InThe Far Side, youth is never wasted on the young alone.The Far Sidefans love nostalgia, which is exactly why Gary Larson packs so many childhood or old-fashioned references into his famous comics. And as one of the strip’s longest-running themes,The Far Sidemakes youth something worth valuing.
Many of themost lively, colorfulFar Sidecharacterstend to be young people (whether the ones telling the jokes, or acting as the butt of them), which means some of the greatest of all time manage to remind readers of that chapter in their own lives. It’s true that kids can say the darnest things and, frankly, inThe Far Sidethey often be seriously irritating little whippersnappers.
10"The Anderson Brothers"
First Published: July 24, 2025
While adults have come to accept and become all too aware of their mortality, kids think they are invincible. Youngsters still have every ounce of their drive and stamina intact, but tend to overestimate their amount of resilience. This is especially true for “the Anderson Brothers.”
The Andersons freely play with a baby bear cub, unaware that the mama bear glares at them in the distance. The caption implies that the Andersons were probably eaten by the older protective bear in yet anotherFar Sidecomic about being eaten, which is one of the more surprising running gags that Gary Larson has.
9"New Kid"
First Published: August 06, 2025
For kids, the most exciting prospect of a school day is when a new student suddenly arrives in the classroom. Everyone gets excited about anything perceived as the shiny new thing in the room. Here, the shiny new kid isn’t just new, but quite literally shiny and new, like a jewel freshly removed from the packaging.
The Far Sidemakes school funnyand, really, all of his panels hysterical whenever Gary Larson turns classic sayings on their head. Shiny and new takes on a whole new meaning when the new kid arrives with a brand-new glimmer and tint shine. It’s a brand-new shine that can only be found in youth.
8The Typing Horses
First Published: July 02, 2025
In one ofThe Far Side’srare caption-less comics, a horse teacher is leading a math lesson for his classroom of foals, compelling them to clamp on the desk. Some will be perplexed by the notion when they notice that the horses don’t have computers or laptops in front of them, but this is a rewarding joke for those knowledgeable about horses.
Horses tend to communicate with their hooves, often responding by tapping and stomping on the ground. Their stomps produce a clamping sound, not unlike the sound that humans make when they type away at a keyboard (or, in a more 80s context, a typewriter). No one types faster than a child still in their youth, even a horse child.
7"Robby Works His Ant Farm"
First Published: June 21, 2025
In childhood, kids love to play pretend, whether it’s playing house with each other, holding tea parties with dolls, or using the Easy-Bake Oven. Granted, that last one is for the 80s babies old enough to remember the Easy-Bake Ovens before Hasbro discontinued them, but the point is that kids love to play-pretend, and they take it very seriously.
Take little Robby, for example, who takes the notion of maintaining an ant farm a little too seriously, specifically the farming part. Like how a farmer brands his horses, Robby marks his territory on his ants. Maybe he’s practicing to be a smart farming expert when he grows up. It’s one of the mosthilariousFar Sidecomics about ants.
6"Cartoon Teenagers"
First Published: 1986
Even inFar Sidecomics, kids can be rebellious and rude to their parents, specifically during their teenage years. The nasty things that teenagers say to their parents are exactly why teenagers scared the daylights out of Gerard Way for the classic My Chemical Romance song of the same name.
Parents of such vociferous children have probably heard their kids yell about wishing they were never born. In the cartoon realm, though, this overly self-aware child just wishes he had never been drawn. Clearly, if any comic strip is not shy about breakingthe fourth wall, it’sThe Far Side.
5"For Heaven’s Sake, Henry"
First Published: July 12, 2025
A favorite pastime for children growing up is hearing older stories from their elders. Adults often dislike hearing the same stories repeated over and over, especially when the stories seem so mundane, but kids seem to keep a listening ear for mundanity every time. Children will listen to a story about any and everything.
Adults rarely share the same enthusiasm for storytelling, but this is one of those surprising instances where an adult shows no interest in hearing a story that actually sounds interesting. A wife is tired of hearing her bodyless husband tell stories to the children about his head, but this is a story that anyone should be fascinated to learn about!
4"Have You Met Russell and Bill?"
First Published: July 10, 2025
Statistics can be confusing for anyone who takes them at a literal level. For instance, if a stat pops up suggesting that the average household has, say, “2.5 children,” some people start scratching their heads as to where the .5 comes from. Typically, the entire number is an estimated summation and percentage.
It accounts for a middle ground, so to speak, when calculating households that may have two or three children. It does not mean that a couple in any household has a child that only counts for .5, but if it did, Gary Larson thinks this is what that would look like, having half children.Far Sidefamilies can be chaotic.
3The Hazards of Teaching Young Neanderthals
First Published: July 02, 2025
Kids can be little troublemakers sometimes, and the word troublemakers can be an understatement. People are at their most mischievous when they’re young. At that point in their lives, kids either don’t understand consequences or underestimate them, because they have a habit of committing the
2"Cockroach Households"
First Published: July 19, 2025
Parents on theFar Sideunderstand not only how kids can run their parents up the wall, but how hyperactive children can practically run up the walls. Kids havethatmuch energy; it feels like they are bouncing all over the place from wall to wall all day. In cockroach households, though, kids literally run up the wall.
Meanwhile, even with cockroach parents, parents are still being run up the wall, metaphorically speaking, in that their kids are driving them insane. Especially the mother, who feels tempted to put a stop to the madness by squishing her children like a human would a roach if they invaded their home.
1"The Ant Who Cried Aardvark"
First Published: June 09, 2025
Human children are well familiar with the story ofThe Boy Who Cried Wolf.It’s usually read to kids before bedtime as a cautionary tale. The warning to children is that they shouldn’t lie about anything, much less a wandering wolf, because if a wolf truly emerges to endanger them, then no one will come running to save them.
For ant kids, they are told a much different cautionary tale, this time with the wolf being replaced by aardvarks, the natural predator of ants. Gary Larson has already made it clear thatThe Far Sideis obsessed with bugs, ants in particular, and he flexes his knowledge by illustrating hilarious scenarios.
