Sharks were a staple of The Far Side, and actually, there’s a case to be made that they’re in contention for The Far Side’s funniest animal, up there with cows and chickens. That’s open to debate. What is certain is that the cartoons discussed here are flawless examples of what made Gary Larson’s humor exceptional.
The Far Side started making shark jokes early in its run, in 1980, and continued making them often right up until Larson’s mid-90s retirement.
For context, it’s worth remembering that The Far Side debuted just five years after Jaws changed pop culture forever, and less than two full years after it wasn’t “safe to go back in the water” in Jaws 2.
It should also be pointed out that another shark-related cultural institution, Discovery Channel’s “Shark Week,” started in 1988. That programming surely inspired some later Far Side shark cartoons, but for the sake of showing how Gary Larson was ahead of the curve, the panels below are all pre-88 Far Side publications.
“My People…They’re Not Going To Like It”
First Published: November 17, 1987
In this Far Side cartoon, rather than a shark attack, Gary Larson envisions a shark negotiation. The fins are circling a lone man in a rowboat, a shipwreck survivor from the way Larson sketches him, but rather than attack the boat, the sharks send an emissary to try to talk the man into the water.
It’s not going well, at least for the shark. The man holds his oar like a club, and doesn’t cave on his demand: to not be eaten. “Okay, I’ll go back and tell my people you’re staying in the boat,” the shark says, “but I warn you, they’re not going to like it.” It’s the language of a tense standoff, applied to a normally one-sided predator-prey situation.
Artistically, it is on The Far Side’s more minimal side, a refined doodle. The joke, meanwhile, is broad cartoon humor, appealing to a broad audience but with just a hint of edge to it. (After all, Larson’s human character is trying to talk his way out of being torn apart by sharks.)
“Last Summer Off The Coast Of…”
First Published: April 11, 1986
One thing Gary Larson loved to do was give The Far Side’s sharks distinctly human personalities. Larson had a knack for shark dialogue, where he was able to make them friendly and predatory at the same time. Larson also loved the “vacation photo slide show” bit, and made hay with it in many different cartoons over the years.
Which made mashing the two together inevitable. What makes this joke great is the same thing that makes Jaws scary: sharks go the same place everybody else does on summer vacation, the beach. And while the humans are splashing around in the surf, the sharks could be right there too. In this case, snapping photos.
“Is this Hawaii or Florida?” the dad shark asks his wife as he projects a picture of one of them smiling and waving at the camera just below the dangling feet of a bunch of bathers.
“I Suddenly Felt Very Proud”
First Published: October 22, 1984
This Far Side cartoon depicts the gruesome aftermath of a shark attack. Well, no, actually, the hysterical aftermath. And not like a person being left in hysterics after a traumatic encounter with a shark (like that one character in Jaws 2), but as in hilarious. Gary Larson draws a boat floating upturned with a huge chunk bitten out of the bottom, with someone’s hat and torn shirt and shoe sinking into the surf.
And none of it was meant to happen, according to the shark that did it. As the great white explains to another shark that shows up on the scene, presumably having smelled the blood in the water: “I was just going to circle them a couple times and leave…but they started yelling ‘shark,’ and suddenly I felt very proud.“
Often, Larson anthropomorphized animals through action. A bear driving a car. A cat and dog firing machine guns at one another. That sort of thing. Cartoons like this show he was also an expert at anthropomorphizing animals like sharks by giving them memorable voices, through character work.
“BEAR! BEAR!” (The Far Side’s Trickiest Shark)
First Published: October 2, 1984
Simple but brilliant. That describes so many of the best Far Side jokes, including this one. One surefire way to cause a panic at the beach is to start yelling “shark!” Everyone who is in the water is going to stampede out of the surf in a hurry. In this cartoon, a hungry shark applies this same logic in reverse.
“BEAR! BEAR!” the shark hollers. By real-world logic, most people hearing “bear” at the beach would look around and go, “Huh? What?” But on the citizens of The Far Side, this trick works like a charm. Larson draws a trio of gullible sunbathers throwing their arms in the air in terror and running into the surf.
Right into the waiting jaws of…well, Larson doesn’t show what happens next. The Far Side told stories in a single image, like this, but it didn’t have arcs like Peanuts or Garfield, so readers will never know which of these people the shark ate.
“I’ll Start Looking For Another Old Tire”
First Published: August 27, 1982
There are stories of sharks coming out of the ocean and swimming up rivers and attacking people in unexpected places, which Gary Larson seems to draw on here. This is a darkly funny Far Side, set in the immediate aftermath of a shark popping up at the local watering hole and devouring a young boy who was swinging on a tire swing.
Sounds horrifying, right? Sure, but Larson comedically undermines that horror with the deadpan reaction of the kid’s friends. They don’t run away screaming and crying. They stand on the bank of the water watching the shark swim away and immediately start figuring out what to do about their buddy, and also their tire swing.
“You go tell Billy’s mother,” one boy tells the other, “and I’ll start looking for another old tire.” Obviously, that’s quite the disparity between responsibilities, which is part of what makes this line of Far Side dialogue laugh-out-loud funny.
The Best Far Side Comics Are Spit-Take Worthy
First Published: November 22, 1980
This year one Far Side comic is wordless and perfect. Gary Larson wrote really funny dialogue; this list includes multiple examples of that. Still, when it comes to the most memorable Far Side comics, it tends to be imagery that burns itself into fans’ minds most. And that’s why the Far Sides that Larson let speak for themselves are so fondly remembered.
Here, a shark surfaces above the water and spits out the scuba gear of a diver it just devoured. Readers can look at the shark’s narrowed eyes and think it must be annoyed at all the metal garbage that came with its human prey, but this Far Side comic is open to interpretation. Or, alternatively, open to no interpretation. It can just be a surface-level humorous image.
That’s the beauty of The Far Side. Larson’s comics, at least the ones like this shark cartoon, are kind of like zen koans. Readers will get as much out of them as they put in. But one way or another, comics like this The Far Side will stick in people’s minds for longer than they expect.
What do you think, Far Side fans? Where do you put sharks in the “funniest Far Side animals” rankings?
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Gary Larson
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Gary Larson