Beyond The Far Side

(The Far Side Collection 2)
by
Gary Larson

Andrews and McMeel, August 1983, 100 pp.
ISBN: 0-8362-1149-9

Genre: Comics
Subgenre: Comic Strip / Humor
Reviewed: 4/7/2001

Reviewed by: Conan Tigard

Book Cover

Comic Strip

Synopsis

Beyond The Far Side is the second collection of The Far Side comic strips. All comic strips are in black and white. These are all single shots, not the normal 4 panel comic strips. The Far Side is a humorous comic strip that appeared in a multitude of newspapers daily.

The Far Side became very popular in the early 1980's, and continued into the 1990's, until Gary Larson decided that he was going to retire the comic strip. It was seen daily in hundred of newspapers and enjoyed by millions. The Far Side is just as the name imply...just on the far side of sane. Most of the strips feature humans, but not all. If an animal is the main character, then they are usually placed in the shoes of a human. Most of the Far Side strips deal with the stupid things humans do in every day things. Other strips deals with things that are just totally wacky. Either way, they make fun of us and everything we do. And since it is human nature to laugh at the misfortune of others...you will probably find this comic strip to be very funny.

Review

Beyond The Far Side is even funnier than the first, The Far Side. The book is a fairly quick read since there are only 100 panels. This means that it is about one-third of a year of comic strips.

Gary Larson had pretty much perfected his humor by the time this book came out. While not all strips are very funny, at least they are interesting as they are usually a comment about the nature of mankind. Others make you smile. And still others make you laugh out loud. I always loved The Far Side when it was out in the newspapers, and it is still just a fun to read today.

No matter how many times I read Beyond The Far Side, I still find myself laughing out load . . . and isn't that was a humorous book should do?