Cartoon legend Gary Larson reveals that the inspiration for his irreverent cartoon The Far Side can all be traced back to one member of his family. An aside from Larson highlights how the strip-maker's imagination was unconventionally encouraged by his brother.

When it comes to offbeat, unusual and just plain weird comic strips, none have the infamy of The Far Side. The Far Side remains highly popular and still features compilation releases as well as merchandise such as calendars.

Gary Larson Blames His Brother For The Far Side

According to Larson, the endearing charm of The Far Side all begins with the cartoonist's older brother. In The Far Side Gallery 1, Larson pens the foreword and reveals an interesting story from his childhood. Larson starts out by saying "This is my brother's fault" and launches into a story about his overactive imagination and the fear he had of his family's basement. Occasionally, Larson was asked to retrieve firewood from the darkest corners of the house. Larson reveals that his brother would often hold the door closed and say "It's coming for you, Gary! It's coming! Do you hear it breathing, Gary?". Larson recounts the event and notes that the things he draws now are 'different'. Larson its he told the story hoping to shed light on his peculiar childhood and how it made an impact on the work he does now.

While the event was no doubt quite scary as a child, Larson takes the past in stride and looks back on it with a sense of humor about the ordeal. What's interesting is that Larson gives a lot of credit for his comic to his brother, calling The Far Side his brother's 'handiwork'. While he's just being facetious, there seem to be kernels of truth in Larson's story. Fans of Larson know The Far Side is rooted in his particular way of looking at the world, and much of that perspective seems to have been molded by Larson's brother.

Larson's Brother was Crucial to Creating The Far Side

While it's unlikely one childhood event shaped the course of Larson's cartooning career, it's quite probable that Larson is being earnest when he says how much his brother helped shape his future. Humans aren't usually aware of the way things will impact them at any given moment, but they tend to become quite obvious in hindsight. Looking back at his life, Larson likely saw how intense his imagination could be and realized the only one who ever encouraged it was his brother. While Larson's story might seem mean, Larson sees it as a formative experience, something that helped him develop the unique and odd sense of humor he'd eventually use to create his magnum opus, The Far Side.