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Fans of Quirky 'Far Side' Snap Up Comic Compendium
Yahoo News ^ | 12/22/03 | Ben Berkowitz - Reuters

Posted on 12/22/2003 8:21:55 AM PST by NormsRevenge

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -

It costs more than $130 and weighs about 18 pounds, and its cover features a pair of chefs hiding in the reeds and hunting for flying cows.

It is also one of the best-selling books of the season -- "The Complete Far Side," a two-volume, 1,250-page collection of 14 years of the iconic comic panels drawn by artist Gary Larson.

From the first panel on Jan. 1, 1980 -- a pair of crabs marveling at the odd appearance of human babies -- to the last -- a Jan. 1, 1995, double panel in which the cartoonist wakes up to find it was all a dream -- the "Far Side" ranks as one of the most popular comics ever.

Syndicated at its peak in 1,900 newspapers and translated into 17 languages according to media reports, "Far Side" was almost a traditional comic strip until Larson convinced his editors of the merits of a panel instead.

"I had a single-image brain; I drew single-image cartoons," Larson wrote in an introduction in the book.

But summing up those 4,300 cartoons was not as easy as it might seem because once Larson agreed to do help compile the retrospective, the process took three years.

"He had been away from it long enough that I guess he felt like it was time he could deal with it," said Michael Reagan, chief executive of Lionheart Books. Reagan, who is based in Atlanta, worked with Larson to design the collection.

"I think in his mind he always knew he would do what we came to term 'the legacy book,"' Reagan said.

Bound in two volumes (1980-1986 and 1987-1994), the collection features a foreword by comedian Steve Martin (news), who rather than writing one essay instead offers a number of different potential introductions.

'HE IS AN INSECT'

"Gary Larson came to my house last weekend, and I was surprised to find that he is an insect," Martin wrote. "All this time I figured him for a bear or a little fat kid, but when he walked across my ceiling and hid in the drapes, I knew ..."

Despite the relatively steep price of $135 (though it can be found for under $100 online), the book made the New York Times best-seller lists and it has garnered rave reviews.

Many fans find the appeal of the "Far Side" in its intelligence and the wry way it made people think about what Larson was trying to say. He drew a world populated by quirky, goofy people and animals, especially cows, and his drawings sometimes perplexed readers.

"It's a sense of the bizarre, a sense of the absurd," said M. Thomas Inge, a professor of English and humanities at Randolph-Macon College in Virginia and an expert on culture and comics. "Many times you really couldn't figure out what in the world the humor was really about until it settled in on you."

Much of the original work was retained in the compilation, though Reagan said some captions were redone and some panels redrawn. In doing the retrospective work, Reagan said, there were even some that Larson came to regret drawing.

"Absolutely, but never did he say we couldn't put it in a book," he said. "He would absolutely cringe at some of them."

Although there were a few more panels after 1994, including six done for the New York Times in 1998 and 1999, and although Inge said "we probably need him even more" now than when he stopped working regularly, Lionheart's Reagan said fans should not keep their hopes up for a Larson comeback. Since he stopped drawing the comic, Larson has made two animated films and published a book.

"He's never going back into the newspapers on a daily basis," Reagan said.


TOPICS: News/Current Events; Political Humor/Cartoons
KEYWORDS: bookreview; comic; compendium; farside; garylarson; quirky
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1 posted on 12/22/2003 8:21:56 AM PST by NormsRevenge
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To: NormsRevenge
I saw it at Costco last week for $75.00. While I was tempted, I wasn't there to buy things for ME, so I walked away. Humbug.
2 posted on 12/22/2003 8:24:02 AM PST by EggsAckley
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To: NormsRevenge
Hansome leatherbound comics (not even comic strips since Farsides are single frame). Such a perfect world.
3 posted on 12/22/2003 8:25:34 AM PST by discostu (that's a waste of a perfectly good white boy)
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Comment #4 Removed by Moderator

To: Howlin; Ed_NYC; MonroeDNA; widgysoft; Springman; Timesink; dubyaismypresident; Grani; coug97; ...
Just damn.

If you want on the new list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...

5 posted on 12/22/2003 8:29:37 AM PST by mhking (It's in your home state...it's outside your front door...and it's going to eat YOU up!)
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To: EggsAckley
**I saw it at Costco last week for $75.00. While I was tempted, I wasn't there to buy things for ME, so I walked away. Humbug. **

Your laughter and glee would be a real gift to those around you, E. Go back to Costco and buy the book. :o)

6 posted on 12/22/2003 8:30:53 AM PST by mrs tiggywinkle
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To: EggsAckley
The first person that gets gifts is ME!!!!! Buy it c'mon... I know when I go to Costco I NEVER buy only what I'm supposed to...lol
7 posted on 12/22/2003 8:34:34 AM PST by cyborg
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To: BibChr
Given who put this up, .. huh ?


It's the holidays. Give it a rest already.. geeeesh.

8 posted on 12/22/2003 8:34:49 AM PST by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi ... Support Our Troops /~normsrevenge Merry Christmas)
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To: NormsRevenge
He drew a world populated by quirky, goofy people and animals, especially cows, and his drawings sometimes perplexed readers.

2 words: Cow Tools

(FS fans will know of what I speak)

9 posted on 12/22/2003 8:37:11 AM PST by freedumb2003 (Peace through Strength)
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To: EggsAckley
Good old Costco. That's a good price for all those 'toons.

I was eyeing the big military books myself,, History of the Marine Corps

10 posted on 12/22/2003 8:38:52 AM PST by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi ... Support Our Troops /~normsrevenge Merry Christmas)
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To: mrs tiggywinkle
After I pay off the bills, then I'm buying it for me.
11 posted on 12/22/2003 8:39:33 AM PST by theDentist (Tagline deamed un-inhabitable. Condemned. New Location sought....)
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To: NormsRevenge
Our youngest son, want this for his birthday, this March.

I may have to buy it early and make sure that there is nothing wrong with it. :)
12 posted on 12/22/2003 8:39:54 AM PST by Grampa Dave (GW is driving every rat in America into a deeper insanity, 24/7/365!)
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To: freedumb2003
LOL .. Cow Tools!

"I had a single-image brain; I drew single-image cartoons," Larson wrote in an introduction in the book.

13 posted on 12/22/2003 8:40:52 AM PST by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi ... Support Our Troops /~normsrevenge Merry Christmas)
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To: NormsRevenge
Gary Larson is a genius cartoonist... I'm saddened in his attempt to threaten lawsuits on those who memorialize his work. I have never heard of Scott Adams threatening people with lawyers when he finds a Dilber fan site.
14 posted on 12/22/2003 8:40:52 AM PST by smith288 (Secret member of the VRWC elite forces)
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To: NormsRevenge
ARGH!!.. I don't have the money for this and yet I am drawn to go get it... citibank will have to wait.
15 posted on 12/22/2003 8:41:22 AM PST by Pikamax
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To: harpseal
Next year, you know what to get me. ;^)
16 posted on 12/22/2003 8:41:46 AM PST by Lazamataz (BadgerBadgerBadgerBadgerBadgerBadgerBadgerBadgerBadgerBadger MUSHROOM MUSHROOM.)
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To: smith288
Larson doesn't mind fansites, what he doesn't like is copyright infringement. It's his stuff, if he doesn't want it copied it's his call.
17 posted on 12/22/2003 8:43:22 AM PST by discostu (that's a waste of a perfectly good white boy)
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To: NormsRevenge
The far side was funny. Outland and the comeback of Outland bites a big fat kosher weiner.
18 posted on 12/22/2003 8:44:15 AM PST by TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig (I may have been born, poor white trash, but Fancy is my name.)
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Comment #19 Removed by Moderator

To: theDentist
After I pay off the bills, then I'm buying it for me.

Man, are your priorities messed up ;)

20 posted on 12/22/2003 8:44:30 AM PST by freedumb2003 (Peace through Strength)
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