10 Funniest Far Side Comics Starring Santa Claus

Gary Larson's The Far Side loves to parody pop culture, so it was inevitable Santa Claus would find himself in the comic's crosshairs now and again. Indeed, Santa got special attention thanks to The Far Side's line of Christmas cards, which turned Old Saint Nick into a regular figure of fun for Larson, along with his elves, reindeer, and bright red suit.

Here are the 10 funniest Far Side comics starring Santa Claus - be sure to vote in our end of article poll for your favorite Gary Larson comic showcasing the adventures of Kris Kringle.

10 Venison

Santa Claus' Relationship with His Reindeer Deteriorates in This Far Side Comic

True to form, Larson can't resist inverting Father Christmas' jolly attitude, turning him into a mean-spirited boss who threatens to turn his faithful reindeer into his next meal if their complaining doesn't stop. For any fans who think he's joking, sadly another Far Side strip (below) sees Santa apparently composing a list of venison recipes - one each for Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and Rudolph.

Since most of his gags happen in a single panel, Larson tends to use famous characters and real-life celebrities when there's some part of their public image readers can be trusted to instantly understand. In Santa's case, Larson had a lot to choose from.

9 Tiny, Little Reindeer

Far Side Takes 'The Night Before Christmas' Literally

While it's not the part most modern Christmas-lovers remember, Clement Clarke Moore's iconic poem A Visit from St. Nicholas (aka The Night Before Christmas) includes a lot of hints that Santa is a tiny, elfen figure, describing him as "a little old driver" and "right jolly old elf" with a "droll little mouth" and "a little round belly." However, in this comic Larson seemingly ignores that implication to embrace the far more direct line of Santa having "a miniature sleigh and eight tiny rein-deer."

In the world of The Far Side, it seems that Santa has been warned his sleigh will be pulled by "eight tiny reindeer," but wasn't quite ready for their diminutive size. Hopefully, the later addition of Rudolf to their roster will give them the pulling power they need to circumnavigate the globe in a single night.

8 What the Hell?

Santa and Mrs. Claus Suffer an Unfortunate Mix-Up

In this strip, Santa realizes that he took the wrong sack on his December deliveries, taking the household's dirty washing while leaving the presents at home with Mrs. Claus. The comic is unusual in breaking Far Side's informal one-panel rule, but it's not totally alone. Especially early on in The Far Side's syndication, Larson experimented with multi-panel gags.

While a lot of these are funny, they don't quite jibe with the minimalism that makes Far Side such a genius work, and Larson's later work would accomplish the same level of 'story' with cleverly-worded panels.

7 Santa Claus Lane

Gary Larson Loves Corrupting Song Lyrics

Far Side's characters have only truly arrived once they've had a nasty court case. In this strip, Larson makes the events of Gene Autry's Here Comes Santa Claus into grim reality, switching the lyrics from a celebration of Saint Nick's imminent arrival to the harrowing account of Father Christmas running someone down in the street.

Far Side's courts have dealt with worse, with everyone from animals to nursery rhyme characters taking the stand. Indeed, this isn't the last time Santa will find himself in court before this list is over.

6 Collision

Santa Suffers as Much as Far Side's Other Humans

In a great comic that doesn't need words, Gary Larson depicts Santa meeting an unexpected obstacle while flying through the Christmas air. It's definitive Far Side to turn the logistics of Santa's flight path into the basis of a joke, but Larson's art really brings it to life, with the scattered presents adding a genius detail to the collision.

5 He's Got the Red Suit On

Santa's Elves Have the Perfect Way to Kill Off Their Boss

In this strip, Santa's Christmas elves rebel against him, bringing along a bull that can be relied on to charge at the bright color. Sadly for the elves, the idea that bulls are enraged by the color red is a myth - in fact, thanks to being color-blind, they can't even see it. While red capes are used to taunt bulls by matadors, it's the whipping of the fabric that gets their attention, while the bright color is for the audience. The strip does ask the question of why Santa's elves would try to assassinate him, but Larson answered that in spades...

4 Little Helpers

Far Side Loves a Courtroom Gag

Larson turns Santa Claus outright murderous in his second court scene, with Mrs. Claus implied to be the tragic victim. As he figures out he's not getting away with his crime, Santa Claus implicates the "little helpers" who acted as his accomplices, revealing why the elves might have been keen to take him off the board - they were covering up their crimes!

3 Not Even a Mouse

Far Side Brings Back 'The Night Before Christmas'

Larson revisits the lyrics of A Visit from St. Nicholas, explaining that the reason no creature was stirring is that Santa already crushed the mouse in question. The Far Side loves the visual of a totally flattened victim, though usually it's some form of large mammal crushing a human.

2 Doberman

One of Far Side's Best Wordless Gags

In this wordless comic strip, Santa struggles his way down the chimney, not yet knowing that an alert Doberman is eagerly awaiting his arrival. It's a near-perfect Larson joke, with a single image capturing the moment right before something hilariously disastrous takes place.

1 Maybe This Is the Year

Far Side Targets Santa's Iconic Red Suit

In his funniest Santa Claus comic (at least according to us), Larson reveals that Father Christmas only dresses in the iconic color because he's not brave enough to try the blue suit he really wants to wear. While popular myth has it that the red suit is an invention by Coca-Cola, that story sadly isn't true. The red likely comes from Santa's connection to the Fourth-Century bishop Saint Nicholas, who himself wore red robes while out giving gifts.

Those are The Far Side's 10 funniest comics starring Santa Claus - be sure to vote below for the comic you think deserves to be our #1.