The Far Side is back
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Norman Alexander
Penultimate Amazing
Mike!
Official Ponylandistanian National Treasure. Re
Wudang
BOFH
One of the first I saw and still a favourite:
I like it when he went weird and avante garde.
My favorite is a simple panel, looking over the shoulder of a farmer walking into a barn. In the barn two cows are looking at a chart of a human body, labeled by cuts of meat like at a butcher shop.
"Farmer Brown froze in his tracks; the cows stared back, wide eyes. Somewhere off in the distant, a dog barked."
My favorite is a simple panel, looking over the shoulder of a farmer walking into a barn. In the barn two cows are looking at a chart of a human body, labeled by cuts of meat like at a butcher shop.
"Farmer Brown froze in his tracks; the cows stared back, wide eyes. Somewhere off in the distant, a dog barked."
Hans
Philosopher
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I was wondering how folks two centuries from now will view these cartoons? I wonder how many of them will not be understood or will they think ill of our ilk for thinking they were funny.
I do feel saying they are funny doesn't really describe what they are. It seems too encompassing to include them with a newspaper cartoon or comic.
Lots of them are satirical, but again don't think saying they are satirical captures what they are.
I think taken as a body of work they are unique, they are what they are.
I'm now going to expound about the allegories in the most recent Sugar Puff advertisements and how they are intersectional with a dialectical reading of Marxism.
Lots of them are satirical, but again don't think saying they are satirical captures what they are.
I think taken as a body of work they are unique, they are what they are.
I'm now going to expound about the allegories in the most recent Sugar Puff advertisements and how they are intersectional with a dialectical reading of Marxism.
The Handwringing over whether or not the Far Side will work in our "PC snowflake everyone's offended cliche cliche cliche" age is already in the discourse.
I've already read one article* where someone went through and cherry picked a couple of Far Side cartoons and presented us with reasons why the strawman in her head was going to be offended by them.
* https://www.intellectualtakeout.org/article/far-side-returning-can-pc-crowd-handle-it
Trebuchet
Penultimate Amazing
The Prehistory of The Far Side recounts multiple instances of Larson being surprised by people taking offense.
In one case, he did a cartoon of apes grooming; and the female (identified by beehive hairdo and cat eye glasses) says "Another long blonde hair! Been doing 'research' with that Jane Goodall tramp again?"
He got a cease and desist from the Goodall foundation. Almost simultaneously with a request from National Geographic to use the cartoon in an upcoming book.
Turned out Goodall had no idea this stuff was going on and loved the cartoon.
In one case, he did a cartoon of apes grooming; and the female (identified by beehive hairdo and cat eye glasses) says "Another long blonde hair! Been doing 'research' with that Jane Goodall tramp again?"
He got a cease and desist from the Goodall foundation. Almost simultaneously with a request from National Geographic to use the cartoon in an upcoming book.
Turned out Goodall had no idea this stuff was going on and loved the cartoon.
My wife gave me a Far Side book for Christmas. Goodall wrote the introduction. Larson has bugs and things named after him. Paleontologists refer to the spines on the tail of the stegosaurus as the "Thagomiser". The Far Side was (and still is) enormously popular with scientists.
I did love his comment about the infamous "Tethercat" cartoon, which shows two dogs batting a cat tied to a rope on a pole as if it where a tetherball.
He stated he was originally confused by negative reaction to the cartoon seeing as just the same trope as the endless carnage in Tom and Jerry where dogs and cats inflict pain and damage on each other without end.
He opined that the reaction, in top of the cartoon perhaps unintentionally resembling imagery of a cat strung up to train fighting dogs too much, was in the static nature of the comic. Jerry hits Tom in the face with a frying pan and flattens it, but in the next scene he's back to normal. On the other hand in his comic the dogs are playing tethercat. You put the comic down and come back to it later and the dogs are still playing tethercat. The dogs will always be playing tethercat. There's no closure, the cat has no mouth and must scream.
The Far Side might the product of a previous time, but Larson is hardly some try-hard edge lord looking to offend people for the lulz, then or now.
He stated he was originally confused by negative reaction to the cartoon seeing as just the same trope as the endless carnage in Tom and Jerry where dogs and cats inflict pain and damage on each other without end.
He opined that the reaction, in top of the cartoon perhaps unintentionally resembling imagery of a cat strung up to train fighting dogs too much, was in the static nature of the comic. Jerry hits Tom in the face with a frying pan and flattens it, but in the next scene he's back to normal. On the other hand in his comic the dogs are playing tethercat. You put the comic down and come back to it later and the dogs are still playing tethercat. The dogs will always be playing tethercat. There's no closure, the cat has no mouth and must scream.
The Far Side might the product of a previous time, but Larson is hardly some try-hard edge lord looking to offend people for the lulz, then or now.
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Armitage72
Philosopher
It reminds me of a couple situations when Weird Al Yankovic requested permission to parody an artist's song, their agent rejected the request without ever actually passing it on to the artist, and when he eventually got permission directly from the artist, they loved it. Lady Gaga was the most recent, I think.
Some people don't recognize a cultural icon and realize that being part of it isn't an insult.
Wudang
BOFH
Wudang
BOFH
When I googled "midvale school for the gifted" I found many many ripoffs of the original.
Trebuchet
Penultimate Amazing
And unfortunately several of the ripoffs have been posted in this thread.
Same. I have the "Complete Far Side" the original, dual volume, slipcase edition as well as the Prehistory of the Far Side and all 5 of the Far Side Gallery collection which, I believe, constitutes all of the Far Side. I also have a signed copy of the very first Far Side collection.
Still hyped to see more it though. Like MST3K I will never complain about more Far Side.
There was always a distasteful edge to the internet demanding the right to steal material to "meme" it, as if Larson had committed some sin against nature by not wanting every internet wit to take the thing he was most remembered for and turn it into political cartoons and rage faces and crap.
alfaniner
Penultimate Amazing
