Return of The Far Side
The Far Side creator Gary Larson has published three new cartoons on his website — with fans and fellow cartoonists rejoicing at his first fresh work in 25 years.
Larson, who teased a possible return to the drafting board nearly a year ago, made clear that his new work does not represent “a resurrection” of the daily Far Side feature, which ran from 1980 to 1995.
“The New Stuff that you’ll see here is the result of my journey into the world of digital art,” Larson wrote on his site earlier this week. “Believe me, this has been a bit of a learning curve for me. I hail from a world of pen and ink, and suddenly I was feeling like I was sitting at the controls of a 747” with his new digital tablet.
Larson’s three new cartoons, rendered in a painterly style instead of his familiar line art, still reflected his signature offbeat humour — including one that features a visual pun on “taxidermists.”
Now, Larson says he feels a fresh sense of creative adventure. He had grown tired of daily deadlines. But when he experimented with a tablet several years ago after becoming frustrated with a clogged drawing pen, he wrote, “Something totally unexpected happened: Within moments, I was having fun drawing again. I was stunned at all the tools the thing offered, all the creative potential it contained. I simply had no idea how far these things had evolved. Perhaps fittingly, the first thing I drew was a caveman.”
The Far Side launched a destination site in December, drawing more than one million visitors in its first week, according to his distributor, Andrews Mcmeel Syndication. In May, the site — which had featured Far Side reruns and previously unpublished sketches — won a People’s Voice Webby award for best humour site.
“The Far Side’s millions of fans have been loyally faithfully reading Gary’s old work for years while eternally hoping that someday he would re-emerge,” Andrews Mcmeel chief executive Andy Sareyan said. “With all the madness in the news these days, the timing of
Gary’s absurdist view and comic relief just couldn’t be better.”
“Gary Larson coming back to the drawing table — or ipad — is what I’ll remember 2020 for. Yeah that! And only that,” Liniers, the nom de toon of Argentinian cartoonist Ricardo Siri, said on Thursday with winking jubilation. Liniers, who creates the syndicated strip Macanudo, posted a cartoon on Twitter this week cheering Larson’s return.
In hailing Larson’s return, Liniers notes how influential The Far Side was to him. Reading The Far Side as a boy, Liniers realized Larson
“wasn’t going for normal punchlines. He was going for the nonsensical and surprising,” Liniers said. “Then I couldn’t get enough.”
“He’s been a huge influence in my work. I’ve tried my best to be as out there as Mr. Larson, but let’s face it. I’m that little kid pushing the door with the pull sign at the Midvale School for the gifted and he’s Albert Einstein,” continues Leniers, referencing a classic Far Side cartoon.
Dave Coverly, creator of the popular single-panel cartoon Speed Bump, welcomes Larson’s re-emergence.
The Washington Post