Gary Larson is an American cartoonist who created The Far Side, a single-panel cartoon series that was syndicated internationally to more than 1,900 newspapers for fifteen years. The series ended with Larson's retirement on January 1, 1995, though since 2020 Larson has published additional comics online. His twenty-three books of collected cartoons have combined sales of more than forty-five million copies.
The Far Side is a single-panel comic created by Gary Larson and syndicated by Chronicle Features and then Universal Press Syndicate, which ran from December 31, 1979, to January 1, 1995. Its surrealistic humor is often based on uncomfortable social situations, improbable events, an anthropomorphic view of the world, logical fallacies, impending bizarre disasters, references to proverbs, or the search for meaning in life. Larson's frequent use of animals and nature in the comic is popularly attributed to his background in biology. The Far Side was ultimately carried by more than 1,900 daily newspapers, translated into 17 languages, and collected into calendars, greeting cards, and 23 compilation books, and reruns are still carried in many newspapers. After a 25-year hiatus, in July 2020 Larson began drawing new Far Side strips offered through the comic's official website.
The caveman is a stock character representative of primitive humans in the Paleolithic. The popularization of the type dates to the early 20th century, when Neanderthals were influentially described as "simian" or "ape-like" by Marcellin Boule and Arthur Keith.
Strigiphilus garylarsoni is a species of chewing louse found only on owls. The species has no common name.
The Prehistory of The Far Side: A 10th Anniversary Exhibit is a 1989 book chronicling the origin and evolution of The Far Side, giving inside information about the cartooning process and featuring a gallery of Larson's favorite Far Side cartoons from the 1980s.
A gag cartoon is most often a single-panel cartoon, usually including a caption beneath the drawing. In some cases, dialogue may appear in speech balloons, following the common convention of comic strips. A pantomime cartoon carries no caption.
Gary Larson's Tales from the Far Side is an animated short film created in 1994 by Gary Larson, based on The Far Side comic strip. Both the title and concept are largely inspired by EC Comics' Tales From The Crypt. It was first shown as a Halloween special on CBS television, which aired on October 26, 1994. Later it was awarded the Grand Prix at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival.
A non sequitur is a conversational literary device, often used for comedic purposes. It is something said that, because of its apparent lack of meaning relative to what preceded it, seems absurd to the point of being humorous or confusing. This use of the term is distinct from the non sequitur in logic, where it is a fallacy.
Jerry Van Amerongen is a cartoonist based in the United States. His work includes the comic panel Ballard Street, which has run since 1991. Before 1991 he drew a comic panel entitled The Neighborhood for ten years. He has been recognized with the National Cartoonist Society Newspaper Panel Award for 2004 and 2006 for his work on Ballard Street. Van Amerongen's work is currently distributed by Creators Syndicate.
Brevity is a single-panel newspaper comic strip created by Guy Endore-Kaiser and Rodd Perry, and currently drawn by Dan Thompson.
A lolcat, or LOLcat, is an image macro of one or more cats. Lolcat images' idiosyncratic and intentionally grammatically incorrect text is known as lolspeak.
Nature's Way is an American newspaper cartoon series by Gary Larson published in 1976. It launched his career in cartooning and eventually led to his popular The Far Side series in 1980.
The Far Side Gallery is an anthology of Gary Larson's The Far Side comic strips. Cartoons from previous books The Far Side, Beyond the Far Side, and In Search of the Far Side are featured, all of which were printed from 1982 to 1984.
The Far Side Gallery 2 is the second anthology of Gary Larson's The Far Side comic strips. Cartoons from previous collections Bride of The Far Side, Valley of The Far Side, and It Came from the Far Side are featured, all of which were printed from 1985 to 1987. The foreword was written by Stephen King. The cover shows an explorer/scientist opening a coffin with a picture of a cow pharaoh on the front. Inside, there is a mummy cow.
The Far Side Gallery 3 is the third anthology of Gary Larson's The Far Side comic strips. Cartoons from previous collections Hound of the Far Side, The Far Side Observer, and Night of the Crash-Test Dummies are featured, all of which were printed from 1987 to 1989. The volume is dedicated to guitar maker Jimmy D'Aquisto, and the foreword was written by Stephen Jay Gould. The cover depicts a parody of Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, substituting a cow for the female subject.
The Far Side Gallery 5 is the fifth and final anthology of Gary Larson's The Far Side comic strips. Cartoons from previous collections Cows of Our Planet, The Chickens are Restless, and The Curse of Madame "C" are featured, all of which were printed from 1992 to 1994. The foreword was written by Jane Goodall, who was commonly satirized in Larson's comics. The cover shows several flies in a movie theater watching a movie, in which a fly was calling for help because it was in a spoonful of tomato soup.
The Argyle Sweater is an American daily comic strip written by Scott Hilburn, from Garland, Texas. The strip has been syndicated by Universal Press Syndicate since April 2008.
Dear Mr. Watterson is a 2013 American documentary film directed by Joel Allen Schroeder, produced by Christopher Browne and Matt McUsic, with Andrew P. Waruszewski as the cinematographer. The film follows the career of Bill Watterson, the author of the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes, and the influence of both the author and the comic strip on the world.
Countryballs, also known as Polandball, is a geopolitical satirical art style, genre, and Internet meme, predominantly used in online comics strips in which countries or political entities are personified as balls with eyes, decorated with their national flags. Comics feature the characters in various scenarios, generally poking fun at national stereotypes, international relations, and historical events, with the balls moving about by walking or jumping. Other common features in Countryball strips include non-English countries speaking in broken English — with vocabularies of their national languages included — political incorrectness, and black comedy. Strips are generally created using Microsoft Paint or more advanced graphic art software, often made to intentionally look crudely drawn.
Wojak, also known as Feels Guy, is an Internet meme that is, in its original form, a simple, black-outlined cartoon drawing of a bald man with a wistful expression.
