Gary Larson's The Far Side is simply delightful. Between 1980 and 1995, the artist published single-panel comics drenched in satirical humor, surreal imagery, and splashes of dark comedy. Despite incorporating the occasional pop culture reference, The Far Side's jokes and themes have really stood the test of time, and one of the funniest gags involves video games.
To be honest, Larson didn't tackle gaming all that often, be it of the board or video variety. They just weren't a common source of inspiration for the cartoonist; however, the exceptions are quite fantastic and even sit among The Far Side's most iconic panels. They are funny, cute, slightly weird, and shockingly predictive. Let's take a look at the most hilarious gaming panels in The Far Side.
The intro probably clarified this already, but I'm including a wide variety of game types, not just video games.
Let's start with what might be the most recognizable The Far Side comic of all time, and one that is somewhat infamous due to a mistake. While Larson had a wicked sense of humor, he generally sought to ground his work in accurate history if he sought to reference something real. For this strip, Larson used Cassius Coolidge's "Dogs Playing Poker" painting as inspiration, but he accidentally credited the original creation to Gus Nickerson instead.
Moving past the mistake, which only really became well known long after its original publication, this cartoon is otherwise pretty darn charming. Like most of Larson's greatest work, the concept is very simple: trial and error.
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