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 ...
My favorite is where you see the view of a vulture at the top of a mountain through binoculars. Next to the vulture is a hat, a pair of binoculars and something else. The vulture has an evil smile and is looking directly at the guy with the binoculars.
My all time favorite Far Side is the the bear surrounded by bones, using hunters’ skulls as sock puppets saying to the cubs: “OK, one more time and it’s off to bed for both of you...Hey Bob, think there are any bears in this old cave? I dont’t know Jim, let’s check...”
Anyone who was a Berkley Breathed and Bloom County fan should make it a point to watch the movie “Secondhand Lions” from 2003 where some strips make a special appearance as the creation of one of the movie characters after he is grown.
I remember that one. Love it.
GoComics.com has been re-runnning old "Calvin and Hobbes" strips (along with Peanuts and "Peanuts Begins" from the very early years of that strip), but not "The Far Side."
I hope the revived Far Side is as good as the original. It seemed sometimes that Gary Larson was running out of new ideas at the end--some days he was reprising an idea from an old cartoon.
“In what was destined to be a short-lived spectacle, a chicken, suspended by a balloon, floated through the Samurai bar’s doorway.”
bfl
“Hey what’s that cow doing in that cloud bank?”
Larson is a genius.
He’s a lefty, I think, but......there may be a bee in the car
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/e8/52/ba/e852ba6915a8dc31eea968d274a901a2.jpg
When this first posted, several folks posted their favorite Larson Far Side cartoons. I suspect that they were removed because of copyright issues.
They were all “Far Side” cartoons … copyright problems?
The mathematician kidnapped by aliens and forced to do equations on a blackboard for their amusement.
The professor who realizes he is the only one in the auditorium who forgot to bring his duck.
Animal preserves (wild animals in large glass jars on the Serengeti plain)
Nerdanthals (Neanderthal kids who have been called "nerds" at school)
The deer hiding behind a tree from a hunter, thinking "He's trying to shoot me, all right...Do I know this guy? I've got to think"
Indian holding a book "101 Rain dances" while egg-beaters fall from the sky, saying, "Oh! Four steps to the left and then three to the right!...What kind of a dance was I doing?"
I suggested a comic to Mr. Larson. It was a picture of a clam in full military regalia. The title was Clambo.
Gary Larson is notorious for his "copyright shaming". I don't know if he's actually sued anybody, but he has a form letter that basically says "Please stop hosting copies of my work" that he sends to website administrators.
Like Alyssa Milano's mother trying to scrub the internet clean of any nude pics of her daughter, I think Gary's quest was ultimately a futile one - but it has given him something to do during his retirement. Interesting that he finally seems to be embracing the digital realm, with possible new material. Calendar sales must be slipping.
“The Zeonions came with the answers to many secrets of the universe. Vern, regrettably, came with thick glasses and his deer rifle.”
In her 20s, she was pretty hot, as I recall. Then the Leftist illness infected her and she has slowly devolved into the harpy beotch that we all detest. A real shame, too.
I still use a coffee cup with the “CAT FUD” trick on the cat.
Ping!
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