Some of The Far Side'smost outrageous cartoons managed to find the funny side of one of humanity's darkest activities: executions. From the guillotine, popularized by the French Revolution, to the 20th century innovation of the electric chair, Gary Larson delivered multiple truly morbid, yet surprisingly funny, punchlines on the subject of capital punishment.
The point of The Far Side's humor was never to make a mockery of tragedy, but rather to highlight the inherent absurdity of horrendous activities like torture and public executions. While Larson had a talent for taking the ordinary and making it feel strange and surreal, these comics demonstrate the opposite – the artist's ability to take something surreal, or scary, and undermine its gravitas, instead rendering it silly.
This latter artistic ability doesn't get enough attention, when in fact it is one of Gary Larson's greatest strengths, and was pivotal to his rise to world-renowned status for The Far Side.
10
Mary Antoinette Tries To Clarify Her Infamous "Cake" Gaffe, But She Doesn't Do Herself Any Favors
First Published: September 20, 1994
In this classic Far Side joke, in which Gary Larson gives a comedic interpretation of real history, Marie Antoinette – the Queen of France executed during the French Revolution's most radical period – tries to clarify her legendary "let them eat cake" comment, the meaning of which has been garbled by its passage through history. Or rather, Larson's Antoinette tries to sweeten the deal, shouting "and ice cream! Let them eat cake and ice cream!" to the crowds calling for her head.
In reality, Marie Antoinette's death – which, like in the comic, did occur in public, and was carried out by guillotine – was a somber affair, which Larson tweaks to be cartoonishly comedic, which is effective because of the way it imbues the ill-fated Antoinette with character in just a few sentences.
9
On The Far Side, One Man's Last Second Reprieve Was Another's Big Break
First Published: July 13, 1994
This panel, captioned "executioner understudies," depicts another, more medieval public beheading. This time, the victim receives a few extra seconds of life when the black-hooded executioner's ax handle breaks – but not much longer than that, as the back-up is waiting in the wings, thinking "it's my big chance!"
The Far Side's official website has just teased fans of Gary Larson with the promise of a new project that's "Coming Soon..."
This Far Side comic certainly qualifies as dark humor, given the way it plays on both sides of the moment. For the man with his head on the chopping block, readers can imagine the mix of exhilaration and terror as his death is forestalled, a feeling Larson manages to convey with the character's eyes. Meanwhile, for the "executioner understudy," this is a chance for career advancement, grimly suggesting that he's going to give it his all when the time to swing the ax comes.
8
Far Side Readers Are Right To Be Worried About The Next Generation Of Executioners
First Published: November 16, 1993
This Far Side comic doesn't feature an execution in itself, but it plays on the concept by depicting a classroom full of future executioners, with one having just incorrectly answered the fundamental question of electric chair operation. "Down and up real fast is incorrect," the teacher says, as another hand in the crowded class shoots up, prepared to give "the correct answer."
In the manner of the best Far Side cartoons, there is a surface-level whimsy to this joke, even with its dark premise, but it has deeper, darker implications that will nag the reader – including questions like "why is this class so packed?" and "what if some of these students don't learn how to properly operate the switch before they graduate?"
7
The Far Side's Harshest Pop Culture Punchline References An Infamous 1970s Ad
First Published: January 23, 1990
This cartoon is a great example of the "referential half-life" of some Far Side comics, so to speak. Gary Larson made pop culture references constantly in his work. Some of his references, such as films like The Wizard of Oz, or The Godfather, remain widely recognizable cultural touchstones to this day. Others have lapsed into obscurity over the decades – such as the "Ring Around the Collar" advertisements of the 1970s, which were apparently annoying enough to warrant the death of the copywriter responsible, as Larson depicts here.
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While the punchline here might not phase contemporary readers, it would have been laugh-out-loud funny, and a little bit shocking even, to any readers who had ever had the ad stuck in their heads.
6
Nobody Does Their Best Work When Their Mother Shows Up At Their Job To Watch Them
First Published: December 6, 1984
In one of The Far Side's most blatantly hilarious execution comics, Gary Larson takes readers to the scene of an Old West hanging – where another black-hooded executioner is just trying to go about his grim business, while his mother won't stop waving from the crowd of onlookers.
"I see you, I see you," he thinks, trying to will the woman in the flower dress to put her arm down, as the town's Sheriff reads out the sentence for the condemned, meaning the executioner's part of the process is about to come up. Here, Larson transposes the cringe idea of one's parent showing up to bother them at work onto the bleakest profession possible, with the clash of those two elements generating the humor of the panel.
5
This Execution Joke Is An All-Time Great Far Side Strip
First Published: June 25, 1984
In this deliriously funny Far Side panel, the army officer in command of a firing squad has inadvertently become their next victim, as he steps in front of his soldiers' guns to light a condemned man's last cigarette at exactly the same time that a woman in a nearby burning building screams "FIRE!"
Gary Larson was skilled at capturing the moment before something dramatic happened, but this panel represents a nearly-unparalleled achievement in single-panel portrayal of a complex confluence of events. The officer striking a match, the soldiers pointing their guns, ready and aimed, and the woman leaning out her window to cry for help as her home burns down – together they represent more moving parts than even the most Far Side comics are usually known for.
4
This Far Side Comic Exemplifies Gary Larson's Ability To Mix And Match – And Mismatch – Tones In His Work
First Published: December 5, 1983
At the level of the premise, a person being led to the electric chair isn't funny. Yet in this Far Side comic, by making the death row inmate a clown, Gary Larson delivers a visual that contains such a sharp tonal contrast from the seriousness of the situation that it becomes amusing. Larson then takes the joke up another notch with the punchline, which quotes one of the guards escorting the clown to his death sentence as saying: "I don't think I'll be able to tell the kids about this one."
Again, there is a form of comedic dissonance at play here; the line of dialogue can, and likely should, be read as being spoken in a grave tone, yet it contains a spark of absurdity, in the idea that the corrections officer would ordinarily tell his kids about a run-of-the-mill, non-clown execution. Together, this mismatch of tones gives rise to hilarity, even as readers recognize the darkness at the root of it.
3
Another Temporary Stay-Of-Execution, In Farcical Far Side Style
First Published: November 5, 1981
Again, this Far Side cartoon offers a great example of Gary Larson taking something legitimately horrifying, and finding a way to make it downright goofy. In this case, rather than setting his joke in the moment of anticipation before an execution, he actually goes a step farther and brings readers to the moment immediately after a convict has been hung at the gallows – except the rope snapped, sparing his life momentarily while an irate executioner reminds his apprentice how to properly tie a knot.
These Far Side comics by Gary Larson are a testament to his style of humor as they still earn plenty of laughter decades after their publication.
The condemned man is depicted sitting on the ground, eyes wide with horror, literally vibrating with shock – all while above, the executioner uses a childrens' mnemonic to explain noose-tying to his subordinate, saying, "the rabbit goes through the hole, around the tree five or six times..." Once more, the clash of tones here is masterfully designed by Larson to evoke an immediate reaction from his readers.
2
Yup, Those Execution Students Definitely Didn't Learn Their Lesson In School
First Published: October 9, 1980
Admittedly, this comic, from the first year of The Far Side, predates the "Electric Chair 101" panel that Gary Larson published thirteen years later – making that almost akin to a prequel to this early cartoon, in which a stricken inmate, strapped into the electric chair, has his final moments agonizingly extended as the guards try to figure out why the switch isn't working.
"Just click it up and down a few times," one guard suggests, similar to the punchline of the later panel, after reasoning that "the contact points must be dirty." Once again, the pivotal element of Larson's punchline – and the point at which the comic's darkness and its humor collide – is that it features a delay of execution, however brief or unintended, and focuses on the contrasting feelings in that moment of the condemned and their executioners.
1
The Far Side Asks, "If Heads Have To Roll, Can't It Be A Good Time?"
First Published: August 6, 1980
"I like it...I like it...," a king says approvingly of the clown body painted around the hole in the guillotine where victims' heads go – though if this is the King of France, he's going to regret ever commissioning this project in due time. This was one of Gary Larson's earliest Far Side jokes making fun of the idea of execution, though here he limited himself to a playful jab at the iconic instrument of death which history most closely associates with the French Revolution, omitting any actual victims in this instance.
Still, this comic stands as representative of the overall ethos of the memorable Far Side execution jokes that would follow. That is, Larson elucidated the ridiculous nature of state violence against individuals, in this case by making one of the deadliest devices in history into a literal farce – precisely the kind of mix of silly comedy and social critique that The Far Side excelled at.
Written and drawn by Gary Larson, The Far Side is a comic strip series that ran from December 1979 to January 1995. A worldwide hit, The Far Side explores life's surreal side and uses a mix of humans and anthropomorphic animals. As of 2020, Gary Larson decided to pick his pencil back up again and has started The Far Side up, circulating the comics on his official website.
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