10 Funniest Far Side Comics Only Adults Will Understand
The Far Side may be an absurd comic strip series suitable for readers of all ages, but there are certainly more than a few jokes that are geared specifically towards adult readers. It’s not like they’re overly inappropriate, per se, they’re just jokes that will go over an average kid’s head. Sometimes that means references that only adults will understand; other times it’s simply a level of humor kids just can’t get or wouldn’t appreciate.
The Far Side’s entire 'mission' is to throw an absurd lens on the world, meaning nothing - and no one - is off limits. Sometimes, the jokes and their accompanying illustrations are only surface-deep, meaning they’re so obvious that even a kid would find them hilarious just by looking at the picture. Other times, as previously mentioned, The Far Side’s jokes go right over children’s heads. Among them all, these are the funniest Far Side comics only adults will understand.
10 Morbid Dingo/Baby Joke
The Far Side Makes Light of a Real-World Tragedy
This Far Side comic shows a nursery right next to another business called "Ed's Dingo Farm". Some babies are playing outside with very little adult supervision, while the dingos are standing up against the shared fence, looking longingly (and hungrily) at the babies on the other side. While this comic is clearly dark, there's also a reference here that most - if not all - children wouldn't understand.
This comic is a dark reference to a real-world tragedy that happened in the '80s. A woman named Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton claimed that a dingo ate her baby, Azaria Chamberlain. However, no one believed her, and she and her then-husband were convicted of murder. They were later acquitted when authorities found Azaria's remains, which confirmed that Chamberlain-Creighton's story was true, and that a dingo did, in fact, kill her daughter. Kids don't know this story, and would therefore not get the reference. And, honestly, that's probably for the best, as this is actually an incredibly dark Far Side comic.
9 Hangover Joke
A Man & the Scorpions in His Shoes Partied a Little Too Hard in The Far Side
A man is passed out in his bed after a long night of partying, and he isn't the only one. There are scorpions in one of his shoes, and they set up their own beer tap, using the shoe as their own little party venue. And, just like the man in bed, these scorpions clearly had a bit too much to drink. As the illustration and caption confirm, each scorpion is very inebriated, and they will soon be experiencing their own hangovers.
On the surface, it seems like this comic is nothing more than some scorpions in a shoe that will soon be stinging the man in the bed once he wakes up and tries to put the shoe on. While that's the perfect setup for some stellar physical comedy, the whole 'hangover' aspect of the joke definitely went over kids' heads.
8 Presumptuous Clown
A Clown Wants to ‘Smash’ in The Far Side
A male clown is dropping a female clown off at her house after the two of them went on their first date, but before he leaves, he pulls out a pie, and intends to smash it in her face. The female clown stops him, saying that she doesn't do that on the first date. Clearly, there's a lot to unpack here that kids would not understand.
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The clown wanting to 'smash' is a clear sexual innuendo, as the term 'smash' is a crass way to describe intercourse. This is confirmed by the other clown's reaction, as not wanting to become intimate with someone after just a first date is pretty standard dating protocol. Of course, a child reading this would have no idea about the underlying inappropriate humor in this comic, and would simply see one clown trying to smash a pie in the face of another.
7 Infidelity, Murder, and… Bears?
The Far Side Brings Some Hilarious Drama that Young Readers Won’t Get
A hunter enters a bear cave with his rifle, ready to kill the beast within. But, before he can pull the trigger, a woman in a bear costume shoots the hunter in the back. Come to find out, that woman is his wife, and she was secretly having an affair with the bear. She killed her husband so that she and the bear could be together forever.
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The dramatic storyline behind this absurd illustration is one that is subtle enough that most children wouldn't understand it at all. It looks like a funny image of a woman in a bear costume hunting a bear hunter before he could shoot a bear. It's weird, but to a kid, that's all it is. It isn't until one becomes an adult that they see the real story behind it - which actually makes this Far Side comic even more absurd.
6 Wolf ‘Quack-Heads’
Wolves are Snorting Ducks in The Far Side
A pack of strung-out-looking wolves are hanging out in the deep, dark woods, doing 'drugs' together. What they're literally doing is sticking ducks up their noses, which - as the caption explains - means the wolves are "snorting quack". To an adult, the joke is obvious by the face-palm-inducing, dad-joke-quality wordplay. But, to a kid, they don't know that 'quack' means 'crack', and they don't fully understand why these wolves are sticking ducks up their noses. All they know is that the picture is funny.
To their credit, the picture itself is absolutely hilarious, so it's not like children are missing out on a laugh by not getting the actual joke. However, understanding the punchline does make this Far Side comic way funnier.
5 Inflatable Cow Dolls
Even Animals Enjoy Adult Toys in The Far Side
This Far Side comic might be the most inappropriate one on this list (even including the clown one). Two bulls are inflating a life-size cow doll; one of them is blowing up the doll, and the other is excitedly waiting for him to be finished, saying, "She's lookin' good, Vern!". In the eyes of an innocent child, this just looks like two bulls blowing up a balloon that looks like a cow, perhaps to play a game with it. But, to the weathered eyes of a grown adult, the bitter truth is obvious.
This inflatable cow is an adult toy (aka sex toy) that these two bulls will take turns enjoying together. That's it, that's the comic. Why? Why would Gary Larson put that image in readers' minds so abruptly? Why, Gary?! Kids won't understand it, and adults will be baffled as to why it exists in the first place.
4 Dolphin Mariticide
A Wife Dolphin Discreetly Disposes of Her Husband’s Corpse in The Far Side
In a world where dolphins are anthropomorphic, a couple of police officers visit the home of the wife of a man (dolphin) who hasn't been seen in weeks to ask her a few questions. When they came to her home, the officers caught her in the middle of canning shelves-worth of 'tuna'. However, as one of the officers clearly suspects by his look of wide-eyed horror, that's not tuna in those cans, that's her husband.
This joke would definitely go over a kid's head, as the mariticide joke is just subtle enough to not be easily understood. A kid would see some dolphins pretending to be people, and that would be entertaining enough for them, whereas adults immediately know what's really going on here - and why it's hilarious.
3 “The Donner Party Memorial”
The Far Side Pays Dark Tribute to a Real-World Tragedy
A few tourists have gone to visit the Donner Party Memorial in The Far Side, and because it's The Far Side, that memorial is just in such bad taste. The statue depicts a giant sandwich with a human foot sticking out of it. To a kid, the visual of that alone is hilarious, no further explanation required. Adults, however, are just left wondering if mocking a tragedy that happened in the mid-1800s is still too soon.
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In 1846-47, a group of pioneers migrating west got trapped in the Sierra Nevada mountains because of a snow storm. Many had to resort to cannibalism to survive - hence the giant foot-sandwich. The Donner Party is a pretty dark and tragic story in American history regarding westward expansion, but any kid reading this comic would have no idea.
2 Fish Mobsters
The Far Side Hilariously Flips the 'Sleep with the Fishes' Mobster Trope
A fish is shooting up to the surface after its back fins have been trapped in styrofoam. The caption explains that this fish is being sent to go 'sleep with the humans', which will obviously kill him, since fish can't live out of water. This comic hilariously flips the mobster trope of 'sleeping with the fishes', where mob hitmen would throw their victims into the water after hardening cement blocks on their feet. While the reference is obvious to grownups, that's not the case for kids.
To a kid, this just looks like a silly image featuring a funny fish, nothing more. Since kids generally don't watch mob movies (nor should they), they wouldn't understand the true horror of what's really going on here.
1 Viral Outbreak
The Far Side Jokes About the Consequences of Studying Viral Pathology
A couple of scientists are looking out the window of their laboratory, as they have just dropped a jar filled with green ooze, which is splattered all over the sidewalk where a number of people are casually walking around. The caption reads, "Uh-oh", and upon taking a look at the building's sign, it's clear why. This is a center for the study of viral pathology, implying that the green ooze the scientists just unleashed upon the world is a deadly disease that will soon spread all over the city - and perhaps the world.
Of course, to a kid, 'viral pathology' has no meaning, and they just see a couple of goofy scientists and some green ooze that looks like it came straight out of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. But, adults understand what's really happening here, which is why this - along with the other Far Side comics on this list - is so hilarious.
- Writer
- Gary Larson
- Colorist
- Gary Larson
