The Far Side's creator, Gary Larson, has an immense talent for transforming the most boring aspects of life, like doing laundry or going to the store, into the most absurd scenarios that only those with huge imaginations could conjure up. While some mundane activities are given an exciting, high octane upgrade, other Far Side comic strips turn the mundane into nightmare fuel.

Many Far Side comic strips show extremely outlandish or surreal situations, so it's an unexpected deviation when the more mundane aspects of life are on display. However, this is The Far Side, so even the comic strips with mundane subject matter are turned on their head and dialed up to eleven, made outrageous and otherworldly enough to fit in with The Far Side's humor and penchant for one- storytelling.

10 "You Don't Even Have a Funny Bone"

July 28th, 1994

Going to the doctor is no fun activity; it is just a hum-drum part of staying healthy. It is also something one needs to do when something is off or going wrong, as is the case in this Far Side comic. A clown goes to the doctor, where the physician reveals some unfortunate news, especially to a clown: he has no funny bone. The horror! How can a clown, whose number one job is to make people laugh, not have a funny bone?

The Far Side imagines this disastrous situation for this poor clown with humorous results for the reader. Larson frequently puts doctors and medical settings into his comic strips, always adding a surreal tilt to the anatomy and medicine-centric comics of The Far Side. The down-on-his-luck clown should probably seek some other work that does not need a funny bone.

9 "Did You See This Thing in the Paper?"

Published In 1992

Reading the newspaper is typically pretty uneventful. Maybe there is a shocking news story or two, but nothing literally jumps out of the newspaper. This is not so in The Far Side, where a man opens his newspaper and sees an alien-like, spore-looking creature in his paper, eye to eye with him. Larson chooses to leave his readers in suspense, because it is never revealed what the creature does.

Gary Larson had never formally studied art before becoming a cartoonist.

Is the man safe or is the creature a threat akin to the xenomorphs from Alien? Only Larson knows this answer. Keeping his scenarios ambiguous leaves the end result up to the reader's interpretation, allowing them to use their imagination rather than being told the answer. Consequently, the audience's interest is piqued in just one ed comic, even more than if the whole storyline was written out in multiple s.

8 "Pirate Manicures"

September 3rd, 1987

While a manicure can be pleasurable or relaxing, it is not super exciting and is definitely something that would be considered mundane. Everyone likes a good manicure every once in a while, even the most unlikely of manicure receivers: pirates. Typically not known for their hygenic prowess, pirates do not automatically come to mind as a group of people who like manicures.

Yet, things are never quite as they seem in The Far Side, so in this topsy-turvy universe, pirates love getting manicures... well, their own unique kind of manicure, anyway. With saws for a wooden leg and a buffer for a hook, this is not any garden variety sort of manicure, being a far cry from nail files, foot tubs, and nail polish. However, even pirates deserve some self-care, too.

7 "Inconvenience Stores"

April 18th, 1990

Convenience stores are supposed to be - well, just as it sounds. They are convenient locations where one can get some needed essentials quickly. Larson posits a new kind of store: inconvenience stores, where everything is positioned way too high up, and the store has a scarce inventory. The Far Side tends to give the mundane a very strange makeover and, in this case, a downgrade from reality.

Gary Larson once worked as an investigator for the Humane Society.

How anyone could benefit from an inconvenience store is anyone's guess, but it is a moot point in The Far Side, since humans typically end up with the short end of the stick in the comics, anyway. As a result, Larson makes the mundane an absolute nightmare in the funniest way possible. The Far Side knows how to make something that would consistently be a boring errand into all-out anarchy and chaos.

6 "It's Dog Food Again!"

November 24th, 1982

Feeding pets can be a bit of a bore, especially since the food served tends to be the same thing every day. Tthe lack of excitement is not applicable to the dogs, though, with this Far Side comic showing dogs becoming ecstatic that they are getting dog food yet again. The dogs seem like they cannot believe their luck that they are getting to eat dog food again.

It would not be The Far Side if there was not some hint of weirdness - like the dogs being so excited about their daily dog food.

These happy-go-lucky dogs of The Far Side would not agree with the old saying that variety is the spice of life. A departure from The Far Side's surreal humor, the scene set in this comic strip is surprisingly down to earth, but it still retains that trademark Far Side eccentricity that fans know and love. It would not be The Far Side if there was not some hint of weirdness - like the dogs being so excited about their daily dog food.

5 "Roy and I Got to Arguin' Politics"

January 29th, 1985

When a barber and his client, Roy, get a little too into a discussion about politics that turns into a massive argument, poor Roy gets more than just a simple haircut. Instead, not only is Roy's hair gone, but the majority of his face is gone. The barber in question must have some strong scissors. After seeing all the hair on the floor in the comic and the tiny bit of face shown on Roy, one is left to wonder what he looked like before the haircut fiasco with his argumentative barber.

Did this Roy have a massive amount of hair to hide a very small face? One will never know. As a result, readers are left with more questions than answers from this comic. A haircut is usually nothing super exciting, but the mundane can never go to plan in The Far Side, with Roy being a case in point.

4 "I'll Have the Ham and Eggs"

August 13th, 1985

Ordering ham and eggs for breakfast is nothing extraordinary or super wild. However, ordering ham and eggs and being surrounded by pigs and chickens - now that is something that makes the mundane absolutely kooky and hilarious. It should come as no surprise, but the pig diners are absolutely disgusted, understandably so, at this oblivious man's breakfast choice. This guy takes the critique of needing to "read the room" to a whole new level.

Considering that ninety-nine percent of the restaurant is made of piggy customers and some chickens, maybe there should not be ham and eggs on the menu to begin with. The chickens do not react to the man's breakfast order any better, with them also on edge due to the man's unconsidered meal choice (given the surroundings and fellow diners). The man better watch his back on the way to his car, having earned some farm animal enemies.

3 "Here Comes Your Animal Blanket"

December 7th, 1984

Putting a blanket over a bird's cage is something all bird owners know to do and is just a mundane responsibility that comes with owning a bird. It is done to help a bird feel calmness and security while ensuring that no light distracts the bird’s ability to sleep through the night. In The Far Side, when it is Leroy the bird's bedtime, his owner gets his blanket out to throw over his cage.

Unfortunately for Leroy, his blanket, which is supposed to send him to sleep, is covered with predatory, scary animals for the bird. Seeing all of one's predators on something that is supposed to be a source of contentment and peace sends all sorts of mixed signals. It does not take an ornithologist to know that Leroy probably does not get a lick of sleep when his animal blanket of horrors is cast over his cage.

2 "What?... Again?"

June 28th, 1983

A man walks out of the grocery store and rather than see a dog attached to its leash by the entrance, the unlucky fellow comes mere feet away from a gigantic alligator on a leash instead. What is even worse is that the alligator waiting by the front door is not even the first time this poor guy has experienced this. Going to the grocery store is as mundane as it gets, yet The Far Side manages to find a way to make the outing as crazy and outlandish as possible.

One need not be a scaredy-cat to avoid going to a grocery store where an alligator waits by the front door, not just once, but twice. Anyone with an ounce of common sense would avoid a grocery store where a customer intentionally has an alligator on a leash waiting for him. Yet, the humans of The Far Side are not known for their common sense.

1 "Don't Press Me, Mitch"

November 16th, 1994

Giving the cast of The Brave Little Toaster a run for their money, this Far Side iron is alive and ready to press some laundry - even if the laundry is not super keen on it. Mitch seems like a strange name for an iron, but then again, it is an iron, so any name will seem strange when attached to it. Ironing is about as mundane as it gets, but Larson not only makes this chore hilarious but also incredibly surreal.

Clothes and irons that walk, talk, and even argue seem like something out of the most domestic-themed Salvador Dalí painting imaginable.

Clothes and irons that walk, talk, and even argue seem like something out of the most domestic-themed Salvador Dalí painting imaginable. Mitch the iron has evidently overstepped his bounds with the shirt, who does not want the iron to get any closer to it. It was a special talent of Larson's to make the most boring topic on paper into the most kooky and interesting scenario possible in The Far Side.