10 Far Side Comics About Predators That Will Make You Question Nature

The Far Side always made animals a starring attraction in the comic strip. All aspects of the animal kingdom have been covered by Gary Larson, no matter the animal or insect of choice. Prey and predators alike have gotten the spotlight in The Far Side. Furthermore, the strips shown of the predators in The Far Side make it hard for readers not to question nature.

From Cheetahs wearing running shoes, to crocodiles looking less-than-threatening in their quest for a meal, to wolves taking out a camera at a very inopportune moment, have all made readers scratch their heads and rethink what they know about predators and the animal kingdom as a whole.

As per usual, The Far Side always shows the surreal, absurd, silly, and macabre side of things with Gary Larson's no-holds-barred imagination and sense of humor. This is nowhere more true than in Larson's portrayal of animal predators.

10 "Hey, Sid! Remember That Time...You Laughed So Hard An Antler Came Out Your Nose?"

First Published: February 13, 1985

Many people will recognize the idea of laughing so hard while drinking something that it comes out of their nostrils. As it just so happens, the animal kingdom of The Far Side has their own version of this phenomenon, except a lot more painful. As the strip illustrates, a pack of lions are huddled over a zebra carcass for their meal when one lion brings up the anecdote of how lion Sid laughed so hard at a leopard joke that an antler came out of his nose.

Liquid definitely seems less painful to come out of a nose than an antler. In order to avoid some next level nasal pain, jokes should be avoided around the dinner table for the lions of savanna. Nevertheless, the occurrence is something that all the lions can still look back and joke on, even as they are chowing down on their next piece of prey.

9 "Here We Go Again"

First Published: September 9, 1983

Crocodiles are fearsome creatures, known for merciless with their prey. Their intimidating factor can't help but take a sharp hit in readers' eyes, though, thanks to their presentation in this installment of The Far Side. When two crocodiles see some potential prey to eat, monkeys dangling from a tree above the water, one crocodile uses the other as a boost to reach the primates.

Seeing a crocodile boost the other up by the feet, and struggle while they do it too, does not exactly strike the fear in people's hearts and minds the way they would usually do. While the two reptiles do not seem to be super successful in their mission yet, the group of monkeys would be wise to flee before the pair get it together and reach the height of the tree.

8 "Running Shoes"

First Published: 1983

The world's fastest land animal, cheetahs are synonymous with high speed running. Using their gift of speed to secure their prey, cheetahs use short bursts of speed to achieve their means. In The Far Side, cheetahs use a helpful piece of fashion for the hunt: sneakers. Athletic shoes would not be assumed to have a place among the animals in the savanna.

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However, The Far Side is where assumptions are always proven wrong, and in the most strange ways possible too.

Spotting some appealing looking antelopes in the distance, the cheetah in this Far Side cartoon slips on their running shoes to guarantee that they get their meal for the day. The poor antelopes never stood a chance. Now, Far Side readers know the secrets to the cheetah's speed and how the speedy animals prepare for the hunt.

7 "The Spamalopes Remain Calm But Weary"

First Published: May 2, 1984

Spam is a bit of a polarizing food, with people either absolutely loving the packaged meat product or loathing it. Gary Larson uses Spam to make an incredibly surreal and almost Dali-esque comic strip. With lions who would rather go after some red meat, there are creatures known as "Spamalopes," who think they have dodged a bullet due to not being red meat.

Spamalopes are a one of kind creation, courtesy of Gary Larson, who uses some strange wordplay to come up with a lunch meat-animal hybrid, one that lives among the more conventional animals on the savanna. The comic strip makes the viewer question the lions though, since they pass up an easy meal. An animal made of all spam cannot be the quickest or most agile to track down, but it is still unlikely the lions will pass them up indefinitely.

6 "One More Time And It's Off To Bed For The Both Of You"

First Published: September 18, 1984

Gathering around for a bedtime story is something that many can look back on fondly from their childhood, or appreciate as a nightly tradition of being a parent. The Far Side argues that bears, too, share bedtime stories with their cubs – however, their stories tend to be much darker and have an autobiographical hint to them.

With bones scattered all around them, a bear tells its kids that just one last time they will tell the story before holding up two skulls and acting out the events of what led those people to being just skulls now. Poor Jim and Bob just should have kept walking past the cave instead of deciding to take a look for themselves. It is too late now though, with Jim and Bob reduced to a nightly story for two bear cubs.

5 "I'm Dressed To Kill"

First Published: August 7, 1985

Sharks are fierce predators of the sea, generally portrayed as mindless killing machines. On the other hand, The Far Side makes the case that even sharks have a touch of class to them. These sharks give whole new meaning to the term "dressed to kill" which the shark seems to agree with in this comic strip.

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Of course, when most people say dressed to kill, they don't mean literally, unlike the sharks of The Far Side. Seeing the two sharks dressed so nicely and fancy disarms the viewer ,by showing the animals differently and more silly than they are typically portrayed. However, the usage of the saying, "dressed to kill" brings back to the front of mind the reader's familiarity that these are animals who are highly dangerous predators.

4 "Something's Going On Around Here"

First Published: March 12, 1984

Polar bears are hunters of the artic. As The Far Side explains, polar bears actually have quite sneaky ways of getting their prey. Planning to take out some penguins one by one, a polar bear puts on the ingenious disguise of a penguin's beak to trick the birds into thinking that the bear is one of them. The plan actually seems to be working, with the penguins catching on that one of their own is missing but is not able ot pinpoint it to the gigantic, beaked polar bear sitting with them.

It's just a matter of time before the next penguin gets gobbled up, so the suspicious penguin had better get to the bottom of the whodunit soon. The polar bear may be outnumbered, but he has brute strength and apparently brains on his side as well.

3 "I Love What You've Done With Those Fly Wings"

First Published: 1988

Where there is a web, there is a spider; this is something most people can recognize. What some may not know, especially those who do not occupy space in The Far Side, is that spiders decorate their webs. Worse yet, spiders decorate their humble abodes using the wings of their eaten prey, as the spider visitors point out in this Far Side comic strip.

While the source of the web decorations is on the macabre side, the web does look very nice, so some props are called for. That said, flies would certainly beg to differ about the decoration choice. Painting a scene that riffs on couples having each other over for dinner and remarking how much they like the other's home. Gary Larson makes the familiar absurd by making the protagonist and the home, spiders and a spider web, respectively.

2 "Dibs"

First Published: January 25, 1984

In the animal kingdom, predators must be smart about which prey they choose to go after. The wrong choice can result in them not eating a meal the whole day. The two predators in this Far Side comic stripare well aware of the importance of the right choice of prey, with one of them putting dibs on the gazelle that offers more meat.

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The gazelle that has been put dibs on is very unlucky, being guaranteed to be pursued by the predator. However, the predator that called dibs will surely eat well, and have enough meat to last them a while. In order to avoid fighting over the same piece of prey, dibs truly is not such a bad idea. All predators should consider dibs, like the animals of The Far Side.

1 "For Crying Out Loud, Doris"

First Published: February 6, 1986

People typically take a camera out to capture a happy occasion or something noteworthy. In contrast, some people tend to take out a camera over everything. That personality quirk of always having a camera out is something that applies to wolves too, apparently – on The Far Side at least. When a pack of wolves is chowing down on some poor animal, fellow wolf Doris thinks that this is an occasion to document with pictures.

Making fun of when people get together and someone takes a million pictures every time, frustrating everyone, The Far Side twists this human occurrence and makes it apply to the wolves of the animal kingdom. An otherwise serious Far Side comic strip about animals attacking and feasting on another creature is made kooky by the wolves' personalities and the presence of Doris, a wolf, taking pictures.

The Far Side

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.