6 Far Side Comics Starring Bears That Are 10/10 Perfect

The "cast" of The Far Side featured everything from unforgettable aliens to demons, scientists of both the mad and nerdy variety, and all kinds of animals, from barnyard cows and chickens to apex predators like sharks and bears.

In fact, is it possible that bears were actually the most reliably funny animals in Far Side creator Gary Larson's comedic arsenal? Take a look at the curated collection of Far Side bear comics below and decide for yourself.

This selection spans almost the entirety of The Far Side's history, from the tail-end of his career in 1994 to 1981, the second year of The Far Side. It shows that bears were a staple of Larson's comedic output from start to finish, and practically always delivered on an outrageously funny punchline.

These panels feature The Far Side's signature style, and Gary Larson's singular approach to comedy, but there is something about bear jokes especially that just brought out the best in him every single time.

"Zipper! Yes, That's It! Zipper!"

First Published: January 10, 1994

"Zuppo? Zuppah? Dang! This one's hard!" Anyone who has tried to translate a foreign human language knows how tricky it can get, but now imagine trying to pin down the peculiarities of a bear's dialect. Ever have to try and figure out if a dog was growling playfully or aggressively? It's like that, but a lot more dangerous.

In this flawless Far Side comic, "Professor Wainwright" finds that out the hard way, though he does successfully figure out that the bear sitting across from him is saying "Zipper," right before it (presumably) tears through his bear costume to expose the vulnerable human scientists inside.

Do we wish this Far Side comic had a sequel? Not exactly. It's enough to know Wainwright met a "horrific end," and without facing the gore and viscera of his fate, readers can safely laugh at the absurdity of it.

"Don't Let Your Friends Get Me, Boomer"

First Published: September 16, 1992

When it comes to weirdness, The Far Side is graded on a curve. The Gary Larson curve. The least weird Far Side would be the weirdest thing most other people ever came up with. And the weirdest Far Sides leave readers stumped, asking "What the?" Grasping for answers where there are none.

What makes this cartoon iconic is that it tells readers everything they need to know, while still leaving them wanting to know so, so much more. "Boomer and Doug's relationship was never fully accepted by the other bears," the caption explains. Boomer being a bear, Doug being a grub worm, the kind usually snacked on by bears.

What exactly is Doug and Boomer's "relationship"? How did they start hanging out? And what side is Boomer ultimately going to choose? Now, this is a Far Side cartoon fans would've loved a sequel to.

"Something Not Quite Right About The Eyes"

First Published: September 9, 1988

"There's something not quite right about the eyes," one of the bears standing outside the window of a hunter's trophy room says, as they look at the mounted head of their friend "Vinnie" hanging over the mantle above the fireplace.

A pair of bulging eyes was often the subtle visual punchline of Far Side cartoons. (In fact, when Gary Larson "remastered" every Far Side panel for the release of The Complete Far Side in 2003, he devoted much of his time to re-doing characters' eyes.) Here, Larson isn't subtle about it, the eyes are the whole point.

At the same time, though, the whole cartoon is darkly amusing, starting with the premise. Bears lurking outside a hunter's house, not there for revenge, but just to scope out what their fallen friend looks like as a trophy.

"For Crying Out Loud, I Was Hibernating!"

First Published:​​​​​​​ June 8, 1987

A solemn scene. Bears line up to pass by the coffin of a deceased friend and pay their final respects. It is a beautiful day, cumulus clouds filling a blue sky, the mountains looking idyllic in the background. Beautiful, but sad. But wait, wait a moment, is the lid on the coffin moving? Yep, it's opening up.

And the bear inside is annoyed. "For crying out loud, I was hibernating," the not-dead-at-all bear exclaims with exasperation, in an all-time farcical Far Side punchline. It's the kind of joke that reminds readers "cartoon" isn't just what these things are called. It is a comedic state of mind, a specific style of humor.

"Don't you guys ever take a pulse?" That's the kicker of this Far Side cartoon, the hint at a backstory, the hilarious implication that this has happened before, possibly to this same bear.

"These Things Just Snap Right Off"

First Published: June 8, 1983

"Well, hey..." one circus bear says to another, and readers can hear the tone of pleasant surprise this Far Side dialogue is meant to have just from those two opening words. The bear is holding its muzzle in its paws, eyes widening with a look of dawning realization. (Again, the eyes are integral to this Far Side joke.)

"These things just snap right off," the bear says to the bear standing next to it. In the background, a clueless trainer leads a muzzled bear on a chain as it trains at riding a unicycle. Also important to note, the bear who figures out the muzzles are cheap and easy to take off has the added indignity of wearing a red-and-white striped hat.

The implication is clear enough: this circus bear training school is about to be shut down permanently, and it is not going to be pretty.

"You Think We're Supposed To Eat Just Honey And Berries?"

First Published: October 19, 1981

Notice that this punchline is an earlier version of the previous entry. These Far Side panels share a premise: bears as POV characters, realizing in real-time that they can totally take down humans. This time, the humans aren't courting danger, like the bear trainer above, which makes the joke darker. For fans of The Far Side's dark humor, that also probably makes it funnier.

The human couple are having what looks like a pleasant picnic. She's reading a book, he's strumming a guitar. But behind a nearby tree, one bear is trying to convince another to attack them. "C'mon," the bear pleads, making its case, "look at these fangs! Look at these claws!" What the bear doesn't say: look how defenseless the humans are.

"You think we're supposed to eat just honey and berries?" That's how the bear drives its point home. We can't say if these particular Far Side humans made it out of the woods alive, but this early Far Side cartoon was one that helped set the precedent for Gary Larson's penchant for siding with animals over humans in the "man vs. nature" debate.

​​​​​​​Honorable Mentions:

There are actually too many to name. There's a very solid case to be made, if it were argued in Far Side court, that bears are actually The Far Side's funniest animal.

Cows are the most iconic, largely stemming from "Cow Tools" becoming a viral sensation in 1982. Many readers might nominate chickens, or The Far Side's fish, but arguably neither of them have the laugh-out-loud hit rate bears do.

Just to cite a few examples: "Leonard," the bear who "stuffed himself," "Bobo," the escaping circus bear, the bear having an affair with "Margaret," a human woman, "Bernie," the Gary Larson of bears, whose humor was too dark for the other bears.

That just scratches the surface of the iconic bear cartoons The Far Side featured over the years, which once more raises the valid question of whether they were Larson's funniest go-to animal characters.

Tell us your favorite Far Side bear comics, readers. Which ones did we omit here? And which animal is The Far Side's funniest? Weigh in below!