There’s no doubt that Gary Larson’s particular sense of humor was the secret sauce that made The Far Side its staying power.

Sure, The Far Side isn’t everyone’s cup of tea and not every reader is going to get onboard with Larson’s, ittedly, bizarre sense of humor. But those who truly 10 Far Side strips that show off Gary Larson’s unique sense of humor.

10 A Cyclops’ Family’s Breakfast

Publication Date: March 19, 1983

One of the best things Gary Larson did was take common, everyday pains in the butt and add in a dose of his trademark absurdity. In this Far Side strip, a family is sitting down for breakfast, only to have the juice from their fruits squirt one another in the eye. A funny scenario, sure, but what really puts it over the top is that the family are all cyclops, so the juice is effectively blinding them. Leave it to The Far Side to merge mythological monsters and common annoyances to create incredibly offbeat humor.

9 Question in the Back

Publication Date: January 22, 1983

Every Far Side fan knows how much Larson loved using cows in his strips. But unlike other gags, the cow isn’t the joke here. Instead, it’s the subject of a class, where a teacher has put up an example of a cow for his class. It’s pretty obvious what it is, and yet, there’s one member of the class who has a question. Is he asking why the cow only has one spot? Or does he have another question about bovines in general? It’s that absurd simplicity that makes The Far Side as engaging as it is.

8 Slave to the Waffle Light

Publication Date: February 28, 1987

Some of the best Far Side gags weren’t ones that were macabre or outrageously absurd. Sometimes Larson just wanted to show off human foibles with his unique sense of humor. Here, a man named Wendall Zurkowitz is making himself a waffle, and he’s at the ready, fork in hand, waiting for the light to go off (as the caption reads, he’s a slave to the waffle light). Why is it so funny to see a man ready to pounce on a waffle when it’s piping hot? It just is, and The Far Side knows it.

7 Sid Wants to Jump

Publication Date: July 23, 1992

Animal jokes were frequently used in The Far Side to comedic effect, even in strips that presented life and death situations. In this instance, a man is on a runaway wagon that is heading straight for a cliff and turns to his companion, Sid, telling him to jump since the man knows Sid is thinking it. The thing is, Sid is a rabbit, so, of course, the rabbit is thinking that, not because of the imminent doom, but because that’s just what rabbits do. Gary Larson’s fondness for the animal kingdom really shines through in Far Side strips like these.

6 How Poodles Came to North America

Publication Date: August 28, 1991

It seems like the longer The Far Side went on, the more Larson tried to outdo himself with more and more absurd scenarios. For example, this gag reveals how poodles came to North America. Instead of giving readers the actual history of the canines, Larson presents the breed as an invasive species that was accidentally shipped alongside bunches of bananas. It’s a hilarious mix of factors, from treating poodles like exotic spiders or frogs to making it seem like poodles are completely alien from other dog breeds, but it's cleverness like that that makes The Far Side so entertaining.

5 Federal Mole Penitentiary

Publication Date: November 30, 1993

As mentioned earlier, Gary Larson loves animals and cracking wise about their habits. To wit, this Far Side strip puts moles in the spotlight in the most hilarious way possible. It takes place at a ‘Federal Mole Penitentiary’ where the warden of the prison and the facility’s guards overlook the prisoners in the yard. The warden wants a close eye kept on them, knowing they’re all thinking the same exact escape plan. It takes a particular kind of mind to come up with the idea of a mole prison, and only a creator like Larson could pull it off well.

4 Spare Armadillo?

Publication Date: July 28, 1984

The Far Side excels in portraying awkward human interactions, but exaggerating them to an incredibly comedic degree. In this strip, a panhandler is on the street asking people for assistance. But he’s not asking for money or food, he’s asking if anyone can spare an armadillo. And because this is The Far Side, someone on the same street does have a couple of armadillos, and he’s already trying to think of a way to slip past the panhandler. Only The Far Side’s twisted mind could take a relatable situation like this and turn it into something completely ridiculous.

3 Tattletale

Publication Date: November 29, 1985

If Gary Larson knew one thing, it was that people, at their core, can be children. As funny as it is to see animals acting like people, it’s just as hilarious to see adults act like kids. Case in point, this Far Side strip takes place on a slave ship, where one rower has only one concern on his mind: his seat has been stolen. Even funnier, the slave is tattling on the thief as one would complain to a teacher. It’s absolutely outrageous, but that’s exactly the kind of thing fans can’t get enough of with The Far Side.

2 Mr. Warner’s Surgery

Publication Date: June 5, 1982

When it comes to absurd extremes, few Far Side comics go as far as this one. Larson takes everything people fear going wrong with a surgery and has a patient named Mr. Warner suffered through the pain of losing everything except his nose and glasses. The doctor, however, considers the surgery a success and informs the nurse that Warner can have all the ice cream he wants. It’s hard to tell what’s worse, Mr. Warner’s outcome or the doctor’s insane bedside manner. But Larson bringing the two together makes for one of the funniest Far Side strips ever.

1 The ‘Later' is Back

Publication Date: January 1, 1986

While it wasn’t a defining trait, The Far Side occasionally did meta human and, as this strip shows, it did it well. At first glance, the looks like a normal Far Side comic, beginning with a standard caption box that says ‘Later’ while a couple sits in their home. But as the dialogue reveals, they can actually see the ‘Later’ box, and it’s really freaking out the wife that it’s back. Leave it to Gary Larson to take a normal comic caption and turn it into an unexpected punchline for The Far Side.