Gary Larson's Final Words: A Hilarious Farewell to the Far Side
Gary Larson, the mastermind behind the iconic Far Side, is a true original. His comedic genius, his out-of-the-box thinking, and his unique vision for humor made his comic strip a worldwide sensation, and nobody could truly replicate his style. In the last essay from his retrospective compilation "The Complete Far Side," he really delivered a bizarre and touching goodbye to the world of Comics that perfectly embodied The Far Side's charm.
Larson ends "The Complete Far Side," by acknowledging that while he misses being a cartoonist, he's also content to be done. His career has provided him with enough moments to recall and he craves a break from creating Comics! He's wistful and bittersweet but, as if by fate, an unexpected analogy about a spider and a fisherman helps him change his mindset.
Gary Larson On The Connection Between Spiders And Fishing (& Artists)
His final essay in "The Complete Far Side Volume Two" dives into Larson's unique thinking as he makes an unexpected connection between spiders and his dad, who was a fisherman. You'll have to understand how a Far Side comic gets made: Gary Larson just loves his quirky, humorous takes on the world around him - sometimes, those observations just come to him!
The way Gary connects spiders catching gnats, with his dad's love of fishing, reminds us of those iconic Far Side scenes! He compares the 'line' to his dad's fishing line, the 'webs' to his dad's 'net' and ultimately finds the heart of his artistic journey in that bizarre analogy.
Gary Larson Reflecting on His Creative Process
This essay in "The Complete Far Side" was really something! Larson was a talented artist and the perfect combination of creative brilliance and humble charm, and it truly shines through as he walks through his thought processes. He talks about being 'haunted' by all the comics he might not get to create – and that "what if?" feeling, is a common emotion for any creator, I'd guess! And then boom - a simple sight outside his window - a spider catching a gnat – sparked another idea that made him want to put the pencil down.
It really goes to show how powerful the world's most little things are – and that was at the core of his brilliance. Just look at those hilarious Far Side moments! A cow flying, a chicken having a weird dream, Gary took the ordinary, mundane stuff we see every day, and twisted it just enough so it made sense but also became this wild and comedic world.
The Far Side Was A 'Distraction' - For Gary Larson, Anyway
It's almost funny how Larson's mind jumps from "being sad" about the comics he wasn't going to create - to the next "new" thought - those spiders in his window. I have a feeling that this kind of 'wandering mind' is how he managed to make so many incredible Far Side strips! You can almost imagine him thinking about something, then going 'ah, crap I've got to do this now!" and creating an iconic strip because of it!
We may think that having all those incredible creative ideas would drive an artist, like Gary Larson, to keep drawing! However, Gary loved that 'wandering mind' that made him so creative - and to his mind, that was a good thing! Maybe that is what was stopping him - having too much imagination.
A Goodbye Full of Emotion and Humor
By the end of that final essay, Gary Larson decided it was time to end his run of "The Complete Far Side." He loved creating and he knew how to captivate his readers but as if to sum up everything about those iconic comics and his career he decided it was time to shift gears.
He goes back to his thoughts of being 'drawn to the little things' as if that was a recurring motif, reminding fans what made his art so incredible! It's hard to find the words to describe the effect of those Far Side comics, and that’s part of what makes it so great. We all have moments in those funny, unexpected spots that made us laugh so hard we thought we'd lose our sides! He managed to connect to something deep and simple in human nature! That kind of genius deserves a standout farewell, a "going-away" moment that was uniquely Gary Larson.
