Eyes were essential to the humor of the "best" part of The Far Side, and so it is worth taking a closer look at what he meant.

Just like beauty, humor can be said to be in the eye of the beholder, and it's not unfair to say that not everyone “gets” the humor of The Far Side; one reader’s laugh-out-loud Larsonian punchline is often entirely off-putting for another.

That is why both Far Side fans and critics alike are constantly questioning what makes the comic funny, and as it turns out, the way Gary Larson drew eyes plays an important role. The entries on this list are just a select few of the countless examples from throughout Far Side history.

10 The Far Side Was All About The Reaction, Starting With Characters And Ending With Readers

First Published: May 26, 1993

According to Gary Larson, the goal of The Far Side was to get an instant reaction out of readers; laughter, of course, was the primary response he was aiming for, but he was also happy to shock, confuse, and even dismay his readers. In certain comics, such as this one, the response Larson wants can be found mirrored in the faces of his characters. Here, a cow that is clandestinely eating beef for the first time is illustrated with a bewildered, but not disgusted, look in its eye, as it declares its cannibalistic dining experiment "interesting."

In this , the cow's thousand-yard-stare, which isn't exactly directed at the reader, but more toward, or even through them, is the centerpiece of the dark, absurdist humor of this Far Side . Crucially, the expression on the cow's face serves a humanizing function, which in turn emphasizes the ethical transgression at the heart of the joke.

9 These Fellows Photobomb A Far Side , Runing The "Funniest Cartoon Ever"

First Published: July 5, 1990

In this iconic Far Side fourth-wall-breaking cartoon, a pair of jokesters pull the comic equivalent of a modern-day photobomb, "[sticking] their heads inside the frame" at the pivotal moment, obscuring the action in the background, which the caption claims is "one of the funniest cartoons ever," as though The Far Side were a photograph, rather than an illustration.

The composition of this is what elevates an amusing premise to an all-time memorable Far Side moment; the background, which features a man sitting in an armchair, holding a chicken, while his wife stands with her hands on her hips, is a familiar Far Side set-up, but fans will never know the punchline, because of the "interruption" of these two guys, whose wide eyes do stare directly at the reader, in a way that will imprint itself upon the mind, in a borderline nightmarish fashion.

8 The Far Side Was Able To Pack A Lot Of Feeling Into Its Characters' Eyes

First Published: February 15, 1990

There are multiple elements that go into making this a classic Far Side living room comic, from its patented Larsonian wordplay at the heart of the joke's premise, to the almost cruel casualness with which the homeowners watch their guests consumed by their deadly carpet, and not for the first time, as the caption makes clear. That said, this comic also offers a great example of the importance of eyes to The Far Side.

In the illustration, three of the characters are depicted wearing glasses, their eyes deliberately left opaque and expressionless; the man being sucked into the "La Brea Carpets," meanwhile, has a look of thorough horror in his eyes as he goes down, which is clearly communicated to the reader in Gary Larson's subtle, but incredibly effective way.

7 The Eyes Connected Far Side's Nonhuman Characters To Its All-Too-Human Readers

First Published: September 22, 1988

The Far Side's success was about more than just using animals, and aliens, and at times, amoebas, or insects, or inanimate objects, as substitutes for human characters; it was a matter of how Gary Larson managed to make these characters relatable to a human audience, despite their nonhuman status, and the eyes were a vital part of that technique.

Here, one alien researcher adomishes another for mixing "incompatible species in the earh terrarium," as on the shelf behind them, a tiny bear mauls a miniature human, with their sizes being relative to the apparently massive stature of these extraterrestrials. As nonhuman as they might be in almost every regard, including their heads ending in a long eye-stalk with a singular eyeball on the end, it is the expression that each conveys with its lone eye that makes this Far Side comic weirdly relatable, making it a more successful Gary Larson than it might get credit for.

6 The Far Side Was Able To Add Levity To Its Darkest Moments Through Subtle Details

First Published: December 18, 1987​​​​​​​

The Far Side was willing to make fun of taboo subjects, and there were certain things that allowed Gary Larson to pull this off. One was his use of animal characters, such as in this , which centers around a bear that has taken its own life, or in this case, "stuffed himself;" another, also exhibited here, was his ability to use subtle details to take the edge off particularly dark jokes.

In this comic, Larson does this by making the eyes stand-out, with the eyes of "Leonard," the bear who "stuffed himself," being almost goofy in the expression they convey, which deliberately clashes with the shock and dismay in the eyes of the two bears who have come home to find him stuffed and mounted, with a "goodbye world' note tacked to his chest. It is a grim Far Side punchline to dwell on, but the eyes, subtle as they might be, play an important role in getting an immediate laugh out of readers.

5 The Far Side Was Great At Capturing Moments Of Anticipation

First Published: October 9, 1987

In this very amusing Far Side cartoon, a bundle of bananas prepare to rob a bank, hiding around a nearby corner as they go over the plan one more time, all of them clad in trench coats, with one even wielding who looks like a pump-action shotgun. Two of the the bananas are wearing sunglasses, but two aren't, and their eyes do a great deal of heavy-lifting in of adding to the effect of the punchline.

In the illustration, the leader of the gang shoots a frustrated side-eye look at "Ramone," the one member of the bunch who is apparently having second thoughts, his hesitation conveyed by wide, nervous eyes. Again, the eyes are crucial to the anthropomorphization of the nonhuman characters, as well as for packing in emotion that the joke wouldn't contain otherwise.

4 The Far Side Comic Is All About The Visual, Including Its Occular Joke

First Published: October 14, 1983

This Far Side cartoon omits a caption, because Gary Larson wanted readers to focus on the visual dimension of the joke, which involves a woman falling asleep in an armchair with a bowl of soup in front of her, unaware that he eye on the stuffed moose head hanging over her has popped out and landed in her bowl.

The human character in this cartoon is depicted as both asleep, and wearing glasses, and so a lot of pressure is placed on the eyes of the stuffed moose instead, both of which are drawn as bulging and surprised-looking. For the eye in the soup punchline to have the impact that it does here, it was important that Larson make its counterpart prominent, albeit still in the socket. While eyes were constantly important in Far Side s, they were often a small detail that added depth to a comic; in this instance, notably, they are an active part of the joke, which makes Larson's knack for drawing them stand out.

3 The Far Side Was Able To Deliver A Sense Of Movement Despite Its Static Nature

First Published: October 12, 1982

In this Far Side equivalent of an "action scene," a group of Vikings marauders wreak havoc on a villain, but rather than burning and pillaging, these raiders simply egg the houses of their targets. It is an amusing joke, one which manages to convey an appropriate sense of chaos and movement, even in Gary Larson's traditional single- style.

With the Vikings all caught mid-stride, and mid-egg-toss, their eyes also play an important role; as simple as it might seem, the eyes here play the crucial role of making the Vikings seem extra unhinged and unpredictable, making the humor of the idea that they will eventually graduate from pranks to violence even more potent. In addition to being a classic Far Side Viking gag, this is also a textbook example of Gary Larson's ability to capture motion, and emotion, in a single image.

2 The Far Side's Least Subtle Eye Is One Of Its Funniest

First Published: July 5, 1982​​​​​​​

Most frequently, the eyes were a tiny part of The Far Side, which played a pivotal role in the quality of Gary Larson's s. This cartoon, which is in fact a kind of "sequel" to one of Larson's earliest published comics, is focused on a giant, monstrous eye, bloodshot and clearly angry, as it peers into the living room of a woman who calmly calls a neighbor to describe "what's in [her] front yard."

This is a blown-up example of Larson's keen ability to illustrate eyes, using them to deliver a great deal of emotion, which became an essential part of The Far Side over the years. Big or small, eyes consistently had a significant role in the humor of The Far Side, because, apropos to their description as the "window into the soul," the eyes of Larson's characters, human or otherwise, tended to be a direct line of insight into what the author found funny about a Far Side cartoon.

1 The Far Side Relied On Recognizable Elements To Subvert Readers' Expectations

First Published: October 9, 1981

This early Far Side cartoon plays on the "Three Blind Mice" nursery rhyme, depicting the farmer's wife as unhinged and homicidal, as she seeks to cut off the mices' tails with a huge kitchen knife, as detailed by the lyrics of the song. This cartoon highlights Gary Larson's skill at using body language to the limited extent he could, with the woman's stiff features adding to the humor of the , but it is her crazed eyes that do the most work to get a laugh from readers.

Larson's use of the eyes as a central part of his punchlines' visual element started immediately, and became a core part of his humor over the course of The Far Side's run, but it is often left out when fans of Larson's work talk about what makes a successful, or classic, or unforgettable cartoon, an oversight that it is important to correct for people to truly recognize the depth and resonance of the artist's work.