Summary
The Far Sidebecame successful because of how strange an inscrutable its humor could often be, rather than in spite of it. As its creator Gary Larson once explained, boththe strip’s approach to comedy, and its popularity with readers, were a result of his intuitive creative process, though this often left him as perplexed by his own work as audiences found themselves on a day-to-day basis.
In the bookThe Prehistory of The Far Side, the writer and artist gave a comprehensive overview of his creative process, in an effort to definitively answer his least favorite question: “Where do you get your ideas?” While most creators dislike this question, it was truly unpleasant for Larson – largely because he professed not to know.
Gary Larson clarified that there was no straightforward source of his inspiration, but rather that his cartoons were a result of an uninhibited flow of his ideas onto the page, whichLarson called his “greatest strength” as an artist.
The Prehistory of The Far Sidewas released in 1990, in celebration of the cartoon’s tenth year in publication – and just five years before Gary Larson would retire, ending the strip at the height of its popularity.The Prehistoryis an invaluable insight into one of the most idiosyncratic creative minds of the 20th century, making it a must-read for anyFar Sidefan.
20 Funniest Far Side Comics Set on A Desert Island
One of the most memorable recurring elements in Gary Larson’s Far Side was the desert island, which proved to be among his favorite bits.
On The Origins Of Far Side Jokes
The important thing to Gary Larson was not identifying the origins of his ideas, but rather what he did with those ideas once he had them.
Gary Larson never hesitated to admit his distaste for the question, “where do your ideas come from?” During interviews throughout his career, he rebuffed this question, or at least, didn’t answer it in the simple, quantifiable way some might have hoped for. InThe Prehistory of The Far Side, the artist gave a more honest account of why the question troubles him. Applying thefamiliar skewed perspective of his strip, Larson revealed that he “always found this question interesting,” given that it “seems to embody some belief that there exists some secret, tangible place of origin for cartoon ideas.”
Accordingly, this query conjured an amusing image in Larson’s mind, reminiscent of aFar Sidepanel:
I see myself rummaging around my grandparents' attic and coming across some old, musty trunk. Inside, I find this equally old and elegant-looking book. I take it in my hands, blow away the dust, and embossed on the cover in large, gold script is the title,Five Thousand and One Weird Cartoon Ideas.
Of course, no creative endeavor is this simple. Ideas and inspiration can never be traced back to a single source, or a lone method of generation. Instead, asGary Larson’s creative processexhibits, successful art is produced through the mixture of seizing ideas when they come, and working on them until they are just right. This is why answering “where do you get your ideas” is no easy task for creators in general, and forThe Far Side’screator in particular.
As Larson put it: “I’m afraid the real answer is much more mundane. I don’t know where my ideas come from.” What this emphasizes is that the important thing to Gary Larson was not identifying the origins of his ideas, but rather what he did with those ideas once he had them. This also makes it clear thathedidn’t deliberately make his work confusingor inscrutable, but rather that the weirdness of his jokes was often as esoteric to him as it was to the reader.
Larson Admitted “One Key Ingredient” To The Far Side’s Creation
Good Old Caffeine
Gary Larson’s creativity was centered on the effort to understand his own ideas –though the final product was not always a result of successfully doing so.
“I will admit, however,” Larson wrote, explaining thegenesis of ideas forFar Sidecomics, “that one key ingredient is caffeine. I get a couple cups of coffee into me and things just start to happen.” Beyond that,Gary Larson’s writing process for the comic was as much an adventure to him asreadingThe Far Sidewas for audiences.His work was rooted in getting ideas out onto the page with as little hesitation – largely, for fear they would lose their potency in time – and then playing around with them until achieving a satisfying result.
In a sense, Gary Larson’s creativity was centered on the effort to understand his own ideas –though the final product was not alwaysa result of successfully doing so. Larson admitted as much inThe Prehistory of The Far Side:
Some of my cartoons (some would argue most), I realize, are not always understandable. I mean, I know what I was going for – I just have to face the fact that I don’t always quite get there. “Off-days” are a part of life, I guess, whether you’re a cartoonist, a neurosurgeon, or an air traffic controller.
As amusingly as Larson frames this idea of his “off-days,” it is also a fascinating insight for anyone who has spent too long trying to understand a particularly strangeFar Sidestrip. Were its creator to revisit the same cartoon, he might very well have the same perplexed response.
The Far Side’s Art Was Intuitive, But Not Instant
Gary Larson’s Jokes Took Finesse
[Gary] Larson was a creature of inspiration – but that was only the underlying current that motivated hard, disciplined work.
InThe Prehistory of The Far Side, Gary Larson enlightens readers to the importance of his sketchbook to the creation of his cartoons. While his creative process centered on getting ideas down on the page as soon as they came to him, these ideas didn’t always immediately becomeFar Sidecomics. Instead, there tended to be a period of gestation for Larson’s jokes; working on them took care, and patience, and didn’t always necessarily result in a viable final product that was fit for publication.
Larson further articulated this inThe Prehistory:
The idea for any cartoon (my experience, anyway) is rarely spontaneous. Good ideas usually evolve out of pretty lame ones, and vica versa. (I’ve destroyed a few good cartoons by working them to death.)
That is to say, Gary Larson was no one-and-done, first-draft creator. Once an idea found its way to the page, it went through successive revision,and was deeply scrutinized, until its creator felt a sense of satisfaction with it. However, like any artist, Larson admitted that he could lose sight of what was best for his own work – making the creation of anyFar Sidecartoon akin to a tight-rope act, where one wrong step leads to a fall.
In all,what is most exciting about Gary Larson’s explanation of howFar Sidecomics were composed is how organic the process was.Like some of his greatest contemporaries,such asGarfield’sJim Davis, Larson was a creature of inspiration – but that was only the underlying current that motivated hard, disciplined work, which led him to the voluminous dailyFar Sidestrips he produced over fifteen years, works of art that still have an enduring appeal to readers nearly thirty years after the strip ceased publication.
Source:The Prehistory Of The Far Side
The Far Side Complete Collection
Fans of the far side can’t pass up this master collection of Gary Larson’s finest work. Originally published in hardcover in 2003, this paperback set comes complete with a newly designed slipcase that will look great on any shelf. The Complete Far Side contains every Far Side cartoon ever published, which amounts to over 4,000, plus more than 1,100 that have never before appeared in a book and even some made after Larson retired.
