Summary
- Cartoonist Gary Larson found the production time for illustrating cartoons more manageable than writing long-form fiction; he gravitated toward the former in pat as a way of avoiding the fear of losing years on a failed project, rather than days.
- Despite feeling intimidated by the thought of forstalling creative satisfaction as part of a long-term writing project, Larson's entire body of work – produced over nearly fifteen years – is novelistic in size and scope,
- Larson retired from cartooning in 1995, leaving The Far Side unfinished in a way, even though it comprises thousands of individual cartoons, all of which can be enjoyed in isolation.
Gary Larson, creator of toils of prose writers, fiction and nonfiction alike, everywhere – and in the process, identified what he considered to be the "huge difference" between the two types of artists.
As Larson explained in The Complete Far Side Volume Two, the divide came down to a matter of time; literally, he noted that the production time for a cartoon is significantly more manageable than, say, even the time it takes to complete a short story – let alone a novel, or a series of them.
Essentially, The Far Side's creator itted that he was intimidated by the thought of "losing" time in the way, or at least on the scale, that writers often do. Yet, interestingly, in retrospect, his complete body of work is novelistic in both size and scope.
I Was Surprised By How Many Times The Far Side's Most Famous Prehistoric Character Actually Appeared
As familiar as I've become with The Far Side, it's still a thrill to discover something new, like when I realized how often "Thag" appeared.
Gary Larson On The One Major Distinction Between Authors And Comic Artists
Time Is On Cartoonists' Side
As Gary Larson argued, the scale of time over which an author's failure might play out was too horrifying a prospect for him.
Though he discoursed on the writer-cartoonist divide – and likewise, their many connections – with his trademark wit, it is evident Gary Larson's perspective on the difference between cartoonists and writers was rooted in a need to get work done. More specifically, Larson was self-aware enough to recognize that he needed to feel the creative satisfaction of finishing something that he started on a day-to-day basis. Writers, especially fiction writers, will know that this is anything but guaranteed when they sit down to write.
So, despite the many similar qualities shared by writers and cartoonists, they chase – and achieve – that satisfaction in different ways, and more crucially, at different rates. As Gary Larson put it:
I think cartoonists have more in common with writers than we do with comedians. The following writer-cartoonist parallels come to mind: loners, quiet room, favorite chair, hand puppet (just me?) and our trusty writing/drawing tools. But there is also one huge difference: If we blow it, we lose a day. If a writer blows it [they] lose, what – a year? Two years? Personally, I prefer a job where I might screw up my day, not my year.
Though Larson's humor is evident here, as it is in practically everything he wrote, he outlines a very real anxiety that all but the most uninhibited artists share: that is, the very potent, very daunting prospect of failure. As Gary Larson argued, the scale of time over which an author's failure might play out was too horrifying a prospect for him.
Gary Larson: A Novelist's Attention To Detail, A Stand-Up Comedian's Sense Of Timing
A Literary "What If?"
Gary Larson needed the short-term satisfaction that cartooning provided, but his attention to detail and the scope of his creativity were both fundamentally that of a novelist.
Readers familiar with The Far Side will likely recognize in Gary Larson the potential to have been a novelist, were he to have taken a different creative path in life. Larson's idiosyncratic outlook on life, the dexterity of his ideas, his ability to inhabit a variety of different perspectives and character voices, and off the page, his resolute determination to sit down at his desk at night and work all conspire to make Larson one of 20th-century literature's great "What-if?" questions.
Nevertheless, his contributions to American humor and pop culture are not to be diminished; in fact, given the reach of The Far Side as a nationally syndicated newspaper cartoon, it can be reasonably argued that Larson's influence exceeds that of literary titans like Don DeLillo, or Thomas Pynchon, at least as far as the average reader goes. While that might stray too close to putting them in competition with one another, the comparison is only to say that Gary Larson's work has more in common with these authors than he has ever seriously been credited with.
What separates these creators is not ability; if anything, it is patience. Gary Larson needed the short-term satisfaction that cartooning provided, but his attention to detail and the scope of his creativity were both fundamentally that of a novelist. In a way, for Larson, cartooning provided the ideal middle ground between the protracted satisfaction of prose-writing and the utter immediacy of doing stand-up comedy. It allowed him to produce work quickly, while keeping him at a cautious remove from his audience.
The Far Side Complete Collection
Fans of the far side can't up this master collection of Gary Larson's finest work. Originally published in hardcover in 2003, this paperback set comes complete with a newly designed slipcase that will look great on any shelf. The Complete Far Side contains every Far Side cartoon ever published, which amounts to over 4,000, plus more than 1,100 that have never before appeared in a book and even some made after Larson retired.
As An Artist & A Writer, Gary Larson Pushed Himself To The Limit
Better To Burn Out...
In the end, perhaps [Gary] Larson simply believed the maxim that it is "better to burn out than to fade away."
Of course, except for several extended breaks, Garfield and Peanuts.
Gary Larson's longest hiatus from cartooning came when he took the entire year 1989 off, with reprints of earlier Far Side comics running in newspapers in place of new material. Larson returned into 1990 somewhat refreshed, though the strip continued for only five more years after that.
and Charles Schulz. Still, in the end, perhaps Larson simply believed the maxim that it is "better to burn out than to fade away."
10 Genius Far Side Comics Featuring the Invention of Fire, The Wheel, & More
Far Side creator Gary Larson frequently returned to the earliest days of civilization to celebrate the origin of the species' greatest innovations.
Great Art Is Never Finished, Only Abandoned – And The Far Side Is Great Art
Gary Larson's Unfinished Opus
While any one Far Side might be great – hilarious, profound, outrageous, or some ixture of all that and more – but in total, the complete scope of Gary Larson's work is an incredible, ambitious display of creative ability.
Another famous, difficult to attribute quote, which comes in many different variations, is this: "great art is never finished, only abandoned." This can be said to apply to The Far Side at both levels: the daily , and the overall arc of Gary Larson's career. At the micro level, any piece of art produced under a tight time frame, with a deadline looming, is necessarily compromised in some way, shape, or form. Even if this doesn't ultimately "hurt" the art, it impacts it.
In a way, this can be a virtue; Larson also at times noted that having to finish cartoons on schedule kept him from endlessly tinkering both s and punchlines alike into oblivion. On the other hand, the build up of pressure from constantly facing daily success and failure proved no less intense than the potential of "losing" years to a failed novel. Ultimately, at the macro level, The Far Side for the sake of his own mental well-being.
Thankfully, his hard work and success up to that point enabled him to step away with some degree of grace. Still, there is something of an unfinished quality to The Far Side, as even Gary Larson himself itted in retrospect. One thing that is certain is that while any one Far Side might be great – hilarious, profound, outrageous, or some ixture of all that and more – but in total, the complete scope of Gary Larson's work is an incredible, ambitious display of creative ability. In this way, The Far Side is unquestionably an outstanding work of 20th century art.
Source: The Complete Far Side Volume Two
- Writer
- Gary Larson
- Colorist
- Gary Larson
The Far Side is a humorous comic series developed by Gary Larson. The series has been in production since 1979 and features a wide array of comic collections, calendars, art, and other miscellaneous items.
