Often imitated, never duplicated. The Far Side is my all-time favorite comic strip. And Gary Larson's distinct style of art and humor has been ripped off more than any other cartoonist in history. It once got to the point where you could literally fill an entire daily comics page with comic strips that impersonated the Far Side. However, none of those pretenders ever quite "got it".
The guy had an obsessions with cows, didn't he? (Which was all explained, of course, in his collection, "The Curse of Madame C") As a history major, one of my personal favorites was always "History Schmistory" (sorry, can't find a link...)
While Calvin & Hobbes is my favorite comic strip, I'd give The Far Side the best (mostly) single panel kudos! And Larson & Watterson both quit within a relatively short time of each other, and then Bloom County, another fave, bit the dust although Breathed kept Opus around for the sequels for a few more years. The funny pages hasn't been quite so funny for me since the late 80s & early '90s when all three were still going strong. Non Sequitor and a few others are good but just not at the same level. But, heck, they left their fans wanting more rather than thinking they should have quit ages ago.
Just thought of another one I really like among my many (hundreds?) of favorites: 'The 4 personality types,' which has four different people standing in front of a glass, saying either "half-full," "half-empty" or confused, and the last guy, standing arms akimbo with his beer-gut popping out from under his tank-top, saying, "Hey! I ordered a cheesburger!" By the way, my own favorite newspaper comic creators fall into a triumvirate: Larson, Watterson, and Jerry Van Amerongen - the guy who did 'The Neighborhood' and then 'Ballard Street.' The word quirky and off-the-wall are often used to describe certain types of humor when they're not, but in this case the adjectives really fit. Doug: the new poll results certainly seem to correspond more to what one would expect.
Regarding the latest version of the poll, I think there needs to be a discussion of "great stories that crapped out in the third act." For my money, the Kree-Skrull war has a lot of great build-up but a disastrous, deus ex machina–filled ending. And the Korvac saga ends with poor artwork--and a whole lot of deuses going around! In fact, the Korvac saga made me think, at the time, that the Avengers was no longer a good comic. The whole Gwen Stacy clone/Jackal storyline is more coherent and has a more satisfying ending (was that ever on the list); ditto the Defenders' "Whatever Happened to Scorpio," which features some of the best artwork ever. I'm wondering if people are remember the K-S war and Korvac as better than they really were.
The genius of Larson was that he said more in one single panel than most cartoonists can say in multiple ones. I truly miss The Far Side.
ReplyDeleteA brilliant strip, Larson's a genius. This is still my favorite of his strips:
ReplyDeletehttp://michaelscomments.wordpress.com/2008/01/16/dog-bark-translator/
Often imitated, never duplicated. The Far Side is my all-time favorite comic strip. And Gary Larson's distinct style of art and humor has been ripped off more than any other cartoonist in history. It once got to the point where you could literally fill an entire daily comics page with comic strips that impersonated the Far Side. However, none of those pretenders ever quite "got it".
ReplyDeleteCow Joyrides, still on my frig...:
ReplyDeletehttp://cowabash51.topcities.com/cowjokes/Cow_joy_rides.jpg
There's so many classics to choose from.
The guy had an obsessions with cows, didn't he? (Which was all explained, of course, in his collection, "The Curse of Madame C")
ReplyDeleteAs a history major, one of my personal favorites was always "History Schmistory" (sorry, can't find a link...)
While Calvin & Hobbes is my favorite comic strip, I'd give The Far Side the best (mostly) single panel kudos! And Larson & Watterson both quit within a relatively short time of each other, and then Bloom County, another fave, bit the dust although Breathed kept Opus around for the sequels for a few more years. The funny pages hasn't been quite so funny for me since the late 80s & early '90s when all three were still going strong. Non Sequitor and a few others are good but just not at the same level. But, heck, they left their fans wanting more rather than thinking they should have quit ages ago.
ReplyDeleteAhh, Gary Larson's the Far Side! The one comic strip artist who shares my same sense of wacky humour!
ReplyDeleteOf the modern strips, the only one I like is Stephan Pastis's Pearls before Swine.
- Mike from Trinidad & Tobago.
Shifting gears:
ReplyDeleteThe Bracketology "fix that screwed up final poll" exercise is now over. Any thoughts on any of the arcs in the final 8 combatants?
Doug
Just thought of another one I really like among my many (hundreds?) of favorites: 'The 4 personality types,' which has four different people standing in front of a glass, saying either "half-full," "half-empty" or confused, and the last guy, standing arms akimbo with his beer-gut popping out from under his tank-top, saying, "Hey! I ordered a cheesburger!"
ReplyDeleteBy the way, my own favorite newspaper comic creators fall into a triumvirate: Larson, Watterson, and Jerry Van Amerongen - the guy who did 'The Neighborhood' and then 'Ballard Street.' The word quirky and off-the-wall are often used to describe certain types of humor when they're not, but in this case the adjectives really fit.
Doug: the new poll results certainly seem to correspond more to what one would expect.
Doug,
ReplyDeleteRegarding the latest version of the poll, I think there needs to be a discussion of "great stories that crapped out in the third act." For my money, the Kree-Skrull war has a lot of great build-up but a disastrous, deus ex machina–filled ending. And the Korvac saga ends with poor artwork--and a whole lot of deuses going around! In fact, the Korvac saga made me think, at the time, that the Avengers was no longer a good comic. The whole Gwen Stacy clone/Jackal storyline is more coherent and has a more satisfying ending (was that ever on the list); ditto the Defenders' "Whatever Happened to Scorpio," which features some of the best artwork ever. I'm wondering if people are remember the K-S war and Korvac as better than they really were.