The Far Sideis known for its often inscrutable punchlines, and creator Gary Larson’s audit of one of his less than successful cartoons offers a great insight into how and why his work earned its reputation for being"confusing, obtuse, esoteric, and strange." Impressively,The Far Sidewas able to be obscure in several different ways, on multiple different levels.
InThe Complete Far Side Volume Two,Larson came as close as he ever did to outright explaining aFar Sidejoke, breaking down one of his patented head-scratchers and making it clear that the joke was actually obvious– at least, if the reader knew what to look for. Not only does this exercisereveal a lot about Larson’s style of humor, it also emphasizes the reader’s role as the essential second half of the equation, which results in aFar Sidepanel’s success or failure.
Gary Larson Explains His “Low Tide/High Tide” Joke (& It’s Actually Very Funny)
First Published: August 12, 2025
First, it would be best to describe the panel as a reader would encounter it “out in the wild” – that is, without any context but the image, the caption, and any pre-existing knowledge ofThe Far Sidethe reader might have. Most readers' attention will be immediately drawn to the foreground, where two people cling to a rock. This is one ofGary Larson’s many cartoons about people lost at sea. While these cartoons didn’t always explain how their characters ended up in such a predicament, here readers will next notice thetail of an airplane sinking beneath the waves.
The caption elaborates on the image, as the man at the top of the rock yells down to the woman at the base:
Well, we’ll never want for food, Doris…This rock is absolutely encrusted with oysters and mussels – all the way to the top!
At first glance, readers might think the panel’s humor rests on the optimism of the man in the midst of an unfathomably terrible situation, but as it turns out, that is not the case. In fact, the punchline of this panel relies on the reader knowing something the characters don’t. Unfortunately, most readers were in the same boat as the characters – lacking a crucial piece of information that changes how thisFar Sidepanel is read.
“Compared To the Next Cartoon, It’s Very Normal”: Far Side’s Longtime Editor On What Made Gary Larson’s Creative Process So Unique
In his introduction to “The Complete Far Side,” Gary Larson’s longtime editor revealed what he admired most about the artist’s singular creativity.
Or, at the very least, they missed the cue that they were supposed to supply thisFar Sidepanel with this important detail themselves. Here is how Gary Larson explained it:
For show ‘n’ tell, I’ve found a cartoon (oh, the choices) of what, in hindsight, I concede was just a little too cumbersome and obtuse.
Let me be the first to acknowledge that even if you were to understand this thing, it’s not exactly going to send you into gales of laughter. (Let’s just call it “quiet humor,” okay?) Here’s the cartoon decoded: If you’ve managed to escape some disastrous event at sea, you would be well advised to note where the various crustaceans and mollusks are making their little homes. Because “home” to these creatures is anywhere that is comfortably below tide. (I knew I was in trouble when a marine biologist friend called me and asked me to explain this one.)
Notice how, even here, Larson dances around the hard, cold truth of the joke: that the couple aregoing to drown when the tide comes in. Still, the author’s elaboration makes it clear thatthisFar Sidepanel is much funnier than it might initially seem – if the reader can supply their end of the punchline.
The Reader’s Role In Making Far Side Comics Funny Is More Important Than People Realize
The Second Half Of The Equation
A lot has been said about the way Gary Larson used familiar tropes andpop culture imagery throughoutThe Far Side. This is usually discussed in the context of Larson’s technique of subversion; he would offer something recognizable, only to do something strange or unexpected with it. In a way, this also served to ground his weirdness, to tether it to something the reader could understand, but there is also a flip side to that. By doing this, Larson placed implicit faith in his readers that they would get the reference.
Meaning, of course, if the reference was too obscure, that often meant the risk ofthe cartoon failing to get a reaction. That was the case withThe Far Side’s"High Tide/Low Tide" joke. In this sense, Larson gambled that the average reader would know enough about shellfish habitats and tidal patterns to recognize the punchline, but in this case, the bet didn’t pay off. ForFar Sidefans, when encountering a perplexing panel, this makes it worth pausing and wondering whether there is something they need to fill in themselves.
This Dark Recurring Far Side Joke Charts How Gary Larson’s Humor Evolved Over Time
One joke that Gary Larson repeated a handful of times early in The Far Side’s run exhibits the ways his idiosyncratic humor morphed over time.
At the same time, it also emphasizes the idea that each individualFar Sidepanel is a kind of exchange between artist and reader. AFar Sidecartoon is just Gary Larson’s half of a dialogue; it is on the reader to know how to respond. Another way to put it:if aFar Sidepanel fails to elicit a response from the reader, rather than asking what the comic is missing, the reader should question whether they are, in fact, missing something.
Fresh Eyes
Certainly, Gary Larson’s sense of humor was far from conventional, and his willingness to go places other humorists wouldn’t gave him a reputation for being “dark” as much as he earned one for being “confusing.” That said,Far Sidefans can approach Larson’s work with a fresh set of eyes by reconsidering what they bring into a readingof his cartoons themselves. Returning toThe Far Sidealways has its share of surprises, but a different perspective allows for even the most recognizable comics to be reconsidered as if for the first time.
That’s not to say the artist can be absolved of fault for every weird, difficult to decipherFar Sidestrip, but through this new lens, readers might revisit some of Larson’s hardest to understand panels and realize they actually hadpunchlines that were just easy to miss. Just reading a novel twice a decade apart can make the reader feel like it was an entirely different book, a reader might revisit Gary Larson’s work and discover that they “get” his humor more than they used to.
Sometimes It Was The Notes Gary Larson Didn’t Play
Obscurity As A Virtue
In addition to being a cartoonist,Gary Larson was a jazz guitarist, and so the humor ofThe Far Sidecan be summed up with a spin on an old musical adage – sometimes it was what Larson didn’t say, or didn’t show, that could make or break one of his jokes. This meant placing a lot of faith in the reader, at times perhaps too much. Still, this was essential to the comic’s style, as exemplified by the “High Tide/Low Tide” panel.
A version of that joke where the punchline was obvious might have confused less people, but it wouldn’t necessarily have made more laugh than the confusing version did. That is to say, for better or worse,the joke’s essence is its obscurity. Or another way to put it: perhaps it was better to fail as aFar Sidepanel than to succeed as any other comic strip in the world. As much as it might haveleft readers asking “What-the?“rather than prompting a hearty laugh – or even a soft chuckle – it was unequivocallyTheFar Side.
Source: The Complete Far Side Volume Two
The Far Side
The Far Side is a humorous comic series developed by Gary Larson. The series has been in production since 1979 and features a wide array of comic collections, calendars, art, and other miscellaneous items.
