Gary Larson cordially invites you to The Far Side's new online home
It’s been 25 years since Gary Larson knocked out one of his offbeat, single-panel Far Side comic strips, but the sardonic collection of cows, dogs, and nerds he first debuted in 1980 remain a touchstone for comedy fans of a certain era. It’s with absolute joy, then, that we report that The Far Side has, for the first time, settled into its own official corner of the internet. On Tuesday, Larson launched TheFarSide.com and, though the cartoonist has no desire to crank out comics on a regular schedule, he looks forward to “slipping in some new things every so often.”
That comes via The New York Times, who also quote Larson as saying he’s “not “‘back’, at least in the sense I think you’re asking.”
He elaborated in a letter posted to the website, saying that the site exists in part to stop fans and advertisers from uploading his work content without his permission.
Trying to exert some control over my cartoons has always been an uphill slog, and I’ve sometimes wondered if my absence from the web may have inadvertently fueled someone’s belief my cartoons were up for grabs. They’re not. But it’s always been inherently awkward to chase down a Far Side–festooned website when the person behind it is often simply a fan. (Although not everyone is quite so uncomplicated in their motives; my cartoons have been taken and used to help sell everything from doughnuts to rodent control. At least I offer range.) So I’m hopeful this official website will help temper the impulses of the infringement-inclined. Please, whoever you are, taketh down my cartoons and let this website become your place to stop by for a smile, a laugh, or a good ol’ fashioned recoiling. And I won’t have to release the Krakencow.
The website is divvied into a few different sections. The Daily Dose, for example, is “an ever-changing, random selection of cartoons,” while Comic Collections provides a “different themed collection of his classic cartoons updated weekly.” There’s also Sketchbooks, a section comprised of “exclusive, never-before-seen extras.” New content, the site clarifies, will arrive in 2020 to commemorate the strip’s 40th anniversary.
Visit the site here.