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Article By: RickLondon
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The Good Side Of The Far Side's Gary Larson
I believe Larson's work had such an impact on me because, like so many in my generation, I was trying to do the transformation from outgrown hippie to yuppie and not much made sense anymore. He found a way to make sense of it all, and did it with "extreme editing skills" sometimes no words, but only an illustration. He was a step above so many other cartoonists in that he most often "drew what he knew" . Larson was a biology major in college, and aside from the frequent use of cows and insects, science and biology themes were a normal theme for him. Before Larson launched The Far Side, he was working on a cartoon called "Nature's Way". The Seattle Times was the first paper to publish it in 1979. A year later, Chronicle Features picked The Far Side up for syndication and it ran fifteen years. Larson put down his pin on New Years Day, 1995. For awhile we heard nothing. Then he wrote a very biologically-accurate children's story about worms titled "There's A Hair In My Dirt" which quickly became a New York Times Best Seller. When asked why he was retiring, he said, he simply didn't want to become mediocre. He stopped while he was ahead. He could be labeled more than a cartoonist, perhaps a "cartoon surrealist" of sorts. A lot of his cartoons featured bovine behavior and conversations that cows had when no people were around. The behavior was often smart and arrogant so that the reader felt he or she perhaps might not be so much smarter than these cows (and other animals, from squid to deer to bears. Some were smart enough to be in Mensa, had they allowed animals. Cats and dogs were regularaly featured in the cartoon usually pit against one another. One of the most memorable panels shows a big dog who has led a trail with chalk that said "Cat Fud" that led to an open dryer in a laundry mat and the dog thinking while holding the door open ready to close it, "Oh Pleeeeeze" as the cat innocently walks around.
One popular Far Side panel features two chimpanzees grooming each other. One discovers a blonde human hair on the other and asks "Conducting a little more 'research' with that Jane Goodall tramp?" Her institute board members felt it was in bad taste, and had their lawyers draft a letter to Larson and his distribution syndicate, in which they described the cartoon as an "atrocity". They were stopped in their tracks, though, from no other than Goodall herself, who loved the cartoon. Since then, all profits from sales of a shirt featuring this cartoon benefit the Goodall Institute. Most recently, Larson has published a 2007 calendar and 100% of the royalties benefit Conservation International. Not many people, including myself, have the kind of talent, Gary Larson has. And when they do, they don't behave as well as he does. People are always looking for role model and turn to sports, acting etc. They might try turning towards this quiet retired cartoonist. I think he has his act together. I will always remember The Far Side, and its continued impact on me, and even better knowing there is such a good guy behind it.
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About the Author
Cartoonist Rick London, founder of Londons Times Cartoons says many famous funny people have influenced him but none had an impact like The Far Side's Gary Larson on his now very Top Internet Cartoon, Londons Times The Gary Larson Far Side Influence Continues
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