The Far Side featured many anthropomorphic birds over the years, as one of the greatest feathers in creator Gary Larson's cap was his ability to use animal characters as substitutes for humans, in the process highlighting the absurd nature of both. Larson had an eagle-eye for the peculiarities of the human condition, and utilizing animal characters to expose these in cartoon form is his defining artistic legacy.

From ducks and chickens, who were heavily represented among The Far Side’s anthropomorphic animal population, to peacocks, and seagulls, and more, Gary Larson frequently returned to the concept of depicting feathered characters in human-like situations over the years, always in the pursuit of subverting readers’ expectations, as well as their understanding of the world around them.

This classic trope is The Far Side’s most celebrated, and so this list pays tribute to some of the most beloved examples, as well as a few deep cuts.

10 Some People Can't Help But Draw Attention To Themselves; That Goes Double For Some Birds

First Published: June 16, 1981

In this early Far Side classic, a pair of Gary Larson's ubiquitous chicken characters are out having a drink at a bar, when they catch the eye of an overbearing peacock, who proceeds to direct his colorful plumage in their direction, in a desperate attempt to get their attention.

Like the best Far Side cartoons, the premise of the joke here is simple, and effective, and elevated by Larson's illustration.

"Don't encourage him," one of the barnyard fowl says to the other, showing that the peacock's moves don't have the same impact on domesticated birds. With this Far Side gag, Gary Larson embodies the idea of a certain type of individual, who, whether it is with flashy clothes, or boisterous antics, has to make themselves known to the world around them. Like the best Far Side cartoons, the premise of the joke here is simple, and effective, and elevated by Larson's illustration.

9 The Far Side Confirms That No Matter The Species, Everyone Loves A Crunchy Snack At The Movies

First Published: January 20, 1984

What takes this Far Side cartoon from good to great is all in the eyes of Gary Larson's bird characters here, especially the one who has just had a bag full of flies and spiders dumped on its head, as a bird squeezes into the row behind it, offering a sincere, but ultimately unhelpful "dang...sorry buddy," at the mess. Larson hilariously captures a familiar scenario here, while giving it a "yuck"-factor spin, courtesy of his anthropomorphization technique.

In other words, a human having popcorn dumped on their head is an annoyance, while having bugs dumped on them would be, for most, horrifying; for a bird, however, it loops back around to annoyance. So, readers will find humor in the way the experience has been "translated" into bird form, as well as responding viscerally to the creepy-crawly element of the punchline, with dissonance between these layers actually contributing to making the joke funnier.

8 No Matter How Much They Evolve, Some Birds Will Keep Making The Same Mistakes

First Published: March 4, 1985

One hilarious way that Gary Larson used The Far Side's anthropomorphization technique was to contrast animals behaving like humans and exhibiting traits they would in the wild within the context of the same . That is the case here, in a cartoon which features a mother gull sitting in an armchair, reading a book, while her chicks sit in front of the television set, only for this idyllic suburban afternoon to be interrupted by the "man" of the house flying directly into the living room window.

"I warned your father we shouldn't have had that glass window installed," the seagull mom says, ruefully. Notably, this comic can be said to represent a subspecies of The Far Side's anthropomorphic animal punchlines, one that is less concerned with lampooning behavior, and more interested in taking the idea of anthropomorphic birds to its end point. That is to say, if birds did start living in human-style houses, glass windows really would be a design issue.

7 The Far Side Reminds Readers Tragedies Are For The Birds

First Published: June 10, 1985

This Far Side cartoon has a curiously sad feeling to it, though perhaps that is because it is the kind of where Gary Larson left readers with more questions than answers; namely, fans rightly wonder whether there is a connection between the bird sitting her recliner and watching the news on TV and the "Harold Meeker" named by the reporter, who notes that the ill-fated avian was "sucked into [a] jet's engines," causing an airplane to crash.

Once again, Larson's punchline stems from having an anthropomorphized bird observing more traditional bird behavior, in this case the unfortunately gruesome reality that birds often get sucked into the engines of planes. With this as the root of this Far Side comic's humor, the sense of tragic loss hinted at here adds a dimension to the joke.

6 This Classic Far Side Duck Joke Is A Relic Of A Bygone Era

First Published: November 15, 1986

One of Gary Larson's most underrated recurring bits were The Far Side's vacation photo jokes, with this , about an angry duck complaining that "the stupid slide's in backwards" as he uses his projector to show photos of their summer migration northward, serving as a classic example.

Unfortunately, as time has ed, and technology has advanced to absurd degrees over the past forty years, this joke, which was once among The Far Side's most relatable, has become more obtuse to younger generations of readers. Though older Far Side fans will carry a nostalgic torch from the era of the slide projector, newer readers will find it harder and harder to understand what this obscure ritual being depicted is.

5 This Far Side Duck Murder Mystery Is The Kind Of Comic Fans Wish There Was A Follow-Up To

First Published: December 6, 1986

This Far Side crime scene cartoon features a "uniformed" duck police officer, its rank signified by the hat on its head and nothing more, taking statements from witnesses at the scene of what appears to be a pretty brutal murder, with the victim's neighbor describing "this heated argument, followed by the sounds of a scuffle," culminating in "this tremendous, bloodcurdling 'quaaaaacck!"

Many left mini-cliffhangers that still nag fans to these days, making them pine for a "sequel" from creator Gary Larson.

Of course, the "unsolved mystery" here is all in service of that punchline, but this is still a potent example of how many Far Side comics actually had stories that extended beyond the , and many left mini-cliffhangers that still nag fans to these days, making them pine for a "sequel" from creator Gary Larson.

4 The Far Side Spoofs Fancy Cocktails With This Goofy Bird Gag

First Published: March 30, 1988

The Far Side could be dark, and The Far Side could be deep, but undergirding even Gary Larson's most "edgy" jokes was foundational, fundamental silliness; just as often, that silliness was right at the surface of a joke, such as with this anthropomorphic bird , which features the avian equivalent of an upscale cocktail.

In the , a penguin (the tuxedo bird, of course, used to signal the classiness of this establishment) server in a bowtie delivers a pair of orioles their "fancy drinks," with the caption emphasizing "fancy" to show the female bird is pleased. It is a simple joke, one that pokes fun at fine dining, but in a benign way, with the insect garnishes once again being used to add a literal "gag" factor to the gag, for any squeamish readers.

3 This Far Side Pseudo-Sequel Returns To A Familiar Premise From A Different Angle

First Published: October 1, 1988

This isn't exactly the The Far Side's earlier "duck murder scene" comic, but it does revisit the the joke's concept in a way, albeit with doves in place of ducks. Here, a bird detective (again, the hat is the giveaway; the detective wears a fedora, while the other two birds wear police caps) shines a flashlight on a set of footprints leading up to the window at a crime scene, noting that they've found "the murderer's footprints," before lamenting "'course, we all leave tracks like this."

In this case, the human-like behavior of these Far Side birds is foiled by their avian physiology, in another example of a Gary Larson comic that looks inward, rather than outward, commenting on its own absurdity, instead of the absurdity of the world.

2 The Far Side Reminds Readers The Monotony Of Life Is For The Birds, Too

First Published: October 6, 1988

At some point in the mid-20th century, a trope emerged, in which a construction worker is depicted opening up his steel lunchbox and being disappointed to find the same thing he always has for lunch, whether it is a baloney sandwich, a PB&J, or in the case of The Far Side's "bird construction worker," sitting on the branch of a tree with an exaggeratedly-long lunchpail n its lap, a worm.

The key to the humor of this Far Side comic is the way it embodies this recognizable image in a way that would have felt strange and unique to readers at the time of the cartoon's publication. This is make-or-break context for this Far Side joke, without which it drops from hilarious to amusing, or possibly even full-on confusing.

1 This Far Side Joke Will Crack You Up, But Maybe Not For The Obvious Reason

First Published: August 19, 1993

The legendary "this is your brain on drugs" PSA debuted in 1987, and by 1993, it was already infamous, and widely lampooned. With Larson is rightly lauded as a master of wordplay, the results here are honestly somewhat mixed.

"This is your egg," a voice from the TV says in the top-half of the cartoon, over top of an image of an egg, as a couple of chickens sit on the couch and watch; in the bottom-half, the narrator says "this is your egg covered with bugs." The parallel is obvious, but the remix of the phrase is a bit clunky; that said, there is a kind of charm to this clunkiness, so even if the laugh it evokes is of the "so-bad-it's-good" variety, it is still a laugh, which makes it a successful Far Side cartoon.