15 Funniest Far Side Comics That Use Thought Balloons

Gary Larson's The Far Side is known for its surreal situations and witty dialogue, but some of his best gags come from thoughts, not words. In comic art, creators often use speech balloons to show speech and thought balloons - or thought bubbles - to show what a character is thinking. Larson was no stranger to the latter, often hinging his jokes on hilarious thoughts that only the reader could see.

Here are the 15 funniest Far Side comics that use thought balloons, starring inventive cavemen, disobedient dogs, bored angels and... Popeye?! Don't forget to vote in our end-of-article poll and find out which strip other readers chose as their #1.

15 There's a Bee in the Car

Larson Loves Adding One Bizarre Detail to Mundane Situations

In this strip, a driver notices there's a bee in her car and tries not to worry. It's a boring, everyday situation, except for the fact that Larson makes the bee a human-sized intruder. It's a creepy (but funny) image that shows Larson's skill at using a single panel for his jokes, posing the strip so that there are two 'spaces' in play - the front and back of the car interior.

14 Balance It Until I Say

Far Side Knows What Our Pets Are Really Thinking

There's something hilarious about a character who's just about to reach their breaking point, and Larson uses the dog's thought balloon to show its frustration without interrupting the owner's patronizing instructions. For those readers who want to see the dog actually strike back, another Larson comic shows exactly what that might look like:

13 Early Checkers

Caveman Inventions Are One of Far Side's Best Recurring Gags

Far Side often depicts cavemen inventing modern tools, usually with some major first-draft issues - for example, trying to invent vehicles by strapping a caveman on the outside of the wheel. In this case, the first draft of checkers only has two squares, making the game both incredibly simple and impossible to play. Larson emphasizes the ludicrous situation by having his caveman character thinking hard about his next move.

Larson's cavemen have been around since Far Side's first month in sydication, though the creator admits in The Prehistory of The Far Side that he feels like it's some kind of cartoonist crime to show them living alongside dinosaurs, stating:

I've always felt that I've committed some heresy by doing cartoons (like the ones above) that mixed dinosaurs with primitive people. I think there should be cartoon confessionals where we could go and say things like, "Father, I have sinned - I have drawn dinosaurs and hominids together in the same cartoon.

12 Executioner Understudies

Far Side Has Never Been Afraid of Its Dark Side

In this comic, a plucky understudy finally gets the chance to take over after the star falters... it's just a shame that their "big chance" involves cutting off someone's head. Larson adds extra hilarity to this strip by creating a half-hearted backstage area where the understudy is waiting behind a curtain for their chance. The image of an executioner failing because their ax handle randomly snapped in two is an additional funny visual.

11 Heaven

Far Side Is No Stranger to the Afterlife

Heaven and Hell appear often in The Far Side, though both are pretty pale imitations of the originals. Larson's Devil struggles to keep order in Hell, where the damned are free to scrawl graffiti and order in pizza. Meanwhile, the vibe in Heaven isn't anything to write home about, with the angelic protagonist of this comic wishing they'd brought their own entertainment. It's a particularly funny gag because their solution is so low-key - it's unlikely that a magazine would do much to dent eternal boredom.

10 Colonel Sanders

"Uh-Oh" Is One of Far Side's Favorite Phrases

Gary Larson didn't parody real people often, but when he did he went for icons who'd still be recognizable decades down the line. In this case, Larson makes fun of KFC founder Colonel Sanders, imagining him arriving at the pearly gates only to realize his fast food empire has made him a powerful enemy. Larson's thought balloon offers up an understated "Uh-oh" - something that a lot of Far Side characters have had reason to think.

9 God Makes the Snake

Larson Had a Tactic to Avoid Hate Mail

Staying in Heaven, this comic sees God enjoying the fact that he finally got around to creating an animal that doesn't take too much effort. Larson often created Far Side comics starring God, despite knowing he could easily attract hate mail with the controversial comic.

In The Prehistory of The Far Side, Larson explains that his comic starring God on a gameshow inspired him to adopt two firm rules to avoid angering readers:

First, I made God look the way I think most of us are pretty sure he looks. Secondly, I made sure he was really winning hands down. Even if Norman had only ten points it would have meant that he beat God to the buzzer at least once, and someone would have gotten mad.

8 My Old Music Teacher

Far Side Creates a Very Specific Nightmare

In this strip, Larson conjures up an unlikely nightmare, as a busker attracts a listener who isn't just critical, but turns out to be his former music teacher. A lot of people wouldn't be too keen to meet up with their former teachers in adult life, especially if it came with some cruel but undeniably expert criticism of their skills.

7 Mine... All Mine

Far Side Makes an Everyday Occurrence Feel Personal

Plenty of car owners who have found their vehicle splattered with guano can't help but suspect the neighborhood birds have it out for them. In the world of The Far Side, that's absolutely the case, with this bird's thought balloon showing that it's relishing the opportunity to rain down hell.

6 Popeye on the Dating Scene

Far Side Pokes Fun at the Iconic Comic & Cartoon

Larson was never shy about taking aim at iconic cartoons like Peanuts and Garfield, and in this case parodies E. C. Segar's Popeye. The character famously gains inhuman strength after eating spinach, usually doing so in an overblown manner, like squeezing the can so hard its entire contents fly into his mouth. Larson imagines this kind of gesture would have dire consequences for Popeye's love life, as his date notices the leftover spinach in his teeth.

5 Always Wake Up Before You Land

Even a Nap Is Dangerous in the World of Far Side

Larson cleverly targets a common experience, with the body's hypnic jerk reflex leading to lots of people having dreams of falling, only to wake up before they hit the ground. In the world of Far Side, this isn't just a natural phenomenon, it's a safety rule, since the force of landing in your imagination will be enough to squash you flat in real life.

Far Side famously uses single-panel comics in almost all its entries, however Larson had a range of smart ways to cheat this system, here using the character's thought balloon as an extra panel to show events inside his mind. In this case, the thought balloon shows a dream, but Larson also got laughs out of showing his characters' fantasies, as below:

4 CAT FUD

This Iconic Far Side Entry Deserves the Love

In this famous comic, Larson recreates the animal rivalry seen in classic cartoons like Tom & Jerry, but makes it extra hilarious by downshifting the intelligence of the characters. In the strip, a dull-witted dog has set a trap for the household's cat, hoping against hope that his eternal rival is about to fall for the trick.

While Far Side depicted the same kind of dog vs cat violence as other classic cartoons, Larson notes in Prehistory of The Far Side that any hint of suffering by animals guaranteed a certain amount of hate mail. Thankfully, 'CAT FUD' didn't cause anything near the uproar of his 'Tethercat' comic.

Many fans loathed 'Tethercat,' leading Larson to worry complaints could harm his career and cause newspapers to pull The Far Side. Reflecting in Prehistory, Larson notes that the comic medium might be to blame for the extreme feedback, writing:

What I think I've figured out is, in animation, a cat might be flattened by a steamroller or get blown up by dynamite, but a few seconds later we see him back in business - chasing something or being chased until he's "killed" again. There's never a suggestion that the cat's suffering is anything but transitory. In a single-panel cartoon, however, no resolution is possible. The dogs play "tethercat" forever. You put the cartoon down, come back to it a few hours later, and, yep - those dogs are still playing 'tethercat.'

3 A Great Way to Meet Women

Weird Pets Are a Far Side Staple

In this strip, Far Side readers get rare insight into the bizarre behavior that takes place in Larson's world, as it turns out the owner of a crocodile bought the animal to help his dating prospects. Sadly, while his thought balloon shows everything is going to plan so far, it's unlikely he can salvage a situation where his pet just ate his prospective date's dog. This comic showcases Larson's secret belief - shared in Prehistory of The Far Side - that "most of the civilized world - I'm convinced - hates little rat-sized dogs named 'Fifi.'"

2 My Usual Barking Frenzy

Larson Creates a Genuinely Scary Visual

In this comic, a loyal family dog goes to investigate a nocturnal intruder, only to discover a horror that makes it think twice about attracting attention. Larson makes the monster genuinely creepy, with the dog's understated reaction making his smart (if self-serving) decision all the funnier.

1 The Big, Dumb Geek

Far Side Breaks the Fourth Wall

In our pick for the #1 Far Side comic that uses a thought balloon, a worker falls afoul of living in a cartoon world when it turns out his boss can literally read his thoughts. Larson wasn't afraid to break the fourth wall in The Far Side, with many jokes where characters realize they're in a comic, either taking advantage or falling afoul of the unique rules of living in a 2D world.

Those are the 15 funniest Far Side comics featuring thought balloons - let us know your pick for #1 in the poll below, and share any you think we missed in the comments.