village, Part I is on view from late March through April while Part II opens in May.
Hokusai’s “Great Wave” Makes a Splash at Auction
An edition of the iconic woodblock print broke records when it sold for $2.8M this week.
MTV’s The Exhibit Is Back With an Inflatable Dolphin
Episode four, in which artists tackled themes of justice and injustice, was the most lifeless of the reality TV show so far.
Miniature Worlds: Joseph Cornell, Ray Johnson, Yayoi Kusama
Through small-scale works, this exhibition at the Katonah Museum of Art in New York examines Cornell’s prominent role in the lives and careers of Johnson and Kusama.
Florida Principal Ousted Over “Pornographic” Michelangelo Sculpture
Parents complained that the famous sculpture was shown to their sixth graders.
Tickets to Sold-Out Vermeer Show Are Going for Hundreds
The online resale market for the Rijksmuseum’s smash exhibition is booming, with tickets selling on eBay for over $2K.
The Wider World and Scrimshaw
On March 28, join the New Bedford Whaling Museum online and in-person for a symposium on global carving traditions from across the Pacific Rim.
Three Looted Antiquities at the Met Repatriated to Turkey
Nine other repatriated works were seized from Met Trustee Shelby White, whose collection was subject to a criminal investigation.
Required Reading
This week, the world’s lightest paint, Pakistan’s feminist movement, World Puppy Day, and were some of Vermeer’s paintings created by his daughter?