Product Description

Welcome to the exhibit: a spectacular retrospective of more than 300 Far Side cartooons - in both black and white and color. The exhibit is not Larson's most popular cartoons; it is his own personal favorites. And indeed, this is the first glimpse Larson's millions of fans worldwide have ever had of the personal side of Gary Larson. As Larson says in his Foreword, "This may or may not be of particular interest to anyone, but my therapist says it should do ME a lot of good." As with all great exhibits, it begins by putting The Far Side, and Gary Larson, in context. In the first section, "The Origin of the Species," we see Gary's childhood drawings, such as the one done in black crayon, of little Gary sitting on top of a tire, his earliest memory of riding in the car on vacation. The next documented section, "Evolutioon of the Species," gives the view the first insights into the creative process of Gary Larson. (He admits, for example, that "off days" are a part of life, whether you're a cartoonist, a neurosurgeon, or an air-traffic controller.) In this section we see cartoons that worked - and often, surprisingly, how he made them work better. Then there is the section called "Mutations," the ones that didn't work because somebody (no names heres) goofed up. And finally, leading up to the exhibit itself, the section "Stimulus/Response," in which Gary shares some of his fan mail: "You should be severely reprimanded by animal protection authorities, in newspaper publication, and, if possible... you should be fined at least $1,000 for each such cruel cartoon." And Larson's defense: Complaints are "usually from people who misinterpreted the cartoon and were angered by a cartoon they didn't 'get.' Well, hell - I don't understand all my cartoons." We also see never-before-published cartoons that landed on the editorial cutting-room floor. So here's the whole history of The Far Side, some ten odd years - from Mesozoic to Modern, from Early Weird to Late Weird. Only Larson thinks it may not be very interesting, but as he says, once "you've got it in your brain cells you're stuck with it."

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9389 in Books
• Published on: 1989-09-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780836218510
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Customer Reviews

A 10th Anniversary Retrospective
If you have ever wondered how Gary Larson started coming up with ideas for "The Far Side," this book offers a retrospective back to Gary's childhood days. The book is divided into five portions. The first portion takes Gary's past from his first drawings to syndication of "The Far Side." Along the path was a pre-Far Side comic called "Nature's Way."

In the second part of the book Gary offers his original sketches and captions in comparison to how the comics actually came out. In most cases the final version was better, but not always. At the end of this portion of the book is a short section titled "stories" that is what it says, comics with a lengthy caption that is at the very least a short story. In some cases the caption could be a novel, if you think about the concept very long, which I do not recommend. You might suffer further brain damage.

The third part is really interesting. It shows how Gary or newspapers made mistakes. The mistakes were often subtle, sometimes blatant. Some of the more interesting mistakes happened when the caption of adjacent comic was switched with that of "The Far Side."

The fourth portion of the book was humorous independent of the comics. Gary offers comments from various people offended by his art. Considering the art and the comments offered, I suggest that in many cases people saw something that was not there, which makes me wonder where THEIR mind was at. In other cases, people need to remember that Gary is offering a perspective on the world, in comparison to how people see things. It does not mean that Gary is interested in actually seeing the things in his comics happening; usually.

The fifth and last portion of the book offers Gary's favorites. I concur that most of them brought a smile to my face, and in a few cases an out right laugh.

Gary Larson succeeds in thinking outside the box, something that he does with great regularity. I suspect that he would be great at inventing. Of course, he is a self-described nerd, and I believe it. He also seems quite pleased that his comics find substantial popularity amongst scientists. Probably engineers too. If you think "The Far Side" is one of the greatest comics ever created, you will love this collection for its explanations. I recommend this collection highly for Far Side fans.

Hilarious!
"The Prehistory of the Far Side: A Tenth Anniversary Exhibit," by Gary Larson, is a slightly different volume in the "Far Side" book series. This book collects Larson's cartoons, but there's more: according to the foreword, the purpose of the book is "to reveal some of the background, anecdotes, foibles, and 'behind-the-scenes' experiences related to this cartoon panel." Part of the book's fun is figuring out what parts of this "behind-the-scenes" material are for real and what parts are just further jokes on Larson's part.

Material in the book includes Larson's childhood drawings; early, rough versions of some of his cartoons, along with the versions ultimately used; stories of the personal experiences behind certain panels; and more. One hilarious section records an editor's mistaken switch of a "Far Side" caption with a "Dennis the Menace" caption (Dennis has never been more menacing). And there's much more.

And of course, there's a straightforward gallery of some of Larson's twisted cartoons. Among the sights the reader will encounter are dog hell; the Secret Chipmunk Burial Grounds; a screening of an amoeba porn flick; and an encounter with the sinister Professor DeArmond -- "the epitome of evil amongst butterfly collectors!".

Larson's "Far Side" cartooons are a unique blend of satire, horror, science fiction, and surreal hilarity. If you're a fan, don't miss this collection.

Eeeny-ooony-wanah!...Eeeny-ooony-wanah!...Eeeny-ooony-wanah!
What an unbelievable book! This is a dream come true for fans of The Far Side! In it, you will witness: 1. Gary Larson's strange childhood. 2. Nature's Way, a sort of early version of The Far Side that appeared in The Seattle Times. 3. Gary Larson's creative process, which is very creative indeed! 4. A sketchbook of drawings and ideas that never made it past the initial stage, including some that would definitely have been winners. 5. Background stories on certain panels and random ideas. 6. Mistakes that either Gary or the newspaper editors made. Some of these are unbelieveable! Prepare to bust a gut! 7. Subtleties which make him wonder why he did certain things. Things he wished he wouldn't have done and things he wished he would have done. 8. Public responses to some of his more controversial and/or confusing panels. This features a very cool reply to all of his critics. 9. Rejected cartoons; the weirdest of the weird and the grossest of the gross. Some were obviously not going to be printed and some will make you wonder why they weren't. The times are definitely a-changin'! 10. The Exibit: some of Gary's personal favorites. Interesting choices. As I stated earlier, this is an ABSOLUTE MUST OWN for anyone who is a fan or can appreciate a little weirdness now and then. Your Far Side collection is not even close to being complete if you don't buy this book!