Summary
Though they don’t get as much credit as some of the other animals that populatedThe Far Side,Gary Larson’s comic frequently featured rhinoceroses, whose distinct look gave many of the artist’s cartoons an added visual flair.Over the course of the cartoon’s fifteen years in publication, rhinos appeared in multipleunforgettableFar Sidepanels.
When most readers think about animals that appeared inThe Far Side, it is oftenGary Larson’s comics about dogsthat come to mind first; others might immediately think of the funniestFar Sidecartoons featuring snakes, or the many different appearances ofvultures and other birds of prey.
Rhinos are less likely to top the list – yet they appeared almost as frequently as their animal cohorts, taking center stage in just as many laugh-out-loud installments ofThe Far Side, as well as many which left readers scratching their heads, in patented Gary Larson style.
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12Getting Warmed Up For A Long Day On The Far Side
First Published: June 23, 2025
This mural-styleFar Sidepaneldepicts what the caption calls “the African dawn,” as the sun rises over the plains – to find the groups of animals mingling about, having their morning coffeebefore getting started on another long day of being wild beasts. Considering how stressful the state of nature is, especially in the world ofThe Far Side, it is nice that artist Gary Larson gives these creatures a moment to enjoy a morning pick-me-up.
Though the rhinos share the panel with a group of cheetahs, it is the horned duo on the right that getthe big laugh of thisFar Side, as one fills the other’s cup all the way to the brim, prompting the line of dialogue: “Whoa. That’s enough.”
11Another Far Side Marriage Ends In Despair
First Published: August 02, 2025
Marriages did not exactly fair well inThe Far Side, which featured its share of feuding spouses and illicit affairs. This panel depicts the latter,featuring a woman clinging to her lover as her husband – a rhinoceros – arrives home early from work unexpectedly.
Themost successfulFar Sidepanels, for the most part, were effective as a result of their illustration and their caption working together to make the reader laugh. This is a great example, as the composition of the image and the silliness of the caption enhance one another, adding up to a perfect joke. With the rhino husband silhouetted in the background, the wife tells her paramour to stay still, because “his vision’s not very good, but his sense of smell and hearing are quite accurate.”
10What Happens When You Don’t Tidy Under The Couch Regularly
First Published: July 01, 2025
ThisFar Sidepanel doesn’t feature an actual rhino, but it uses the form of a rhinoceros to great comedic effect. Captioned “Roberta takes on a dust rhino,“the comic depicts a woman holding up a broom and dustpan as the giant silhouette of a rhino leaps out at her.Ironically, the “dust rhino” is perhaps one of the most aggressive rhinoceroses Gary Larson depicted inThe Far Side– though the takeaway for readers is less likely to be the danger of rhinos, and more to a reminder to sweep the floor.
The joke here exhibits a qualities that make ita patented Gary Larson punchline: it takes something familiar, in this case the colloquial term “dust bunny,” and comedically escalates it, then embodies it in a memorable image.
The Far Side Complete Collection
Fans of the far side can’t pass up this master collection of Gary Larson’s finest work. Originally published in hardcover in 2003, this paperback set comes complete with a newly designed slipcase that will look great on any shelf. The Complete Far Side contains every Far Side cartoon ever published, which amounts to over 4,000, plus more than 1,100 that have never before appeared in a book and even some made after Larson retired.
9"That Spoiled Rhino,” One Of Several Pet Rhinoceroses Featured In The Far Side
First Published: August 16, 2025
The rhino’s stand-out feature, its horn, is put to great comedic use here,in a panel that features one busting straight through the front door of a house, while the homeowners look on from the kitchen, in the background of the illustration. Rather than a menacing intrusion, however, the caption makes it clear this is an annoyance, as this rhino is evidently the couple’s pet.
“That spoiled rhino is going to either bellow or charge the door all night till we let him in,” the wife here tells her husband inthisFar Sidecartoon, in a deliberately skewed take on homeowners leaving their dogs out at night. While this might seem anathema to pet parents now, it was at one time standard operating procedure, qualifying pets – whether dogs or rhinos – who got to spend the night in the house “spoiled.”
8A Rare Moment Of Quiet Reflection For The Far Side
First Published: August 17, 2025
Captioned, “the rhino in repose,” this panel features a moonlit pastoral scene,with the silhouette of a rhinoceros center-frame, in what appears to be a meditative or yogic stance, balancing on a single leg. Both the image and the joke here are subtle, but like many of Gary Larson’s best comics, it is worth unpacking.
This is an example of aFar Sidecomic that is perhaps funnier at the conceptual level than the execution, which is bound to leave many readersnarrowing their eyes and asking, “What-the?“The idea of a rhino achieving a state of blissful tranquility on a gently-sloping hilltop, under a sky lit by a full moon, is abstractly hilarious, even if that might not have entirely translated to the page in a way that every ready will immediately appreciate.
7Far Side Artist Gary Larson Danced To His Own Beat
First Published: August 13, 2025
ThisFar Siderhino comic is laugh-out-loud funny, once again because of the way the image and the caption – in this instance, rendered as a thought bubble above the rhino’s head – work together. Here, a rhino is shown on its hind legs in the background of the image, while a box labeled “tap shoes” lies in the foreground. Struggling to get the hang of the technique,the rhino thinks: “Dang! I think I just wasted fifty bucks.”
Most people will be able to recognize the phenomenon of making an impulse purchase, in an effort to pursue a new hobby, only to find it doesn’t suit them. In his proprietary way of mixing the silly and the profound, Gary Larson articulates that shared experience – butrather than a dancing bear, he uses a dancing rhino to get his point across.
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6The Far Side’s Strangest (And Sweetest) Pet-Parent Dynamic
First Published: June 22, 2025
The Far Sidefeatured its share of unusual pets, with this panel holding the distinction of being both one of theweirdest human-pet interactions Gary Larson ever depicted, and somehow at the same time, one of the most touching.
The cartoon depicts a man who can be inferred to be on a business trip, calling back home,where his wife holds the phone up to their pet rhinoceros, trying to coax it to give just “one grunt for Daddy.“Once again, Gary Larson depicts a familiar scenario – a person who is out of town talking to their pet on the phone – in the most unusual possible way, with the way the pet rhino fills the frame, looking harmless at the same time it is being uncooperative, coming across as particularly funny.
5Okay, This Is The Strangest Far Side Comic About Pet Rhinos
First Published: June 30, 2025
As clear as someFar Sidepunchlines are, other panels fall into the category of"confusing, obtuse, esoteric, and strange"that Gary Larson’s comic became synonymous with. That is the case here, in a comic that featuresan adolescent boy being put upon by his mother to show their guest his “rhino tube farm.”
Despite its reputation,The Far Sidewas generally more tethered to reality than most critics and fans alike would readily give it credit for. That said, this cartoon isas inexplicably bizarre as any that Gary Larson producedin the fifteen-year run of his strip. Larson himself was the first to say that his comics had no meaning, this is at least one instance where it is best to take his advice and not look much deeper into it.
4The “Mimic” Still Has The Most Dangerous Part Of The Rhino
First Published: June 12, 2025
This is another example of aFar Sidecomic that can best be described as perplexing. In it, two people on safari carefully appraise a guidebook as they face down a rhinoceros –only to be relieved that it is simply a “rhino mimic,” they are dealing with.Meanwhile, the head of a rhino is depicted sticking through a board with a painted-on rhino’s body.
It is a head-scratcher, to say the least, but in a way that makes it funnier, as it leans fully into the non-sequiturin a way that Gary Larson only seldom ever truly did. What exactly the “mimic” looks like behind the board, and how it should be considered non-threatening despite still having the rhino’s characteristic horn, are all questions better left unasked, let alone unanswered.
3This Far Side Rhino Wins “Best In Show”
First Published: August 23, 2025
Now, for anotherexample of aFar Sidecomicthat does benefit from the reader digging into it deeper, there is this panel, featuringa woman being awarded first place trophy at a rhino show.Lampooning the tradition of having dogs compete in dog shows, Gary Larson substitutes rhinos, resulting in a scenario the comedy potential of which far exceeds the capacity for a single panel to capture it.
In other words, while the idea itself is amusingly presented here, thisFar Sidebecomes truly hilarious when it instigates the reader’s imagination, causing them to picture what it would be like for the rhinos to do tricks, and prance around for the judges the way that domesticated dogs have learned to do.
