The Larson Thread

[Barry]

   

   

[Barry]

Some early Larson

   

   

   

   

[Barry]

Some more early ones

   

   

   

   

[Alpal]

Some more early ones

The pit trap has me cponfounded. Please explain!

[Barry]

112 Far Side Comics From 1981 That Make Readers Go "What The?”

The entry from January 1981 offers a fantastic example of Gary Larson's artistic engagement with reactions other than laughter. It is not that this Far Side panel can't be deciphered; what is interesting about it is the way that it almost leads the reader to an obscure punchline and then leaves them hanging there 
The panel features a set of bear tracks leading up to a trap dug in the ground, and covered in foliage; the footprints leading away from the hole, meanwhile, are seemingly human. Again, while some coherent joke can certainly be extrapolated from the image following a degree of deeper analysis, the first impression this cartoon will have upon most readers is a distinct "What-the?" The footsteps receding into the jungle in this panel, in effect, perfectly encapsulate the feeling The Far Side frequently left readers with, of stepping into wild uncertainty.


He is just weird. 
“What the?” Really describes him

[Busso Bus]

Funny, don't know if I under thought this but I assumed human was walking towards trap & ended up falling in with bear ???

[Oldman]

Funny, don't know if I under thought this but I assumed human was walking towards trap & ended up falling in with bear ???

That’s how I saw it too……
Human builds trap to catch bear, human walks into trap……along with bear.
Ironic.

[Barry]

Think that’s the whole point. 

Make your own mind up what the joke was

[Barry]

   

   

   

[Barry]