10 Funniest Far Side Comics That Will Make You Rethink Christmas

Gary Larson's The Far Side is known for its surreal sense of humor and sometimes morbid subject matter, so its take on Christmas is predictably off-kilter. Larson takes the iconography of the season - giving gifts, dressing the tree, and gathering with friends - and makes them as bizarre as possible.

Here are the 10 funniest Far Side comics about all things Christmas (except for Santa Claus, who we're giving his own list.) Be sure to vote in our end-of-article poll for the strip you think deserves to be the official #1.

10 Seasonings Greetings

The Far Side Loves a Dad Joke

As out-there as Far Side can be, Gary Larson also has a clear love of puns and dad jokes, in this case punning on the phrase 'season's greetings.' Like several of the comics on this list, the Seasonings Greetings joke was made into a Far Side Christmas card. Larson was smart about merchandising The Far Side, with calendars, mugs and t-shirts featuring his comics. Sadly for fans, he revealed in a 1987 interview with 20/20 that he'd drawn the line at Far Side dolls, not wanting his irreverent comic to become too overcommercialized and mainstream.

9 Frankenstein Christmas

Far Side's Unlikely Trio Celebrate the Holidays

Larson takes aim at gift-giving with the darkest present possible - a human brain ready to be implanted into Frankenstein's monster. While the grossout gift is a funny gag, this comic is sweet for longtime Far Side fans, who know that Frankenstein, the Monster and Igor often appear in the comic as a bickering trio. It's nice to know they can at least make peace long enough to have a nice Christmas.

8 Lone Pine

Far Side's Take on the Christmas Tree

The image of a 'lone pine' has geographical and historical significance in multiple parts of the world - most famously, the titular tree that marks 1915's Battle of Lone Pine. Of course, Larson can't help but take the adjective as literally as possible, imagining a pine tree that's starved of company. Thankfully, with this comic taking place in the Christmas season, pine trees couldn't find themselves in more demand, leading to 'Carl' cutting a rug on the dance floor while bedecked in Christmas finery - a rare Far Side comic with a genuinely happy ending.

7 I Wanna Surprise the Kids

Far Side Sets Up the Worst Christmas of All Time

In this comic that will send sufferers of entomophobia running for the hills, a father sneaks home with something he doesn't want the kids to see. Even the caption suggests this is some kind of secret gift that is meant to make the kids' Christmas day more enjoyable. Sadly, that's not the case at all, as the comic itself reveals that their dad has a horrifying surprise in store that has nothing to do with gift-giving. Larson loves to mess around with popular phrases, putting them in new contexts that completely change their implied meaning.

However, one person who might not have minded this Christmas gift is Larson himself. The Far Side showcases Larson's fascination with bugs and insects, and a fan even honored him by naming a species of louse in his honor - strigiphilus garylarsoni.

6 The Fourth Wiseman

Far Side's Take on the Nativity Scene

Larson gives readers his own version of the Nativity in this strip, revealing the existence of a fourth wise man whose gift didn't pass the standards of the comic's angelic bouncer. Larson published numerous comics playing with the ideology of the Nativity, but for our money this is the funniest.

The Far Side is no stranger to Biblical themes, and often stars God and the Devil, though Larson was always aware that he had to be careful with his depictions to avoid sternly-worded letters. Despite that, he admits in The Prehistory of The Far Side that he felt like he was "bucking for a lightning bolt" with some of his material.

5 Porcupine Christmas

Of Course Far Side's Animals Get Christmas Presents

Larson zeroes in on the Christmas tradition of kids accidentally breaking their toys fresh out of the box, in this case making it as sure as it's ever been. Larson's love of the natural world is clear throughout The Far Side, and indeed the strip was originally titled Nature's Way before Larson's editors insisted on a change.

4 A Dog for Christmas

Far Side Puts the Worst Possible Spin on Man's Best Friend

In this comic, one kid gets the fondest wish of many children on Christmas morning, as he gets his very own dog. Sadly, his parents are eccentric archeologists, and the dog in question is a 10,000-year-old mummy. Larson often used the idea of mummies in The Far Side, playing with the themes of wrapped bandages, ancient sarcophagi and eldritch curses.

3 You Fool!

Far Side Edits a Classic Comic for Christmas

This is one of Larson's funniest goldfish comics, of which there are more than a few. Gary Larson loves playing with the inside/outside space of fish bowls, and in this case highlights just how bad of an idea it is to plug in your Christmas tree while surrounded by water (while leaving readers to ask how and why the plug was installed in the first place.) Sadly, we're disqualifying this comic from being #1, as it's a Christmas card-reworking of a prior strip that didn't have a festive theme.

That said, the Christmas tree definitely makes the gag funnier, as plugging in the electrical device takes on a traditional edge that forces the question of how the goldfish have never run into this problem before.

2 Invite the Cows In

Far Side Edits a Second Classic Comic for Christmas

In another reworked comic, two farmers embrace the Season of Giving by inviting their cows in from the cold, only for their bovine guests to drink too much and make a fool of themselves.

As with the goldfish comic, the Christmas context definitely makes the gag funnier, fleshing out the backstory of why the farmers decided to invite the cows inside, while also echoing the common experience of family members getting a little too tipsy around the holidays. However, to earn our #1 spot, The Far Side needs a strip with Christmas baked into its DNA.

1 The X-500

Far Side Doesn't Need Words for Its #1 Christmas Gag

In our #1 choice for Far Side's funniest Christmas comic, a lucky kid receives a super-charged, cutting-edge rocking horse, only to be thrown directly through the wall by their new toy. The lack of a caption lets readers put the story together for themselves, and Larson smartly sets his gag after the action has played out, inviting the reader to work back from the ending. It's no coincidence that some of the best Far Side comics of all time are those without captions, embodying the mischievous minimalism of Larson's style.

Those are the 10 funniest Far Side comics that twist Christmas out of shape - be sure to vote below for your favorite, and to see which comic other readers have crowned their #1.