Long before people could simply open their social media platform of choice and enjoy a seemingly endless scroll of memes at their fingertips, they got similar content from comic strips like The Far Side. These comic strips weren’t as easily accessible as memes of today, but a number of them were just as funny as even the most trending meme on the internet (with a similar style of humor, at that).

Interestingly enough, since the rise of the internet, these Far Side comics that had people laughing way before memes.

10 Cow Tools

The Far Side Captured Weird Internet Humor Long Before Memes

A cow is standing in front of a table with a bunch of strange items on it that are only referred to as 'cow tools'. That's it, that's the comic. This is perhaps the most famous Far Side comic in history, as it speaks to the random absurdity indicative of the entire series. It's also reminiscent of random modern-day memes someone would see scrolling aimlessly through social media. Memes like 'Kid Named Finger' and 'Beesechurger' are just as pointless and random as 'cow tools' - and just as funny for the exact same reason.

However, 'cow tools' used the same humor as in those modern-day memes years before they even existed. But, on the other side of that point, this also proves that 'cow tools' is something that modern-day memers would make today, proving its timelessness and hilarity.

9 Street Ducks

Callous & Absurd Violence Found in Memes Originated in The Far Side

A man is being cornered in an alley by a gang of 'street ducks', forcing him to do the only thing that makes sense: pull out his 12 gauge and murder them. The comic is a play on duck hunting, as it presents a situation in which shooting ducks with a shotgun is justified as self-defense. But, more than that, this Far Side comic is an example of using callous and absurd violence as the punchline, just as many modern memes do today.

One of the funniest meme templates that uses this method is the 'Always Has Been' meme, where an astronaut discovers a horrific truth about the world, and another astronaut shoots them in the head to maintain that secret moments after confirming that whatever they're looking at has always been that way. The punchline is the astronaut getting their brains blown out to maintain some absurd 'secret' (which is totally up to whoever uses the meme template), just as the punchline in this Far Side comic is the justified murder of the 'street ducks'.

8 Dingo/Baby Joke

The Far Side was Laughing at Real-World Tragedies Long Before Memes

A nursery is located right next to another business called "Ed's Dingo Farm", and the caption of this comic reads, "Trouble brewing", as the illustration shows a bunch of dingos looking over the shared fence at some unsupervised babies. This is a dark joke referencing the real-world death of infant Azaria Chamberlain, whose mother claimed that a dingo ate her baby. While the mother and father weren't believed at first, the truth eventually came out, revealing that a dingo did, in fact, kill Azaria Chamberlain - and The Far Side happily mocks that tragedy.

As everyone knows, modern-day memes mock real-world tragedies all the time - with the countless 9/11 memes confirming that literally nothing is off limits. But, The Far Side was doing it way before the memes were, and this comic proves it.

7 Bummer Birthmark

This Far Side Comic is Begging for Someone to Comment “LOL”

A deer is standing with his friend in the forest, and his friend says to him, "Bummer of a birthmark, Hal". The birthmark looks like a target painted on Hal's chest, as if he's just begging to be shot by a hunter. This is light dark humor, and the way this joke is told is quick, concise, and easy to read and understand. In other words, it's a perfect meme.

Most memes follow this formula, as they need to grab people's attention and deliver the joke as people are mindlessly scrolling on their phones. Memes can't take too long to set up a joke or deliver anything too wordy, as people will just scroll right by it - and this Far Side comic does that perfectly, and would certainly earn itself an "LOL" in the comments if it was a meme.

6 Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing

The Far Side Did Social Commentary Long Before Memes

This Far Side comic features an entire herd of wolves dressed as sheep, and a few of the wolves realize this and take off their disguises. There are no actual sheep in this herd, just wolves in sheep's clothing. On the surface, this is a simple comic that features a bunch of unlucky wolves. But, what this comic is actually saying is a lot deeper, and is something memes regularly do in the modern day.

'A wolf in sheep's clothing' is a common idiom that warns of fake people who secretly mean others harm, even if they seem harmless.

An entire herd of wolves in sheep's clothing is social commentary on a broken societal system that has been fully infiltrated by those who wish others harm for their own personal gain. There are tons of memes tackling this type of social commentary (especially ones of a political nature), but The Far Side has been doing it for years.

5 “I 8 NY”

Like with Some Memes, Sometimes a Picture is All it Takes in The Far Side

A kaiju akin to Godzilla is driving a car, presumably away from New York City, as his license plate reads: "I 8 NY". The message on the license plate is a play on the classic "I Love New York" (also read "I Heart New York"), replacing 'love' with 'ate', implying that that's exactly what this 'Godzilla' kaiju did. This comic tells an entire joke without using a single word, just a picture and a license plate - and that's what memes do all the time.

There are so many examples of memes that are just images without captions or context. Sometimes they're used as reactions (like the Michael Scott cringe face), and other times they stand on their own (like the two morbidly obese pigs eating oats). There are countless other examples, but the point is that sometimes all it takes to tell a joke is a simple image - something this Far Side comic has already proved.

4 “Beware of Doug”

Few Memes Can Compete with The Far Side’s Clever Wordplay

A door-to-door salesman approaches a home, but he stops before walking through the white picket fence, heeding the warning of the sign that reads, "Beware of Doug". The salesman probably thinks that's a typo, at least, until he notices a guy standing in the yard hiding lazily behind a tree - a guy who's most likely named Doug. What is Doug going to do? Why should people beware of him? This salesman clearly doesn't want to find out, and this entire comic is utterly hilarious.

There are tons of memes that rely on wordplay to make a joke land (like 'Hello From The Otter Slide' or 'Area 51 vs Volume 51'), but few of them have ever been as funny as this Far Side comic.

3 Moses Parting His Hair

Memes Regularly Mock Religion, but The Far Side Did it First

Moses is looking at himself in the bathroom mirror, getting ready to start his day. He wants to part his hair, but rather than using his fingers like a normal person, Moses calls upon God Almighty to bestow upon him divine grace to part his hair without even touching his head. Just as Moses parted the Red Sea with the power of God, he parts his hair to get himself ready for the day. Not exactly the same thing, but God granted Moses the power to do it, so it must be important. Obviously, this is blasphemous, but in the funniest way.

Modern memes mock religion all the time, just as they poke fun at real-world tragedies or use wordplay to make a quick-joke land. However, The Far Side has been doing it for decades, and this one comic only scratches the surface.

2 Cow Cookout

Jokes About Implied Unspeakable Acts? That’s What Memes (& The Far Side) were Made For

A cow named Jessy is grilling out one day, when her neighbors approach her aggressively, shouting and calling her sick for what she's doing. This cow is grilling hamburgers, and hamburgers - as everyone knows - are cow meat. This cow is openly cannibalistic, and her neighbors aren't letting her get away with it. Of course, the horrors of this comic are greatly implied, making it all the more hilarious - and very similar to a lot of modern memes.

Memes regularly touch on horrors beyond comprehension for the sake of a quick joke, like those memes that show images of eldritch, Lovecraftian beasts and present them as trivial inconveniences. The horror is implied, but the meme isn't scary - just like this Far Side comic about the cannibalistic cow.

1 Thagomizer

Memes Sometimes Have Real-World Social Impacts, Just Like This Far Side Comic

A caveman is holding a class on dinosaur anatomy, and the slide he's on is showing the tail of a triceratops, which is called the 'thagomizer'. The reason this part of the dinosaur is called the thagomizer is that it murdered another caveman named Thag. 'Thagomizer' is a way to honor Thag's sacrifice in the name of science - and that's true in the real world, too.

In real-world paleontology, scientists refer to this part of the triceratops as the thagomizer because of The Far Side. That's not the official scientific term, but it's reportedly still widely used. Memes have the capacity to make a real-world impact as well, even if that's just by spreading information in a fast and easy-to-understand way. But, just like with every other point on this list, The Far Side did it decades before memes.