Posted on 09/17/2019 4:52:21 AM PDT by simpson96
It probably says something about me that I consider Gary Larson, the cartoonist who created the single-panel comic strip The Far Side, as one of the great American geniuses of the 20th Century, and the news that Larson plans to bring back his world of anthropomorphic cows, ladies in 50s sequin glasses, rotund children, and Weiner dog artists has me downright giddy.
Those of us who fell in love with the comics pages had no idea how good we had in the ’80s, or how quickly our favorites could disappear. The original run of Berkeley Breathed’s Bloom County ended in 1989, Larson’s The Far Side ended January 1995, and Bill Watterson’s Calvin and Hobbes ended in December of that year. (Bloom County eventually returned in different forms but never quite recaptured that old magic.) In our current era where no fictional character stays dead for long, every old beloved show, movie or game gets a sequel and a prequel and a reboot, it’s kind of tragically strange to remember a time when some beloved fictional offering could end with little warning. One day you’re laughing, and the next you’re told, “that’s it. No more. Yes, you thought this was the coolest thing ever and had all the paperback collections, but that’s it. We’re not making any more.” As Ryan Houlihan observes, it’s pretty amazing that Watterson “ended it, and then never did anything, or let anything be done with, the property. It’s a modern miracle that we’re not watching the 12th Disney Calvin and Hobbes reboot.”
Then again, we shouldn’t have been surprised about the inevitability of burnout. Comic books usually have separate pencillers, inkers, writers and letterers, but most comic strips are one-man operations. Despite the perception that these are simple drawings and simple gags, this is not easy.
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalreview.com ...
Hear, hear!
“The real reason dinosaurs became extinct...”
Back in Minneapolis there was a cartoonist by the name of Guidon - he did local cartoons. Similar, goofy style as the Far Side. But VERY local.
Probably from the 70’s?? One panel cartoons.
One was a guy in city hall with a bunch of dairy products tied around his overcoat. “If my street isn’t plowed by midnight tonight - that is the EXACT same time these dairy products will expire!”
Another shows a guy dead in front of his truck with the hood open and a pair of jumper cables at his feet. “I don’t know officer - he just said he couldn’t stand the snow and the cold anymore, and.....”
Another one was an older couple with a bunch of stuff in their front yard. A hip young couple are standing at the curb. The old lady says “Oh, I’m sorry. We aren’t having a yard sale. We’re just tacky.”
My favorite is the older couple sitting on their big heavy metal lawn chairs. The ones that sort of look like an ocean shell on the back, and a sideways “U” shape that forms the legs. Sitting in front of their shack of a cabin at the lake. A big wood electrician’s spool as a picnic table. A big fish (a carp?) on the Weber grill. An old boat and a bunch of other crap strewn across the yard.
“Yep Ethel. It don’t get much better than this!”
I think it was a FR thread, but perhaps not. Anyway, the ancient Egyptians would cover their servants in honey so the flies would be attracted to the servants - and not to them!
Richard Guindon.
Retired in 2005. Still alive and lives in northern Michigan.
He did some work for Playboy and other pubs too.
One of the best ever, IMO. I have his two volume compilation, and it is brilliant. His cartoons have a way of connecting with the mind of nearly every human (and animal!) but also hilariously missed the connection on some.
My favorite one that I completely did not get for years was “The Holsteins visit the Grand Canyon”. I just could not get it.
It shows the family posing for a picture in front of the Grand Canyon...I just didn’t get it.
When I posted this sentiment online, a Freeper said “You didn’t notice the boy doing the “longhorn” sign over his sister’s head?”
All these years, I had seen the object on top of her head, thought it was a bow, only to realize then that it was her brothers hoof held up behind her head!!!!!!
I will withhold judgement until I see what the new cartoons are. Gary Larson is a firmer Seattleite and a far left loon.
Please, please don’t let it go PC!
There have been no good cartoons since the 90s. Larsen was the best.
My favorites were Luposlipophobia and Business Lunch.
“Every Dog
Has His Day!”
.
Ticker Tape Parade,,,
Is My All Time Fav!
Porn.
“Midvale School for the gifted.”
anatidaephobia was a close second
School for the gifted is one of my favorites.
My heart was heavy the day Calvin & Hobbes rode off into the sunset.
I have on my desk the cartoon:
5 vultures in the desert all crowed around in a circle.
One is wearing a ten gallon hat and coat says:
“Hey! Look at me everybody! I’m a cowboy!...
Howdy, Howdy, Howdy!”
One of my kids wore that on a t-shirt for a while.
Two sharks laying on their backs in the ocean relaxing.
One shark says to the other:
“Gee, that’s a wonderful sensation... Early in the morning, you just woke up, you’re tired, movin kinda slow, then that ooooold smell hits your nose...blood in the water.”
Ralph Harrison, king of salespersons
Excellent! I’ve really missed new Larsen material, and there is SO much out there to make fun of that Larsen should be busy for years.
Still my favorite. My daughters bought me the collected series so I have them all.
When Calvin and Hobbes ceased, I lost all interest in the comics.
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