When it comes to comedic outlets — be it a movie, a sitcom, a comedy troupe, or even just a single comedian — it’s rare to be a master of both subtle humor and broad, unsubtle comedy. The Three Stooges, for example, are delightfully unsubtle in their brand of violent physical comedy. In contrast, the original British version of The Office is almost entirely subtle in the cringey way it depicts office life.
There are exceptions, though. The Marx brothers are an example of a comedy troupe that could do both. Groucho Marx could deliver a thoughtful quip that might take a second to decode, while Harpo Marx could do something blatantly silly, like getting caught stealing silverware. On a good episode of the sitcom Frasier, David Hyde Pierce’s portrayal of Niles Crane would feature delightful wordplay in one scene and buffoonish physical comedy in the next.
The Far Side cartoonist Gary Larson is similarly a master of both subtle comedy and humor that was wonderfully uncomplicated.
From 1980 until 1995, his single-panel newspaper comic strip featured Larson’s uniquely subversive and silly brand of humor with new characters and scenarios in every strip. Some were broad sight gags that even a young child could enjoy, whereas others could be incredibly understated, and act a bit like a comedy puzzle, where the reader had to examine them to find the joke. Both ends of Larson’s spectrum were hilarious, and that’s what kept the comic strip fresh for 15 years.
Perhaps the best way to illustrate the broad range of Larson’s illustrations is to look at the comic strips he did that featured no words at all. Most of his work featured a caption at the bottom, and he also made use of word bubbles on occasion. But sometimes Larson would present a single image, unsullied by any words. Sometimes it was because they were so simple that words weren’t required. Other times, the lack of words and the effort to find the joke was what made it interesting and rewarding.
Here are seven such comic strips of Larson’s that feature no words at all.
7
The penguin and the banana peel
This depiction of a penguin, slipping on a lone banana peel on a sheet of ice, from June 8, 1994, is a great example of something purely silly. There’s nothing complicated or deep about this comic, it just makes use of the classic slipping on a banana peel gag. And by putting it on a slippery piece of ice, it just makes it all the sillier. The question of how a banana peel found its way to this ice only increases the humor.
6
Fly justice
In contrast, this Sunday strip from May 29, 1988, might take a minute to get. The initial reaction from the reader will likely be “What are these flies doing?” But after seeing the fly with the blindfold, and the line of flies with the flyswatters, plus the fly about to issue a command off to the side, it becomes clear that this is a fly firing squad. The joke is dark and subtle, and it rewards the patience of the reader.
Note here too how Larson reserved this gag for one of his Sunday strips, which utilized a broader format than the weekday panels. Maybe this joke could still have worked had it been squeezed into the normal-sized box, but in the wider format, the firing squad feels more clear.
5
The firefighters
Another mini comedy puzzle is this strip from March 31, 1981. It makes great use of the more vertical daily strip. This one also might take a second to get, as you piece together the series of events that got the woman face the wrong way out of a fiery window.
4
The frog and the airplane
Like dogs chasing cars, this frog who successfully caught an airplane makes for a great, uncomplicated visual joke from August 14, 1984. Maybe there’s some deep message here about life and ambition, but I prefer to see it as a simple, hilarious image.
3
Fish baseball
The logic here, of a pair of fish playing baseball in their glass bowl, is silly and dumb and all the best ways. Like the frog, this strip from May 9, 1985, is just a simple, absurd sight gag.
2
The diver
From March 8, 1988. This strip is a great example of comedy as a mini-puzzle that needs to be figured out. Obviously something is wrong with the diver in the water, but until you see that the guy on the boat has his foot on the hose, the panel really doesn’t make any sense. Larson’s trust that the reader will find the joke shows a lot of faith in the intelligence of his audience.
1
The absent window washer
Finally, this strip, from March 15, 1980, feels like a master class in subtlety. The woman here is just opening the window and outside is a window washer’s station, but where is the joke? Eventually, you come to realize that a second before this strip, this woman swung the window open, knocking the window washer off the platform, likely killing him. It’s incredibly dark and so rewarding once you figure it out.