Gary Larson’s The Far Side utilized snakes to deliver a blend of dark and absurdist comedy. A curated list of ten strips highlights his range, featuring everything from pirate parodies to jabs at other comic icons.
The December 16, 1983, jab at Jim Davis
One of the most aggressive examples of Gary Larson's dark wit appears in a strip published on December 16, 1983. in this specific comic, a snake is depicted with a full belly, sitting next to a food bowl labeled "Garfield." According to the report, this was a direct shot at Jim Davis, the creator of the famous orange cat, turning a beloved pop-culture icon into a meal for a reptile.
This strip exemplifies how Gary Larson used The Far Side to comment on the comic industry itself. By placing a known entity like Garfield in a precarious and morbid situation, Larson shifted the tone from simple gag-writing to a form of meta-commentary on the ubiquity of Jim Davis's work.
Captain Monet and the 'pegbody' asburdity
The visual ingenuity of Gary Larson is perhaps best captured in the strip featuring Captain Monet, published on September 18, 1986. The comic subverts the classic pirate trope of the peg leg; since snakes lack limbs entirely, Larson depicts the captain as a giant peg replacing his entire body. As the source notes, the caption describes the horror of other pirates seeing the "unmistakable" Captain Monet and his "pegbody."
This specific gag demonstrates Larson's ability to take a tired cliché and revitalize it through biological absurdity. by stripping the character of everything but the peg,Gary Larson forces the reader to reconsider the visual language of pirate fiction through a surrealist lens.
How snakes fit alongside cows and cavemen in Larson's world
While Gary Larson is widely remembered for his depictions of cows, ducks, and cavemen, snakes provided a unique tonal versatility.. The report suggests that snakes are an underrated recurring subject in The Far Side because they allowed Larson to pivot between "exceptionally dark humor" and "tongue-in-cheek cleverness." This versatility is a hallmark of the broader Far Side universe, where the animal kingdom is often used to mirror human dysfunction.
The use of snakes often served as a vehicle for social commentary. For instance, the strip "Bless His Little Rattle," published on October 12, 1982, uses a rattlesnake family to parody the way parents blame a spouse's genetics for a child's behavioral quirks. By projecting human family dynamics onto reptiles, Gary Larson highlighted the absurdity of human nature without needing a human cast.
The 30-foot 'Ginger' and the logic of absurdist pets
Gary Larson frequently played with the concept of scale and danger, as seen in the June 11, 1987, strip titled "LOST SNAKE." The comic depicts a man posting flyers for a missing pet named Ginger, who is described as a 30-foot-long dark brown snake. The humor stems from the contradiction between the domestic nature of a "lost pet" flyer and the terrifying reality of a 30-foot predator on the loose.
This specific scenario reflects a recurring theme in The Far Side: the juxtaposition of the mundane with the monstrous. By treating a massive snake like a lost housecat , Gary Larson creates a tension that transforms a public safety warning into a comedic observation on pet ownership.
What the 'Playsnake' parody reveals about 1981 humor
The August 7, 1981, strip "Playsnake" showcases Gary Larson's more adult-leaning sensibilities by parodying Playboy magazine . The joke relies on the visual of a magazine unfolding to reveal the full length of a snake, a gag that the source notes would be immediately recognizable to readers born before the 21st century.
However, several details remain unverified in the reporting.. It is unclear who selected these specific ten strips as the "best," or if Gary Larson ever commented on which of his snake-themed works he personally preferred. Furthermore, the source does not clarify if these strips were among the most popular with the general public during their original run or if they have gained a second life through retroospective curation.
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