leeper@mtgzz.UUCP (m.r.leeper) (07/31/85)
Gary Larson and THE FAR SIDE
A book(s) review by Mark R. Leeper
I have never been all that fond of books of cartoons. First of all,
the vast majority of cartoons I see don't strike me as all that funny. And
a cartoon that is funny on the first viewing will be much less funny on a
second viewing. When I was growing up I liked Charles Addams, I suppose,
but I don't any more. In my college days, I liked Gahan Wilson but while I
still like two or three of his classics, he is not high on my list any more.
Last summer I flipped open a cartoon book, IN SEARCH OF THE FAR SIDE, in a
bookstore and saw four cartoons across a page and all four were funny. I
flipped to another page and at least two struck me as funny. That was my
first brush with Gary Larson and his "Far Side" cartoons. Within a week, I
had bought all three collections of Larson's cartoons then available: THE
FAR SIDE, BEYOND THE FAR SIDE, and IN SEARCH OF THE FAR SIDE. I have given
collections of Larson cartoons as gifts since.
The publication of a fourth collection, BRIDE OF THE FAR SIDE, prompted
me to comment how much I like Larson's stuff. Larson's world is one in
which dogs are intelligent but humans only barely realize it. Cows are
intelligent too and are planning to revolt. Great scientists are really
just little kids at heart, and aliens visit us all the time but they are
more like us than we'd like to believe. Let's take some cases in point.
Two scientists are writing abstract formulae on a blackboard. A dog is at
their feet staring intently at the formulae. One scientist says "Doggies is
so cute when they try to understand quantum physics." A flying saucer has
landed on Washington Mall. A stairway has descended. At the top are two
disgusted aliens; at the bottom of the stairway one alien is sprawled on his
back, obviously just fallen down the stairway. "Wonderful, just wonderful,"
says a disgusted alien. "So much for creating an air of awe and mystery!"
A lawn has been cut in a very sloppy manner. The mower, still running,
seems to have cut a random path. A dog is standing by the front door
looking in and wagging his tail, but the angry man inside is looking at his
lawn and saying, "Bad dog! No biscuit! No biscuit!" Two cows are watching
the Great Chicago Fire from a distance and one says, "Agent 83 has
accomplished her mission."
Larson's humor is always lively and off-the-wall. I recommend his
stuff. Here in the New York-New Jersey area his cartoon is syndicated in
THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS. I might subscribe to just about any newspaper but
that one just to get his cartoons, but a friend gets it occasionally and
cuts out Larson's stuff for me. Thank God for friends.
Mark R. Leeper
...ihnp4!mtgzz!leeper