Night of the Crash-Test Dummies

(The Far Side Collection 9)
by
Gary Larson

Andrews and McMeel, July 1988, 104 pp.
ISBN: 0-8362-2049-8

Genre: Comics
Subgenre: Comic Strip / Humor
Reviewed: 1/25/2008

Reviewed by: Conan Tigard

Book Cover

Comic Strip

Synopsis

Night of the Crash-Test Dummies is the ninth 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

For the last few years, most of the comics that I have been reviewing are the DelRey Manga books. But I realized that I still have some of The Far Side collections still sitting on my shelf waiting to be reviewed. So, I finally cracked one open, and boy, oh boy was I glad I did.

This ninth book of The Far Side comic strips made me laugh out loud a few times, even though I have seen them all before. I especially liked the one I printed above as I used to love the Lone Ranger and Tonto. The other one I almost pictured was the anthropologists discovering a second Lucy, but it turns out to be Charles M. Schulz's Lucy van Pelt. I'm just not sure how many people would get that. Say, did you know that Louis Leakey's Lucy was names after the Beatles' song Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds because that is what was playing on the radio when they found her? Pretty cool, huh?

Anyway, this collection of Gary Larson comics is a hoot. I used to cut all of his comics out of the newspaper and put them up on my wall at work. They always brought a smile to my face.

So, if you are looking for a good laugh or two, pick up a copy of Night of the Crash-Test Dummies. It is well worth the money.