by Gary Larson
Format: Slipcased hardcovers
OK, so some scene-setting first off. Steve states in a recent mailshot that he knows nothing at all about the Far Side. Over a bottle or 4 of house white chez-Steve, we get to chatting about the Far Side & Steve asks me to explain what it's all about. I kinda burble on through the vino about how they're all just 1-shot / cell / frame (whatever the heckfire the things are called in comic-book-land) cartoons, whereby Gary Larson has a certain way of seeing things from another point of view - often an animal's (e.g. from the deer's perspective, being hunted by a man with a gun in the woods. Deer is hiding behind a tree, wild-eyed, thinking 'He's trying to shoot me alright.... Do I KNOW this guy....? I've got to think!'). So I rattle on, fuelled by Semillon Chardonnay, & Steve emits the classic line –
'Oh right, so it's a bit like The Far Side then is it?'
'Uhhhh - isn't that what we've been talking about for the last half-hour??
Cue reverse-tracking shot (like in Jaws, when Chief Brody sees the shark from the beach), jaw-dropping, realisation-dawning moment from Steve, who then scrawls on a bit of paper (for reference in the morning, when the booze cloud has dispersed) 'I DO KNOW what the Far Side is!!!'
Anyhoo - I digress. For anyone who hasn't seen the Far Side (maybe you've been living in a cave, or have never visited WHSmiths near Christmas, when all manner of Far Side cards, desk calendars, 'cartoon-per-day' diaries, and other stocking-fodder crams the shelves) I'll give you a little more info.
Gary Larson started drawing a cartoon for the Seattle Times called 'Nature's Way' - which were also single-panel cartoons, written / drawn from an animal's perspective on daily life e.g. bunnies all stood around their bunny holes (as in 'homes', not parts of their anatomy), 1 wearing a human foot around his neck, tag line 'He says it's for good luck'. In 1980, The San Francisco Chronicle then picked up his cartoon after Gary used up his 1 week's vacation to take his portfolio to them in person & harass the cartoon editor. It worked. The paper sent him a contract & told him they'd decided to re-name the cartoon The Far Side instead, if it was ok with him. As Gary himself said 'They could've called it Revenge of the Zucchini People for all i cared!'
There are now bucket-loads of books & collections of his cartoons, some of which have titles that further explain his warped / tweaked view of the world - 'Night of the Crash-Test Dummies' & 'Unnatural Selections' spring to mind. He's also managed to come up with some cool inventions along the way, the 'Dobie-o-matic' gun, which fires live Dobermans at burglars; the Monster Snorkel, which allows children to breathe under the bedcovers whilst hiding from monsters in their bedrooms / closets; and also a rather weird contraption, just referred to as 'Mr Thingy', used in the interrogation process.....
Some themes crop up again & again - dinosaurs & various theories for their extinction (including smoking), scientists working in labs (my favourite - checking whether animals 'kiss'. Blackboard showing various results including 'octopus - couldn't find lips', & in the foreground a cow on hind legs slapping a pouting scientist round the face) , and for some reason - ducks as faintly sinister characters (anatidaephobia - the fear that somewhere, somehow, a duck is watching you).
The humour can vary from really simple & obvious, to very oblique & slightly obscure - my mother is one of those who 'just don't get it', and trying to explain WHY a cartoon is funny for the umpteenth time wears well thin - she doesn't get Far Side calendars in her stocking at Christmas any more.
Sooo, I'm guessing that the Page 45 clientele is pretty intelligent, judging from the letters pages, so I reckon the vast majority of you WOULD 'get it' & thoroughly enjoy this new collection of cartoons - most of which are genuinely 'laugh out loud' funny. Which has to be a good thing in this world.
And if you don't enjoy it, you can always stuff it in a loved-one's stocking this Crimbo.
[Editors Note: if you can fit this collection, bigger than a breeze-block, into your loved one's stocking, then you are going out with The Kingpin. Romantic prospects less than ideal.]
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