The Far Side could be gleefully dumb at times, but that was only because creator Gary Larson was so smart that he could produce low-brow humor just as readily as he created high-brow comedy. For Far Side fans, there are plenty of examples of each category to celebrate, with this list focusing on select s that highlight Larson's incredible intelligence, though, thankfully, not at the expense of their humor.

Larson's intelligence encomed a wide array of topic, explaining the eclectic nature of The Far Side's subject matter. Simply put, prehistoric inventors, or wayward scientists, or insects who acted like humans, because at any given moment, facts, figures, and ideas about these things were rattling around in his mind.

From there, Larson "adapted" these things into cartoons, giving his a creative outlet, while also confirming there were more people he could relate to out there than he might have expected. In any these, these cartoons confirm that The Far Side was the product of a creatively chaotic, yet highly gifted mind.

10 This Rare Post-Retirement Gary Larson Comic Fuses High And Low Brow Elements To Form Comedi Gold

First Published: October 13, 1998

The Far Side ended in 1995, but what even many hardcore Far Side fans don't know is that Gary Larson did briefly return to produce another batch of cartoons, a few years later, in a series of s parodying scientists, published in The New York Times. This is perhaps the stand-out example, in which "science meets tabloid TV," as a researcher is confronted on live television about why he put a colleague's pet "into [a] super collider."

That is, a machine build to smash particles together at warp speed to study the effects; in this Far Side cartoon, Larson hilariously uses the lack of common knowledge of this device, especially in the '90s, to evoke a gruesomely hilarious, hyperbolic escalation of a feud in the scientific community. The punchline here combines Gary Larson’s understanding of popular culture with his appreciation for science, showing his intelligence had many different vectors.

9 The Far Side Invents A Rivalry Between Two Iconic Formative Psychologists

First Published: March 22, 1993

This classic Far Side cartoon reinterprets the history of modern psychology, revealing the true motivation behind Ivan Pavlov's famous experiment "unbeknownst to most students of psychology," which is that before training his canine to anticipate being fed at the ring of the bell, "Pavlov's first experiment was to ring a bell and cause his dog to attack Freud's cat."

Pavlov and Sigmund Freud were, in fact, contemporaries, which Gary Larson hilariously imagines as a rivalry here, at least from Pavlov's side; while this Far Side joke might be highbrow, the composition of the , with Freud and his cat visible relaxing in their home through Pavlov's window, none the wiser, makes it so that all readers need is to understand the context of the "Pavlov's dog" reference to get a laugh-out-loud reaction.

8 The Far Side Was Never Afraid To Ask Tough Questions About Life

First Published: December 28, 1992

In this low-key dark Far Side cartoon, Gary Larson takes on the perennial philosophical question, "if a tree falls in the woods and nobody is around, does it make a sound?" and turns it into a hilariously harsh dig at mimes, tweaking the question so it instead asks readers to ponder: "if a tree falls in the forest and no one's around, and it hits a mime, does anyone care?"

With this punchline, Larson takes a question that deliberately lacks an answer, because it is intended as a thought experiment, and turns it into a rhetorical, making it clear that the joke is meant to play on the general public's disinterest in, or sometimes outright dislike for, miming as a form of performance art. At the same time, the mime could be substituted for any maligned character here, and the malformation of the original question's intent would remain amusing.

7 This Deep Cut Far Side Reference Showcases Gary Larson's Wild Level Of Knowledge

First Published: December 21, 1992

This is a prime example of a Far Side comic that is almost too smart for its own good; that is, it relies so much on readers catching a potentially obscure reference that it ends up getting a puzzled "What the?" reaction from more readers than it does a chuckle.

However, for those who do understand the role Cossack culture played in developing trick horse riding, this featuring "Cossack ants" certainly stands out more, with its whimsical portrayal of the professionals dangling from horses, and doing tricks like handstands, while still holding their briefcases, clad in suits and ties. It is a reference that will slip by most contemporary Far Side readers, but it is absolutely one worth acknowledging when discussing Gary Larson's penchant for smart humor.

6 This Classic Far Side Comic Showcases Gary Larson's Knowledge Of Physics And Mastery Of Wordplay

First Published: October 19, 1992​​​​​​​

"Nature abhors a vacuum" is a phrase with its origins in antiquity, showing that long before the advent of modern science, early humans had already figured out that empty space tends to be quickly filled in. In this Far Side , Gary Larson brilliantly demonstrates his technique of taking things too literally, by applying this phrase to actual nature, and an actual vacuum.

"The woods were dark and foreboding, and Alice sensed that sinister eyes were watching her every step," the caption of this Far Side comic informs readers, as a woman walks along a lonely, tree-lined road with her vacuum, despite knowing that it is "abhorred" by the natural world. Again, Larson effectively embodies a highly intelligent punchline here, one that anyone who gets the reference can't avoid grinning it.

5 Gary Larson Satirizes An Infamous Moment From Art History, In Elephant Form

First Published: June 19, 1990

In addition to his famous paintings, Vincent Van Gogh is also known for living an at times troubled life, most infamously cutting off his own ear in an unhinged moment, following an argument. In truth, it was only part of his ear, but the myth of Van Gogh's self-mutilation has become essential to his legacy.

With this Far Side elephant , Gary Larson ingeniously transposes this shocking moment from art history onto an animal character; captioned "Elephan Gogh," there is an element of The Far Side's keenness for wordplay here, but the big comedic swing of the cartoon is the character's missing ear, with Larson's choice of an elephant character deliberately, and hilariously, designed to provide the most obvious, broad visual version of this gag.

4 The Far Side Shrewdly Lampoons Bar Room Flirtation Using Insect Characters

First Published: June 9, 1988​​​​​​​

"Yeah, yeah, buddy, I've heard it all before," a female insect says in this Far Side bar cartoon, as she rejects the advances of a fly, telling him she doesn't care that he's "got 24 hours to find a mate and breed before [he] dies," before concluding by telling him to, what else, "buzz off."

This is a perfect example of Gary Larson's innate comedic ability to combine his knowledge of the natural world with his understanding of human behavior. In this case, Larson uses the life cycle of a common housefly to stand-in for the desperation of suitors in circumstances like this, amusingly equating it as the insect equivalent of "I'm shipping out with the Navy tomorrow," or that kind of pick-up line.

3 The Far Side Delivers A Smartly Silly Version Of Charles Darwin

First Published: December 29, 1987

When it comes to The Far Side's smart strain of humor, this is one of Gary Larson's most fondly ed comics, the way that it combines a historical reference with an irreverent contemporary tone, creating a dissonant quality that catches the reader off-guard, prompting a laugh.

Captioned "Darwin reaches the Galapagos," astute readers will recognize that Larson is depicting a pivotal moment in the history of the theory of evolution's development; yet the dialogue Larson gives the legendary theorist is "Oo! Wow! Lizard City!", making him come across as decidedly less studious, and giving the moment an intentionally less than impactful feel. The Far Side's creator recognized the massive significance of this moment, of course, but that didn't't stop him from lampooning it; in fact, arguably, it compelled him to.

2 The Far Side Reveals That Spelling Bees Have Always Been Lopsided Affairs

First Published: January 31, 1986

All The Far Side's many prehistoric cartoons, to some degree or another, are representative of Gary Larson's intelligence, highlighting that he was deeply preoccupied with topics like human history and cultural anthropology. This is just one classic example, depicting a "primitive spelling be," in which the current contestant is given the ubiquitous word "cave" to spell, while the next in line thinks, "Oh, sure...I'll probably get Australopithecus."

The humor of this joke stems from the anachronism of this terminology, which was applied by future scientists to early humans, while a layer of laugh-out-loud comedy is added by the fact that the impending speller might know how to pronounce "Australopithecus," but despite the word bubble over his head, doesn't necessarily know how to spell it out.

1 This Far Side Trojan Horse Comic Has Nothing To Hide, As It Delivers A Hilarious Punchline

First Published: August 3, 1981

The majority of the Far Side cartoons collected here are from the later years of Gary Larson's career, but this entry reminds readers that his humor was smart from the start. The Far Side made multiple Trojan Horse references over the years, showcasing Larson's knowledge of myth and ancient literature, with this being one of the most classic examples, given the way that it brings this ancient siege device into the modern world.

It does this by having a mail carrier cart a giant "gift" horse to the wrong address, only to have the homeowner explain, "you want the big place around the corner." It is a simple, straightforward Far Side joke, one that exemplifies the fact that Larson's smart sense of humor wasn't about being perceived as smart, but rather using his vast set of cultural, scientific, and artistic knowledge to his advantage, in crafting a wide range of Far Side jokes, which continue to captivate people to this day.