8 Oversized Far Side Sunday Comics That Just Turned 40

Published Oct 11, 2026, 9:26 AM EDT

Ambrose Tardive is an editor on ScreenRant's Comics team. Over the past two years, he has developed into the internet's foremost authority on The Far Side. Outside of his work for ScreenRant, Ambrose works as an Adjunct English Instructor.

When The Far Side premiered in 1980, there was no garauntee it was going to become a full-time gig for Gary Larson, let alone a career. Smash cut to 1986, and Larson has found himself a household name, with collections of Far Side comics routinely topping the bestseller lists, and demand for new daily Far Sides at an all-time high.

This led The Far Side to expand to seven days a week, when previously it had been a weekday cartoon, with repeats on weekends. And that expansion was also literal; on Sundays, Larson now had about three times more space to work with.

The first of these bigger, more detailed Far Side comics celebrate their 40th anniversary this year. This list looks at the early crop of Sunday Far Sides and what makes them special, before looking ahead to a few more that are about to turn 40.

8 "Tarzan Sweats The Cost Of Towing Tantor"

First Published: May 4, 1986

The Far Side debuted its regular, plus-sized Sunday panels with a memorable one. It is one of many Far Side cartoons starring Tarzan. He's hilariously riding in the cab of "Andy's Towing" truck, a thought balloon with a dollar sign hovering over his head as the truck carts a limp Tantor the elephant through the jungle.

Having one's car break down and having it get it towed? That's one of modern life's greatest hassles. Making that a problem for the man civilization forgot, Tarzan, is trademark Gary Larson humor. As for the illustration, it is fair to say this visual Far Side punchline wouldn't have hit quite that same in the comic's weekday format. The wider Sunday format lets it really get its point across to the reader.

7 "Usually, These Big Tuskers Only Bluff"

First Published: May 11, 1986

Gary Larson used elephants again in the following Sunday's Far Side, seeking to make the most of the added dimensions of these panels. Larson tests out a formula here that will come back in multiple future Sunday Far Sides. (Including the next one on this list.) That is, the standoff.

In this case, it is a pair of explorers, in their tiny green convertible, staring down a trio of elephants. "I've got a feeling about that fellow in the middle," the man behind the wheel says, and it should be more than a feeling, because an identical steering wheel is hanging from one the elephant's tusks, while a tire is speared on the other.

6 "No Trade Until We Check Our Guy Out"

First Published: June 22, 1986

More on the art of the Far Side standoff. The size of the Sunday cartoon made this possible, because it allowed for an extended gulf of space between the parties on both sides. That's an important part of the joke, especially in this case, where one character shouts to his counterpart on the other side.

Three hunters with a deer tied up. At the opposite end of a clearing in the woods, three deer with a hunter tied up. An improbable hostage exchange. This is probably the apex of Far Side standoff jokes, though achieving perfection didn't stop Gary Larson from trying this formula out a few more Sundays over the years.

5 "Insect Photography Exhibit"

First Published: July 6, 1986

Long before A Bug's Life, Gary Larson was using The Far Side to explore the wild what ifs of bug civilization. Here, it is an "Insect Photography Exhibit," where all the pictures are black-and-white close-ups of humans. This is a prominent example of a Sunday Far Side that truly feels like a "widescreen" version of a standard Far Side joke.

Consider just the left third of the panel for a moment. The sign identifying the exhibit. The purple bug contemplating an extreme close up of a person's eyes. That is a great Far Side joke. 10/10. No notes. The extra width of the Sunday strip extends the joke, without elaborating on it further. Arguably, at least in this case, that's a good thing.

4 "Dinosaur Vs. Fly"

First Published: July 27, 1986

Most Far Side cartoons are single panel, but Gary Larson frequently broke his own rule to deliver multi-panel comics. This became even easier with Sunday strips, which ran 3x as big as regular Far Sides. This wordless Far Side, which we'll call "Dinosaur Vs. Fly," is a flawless comedic sequence spread across six panels.

A dinosaur sits reading next to an open window. There are huge chunks missing from the surrounding walls. A fly buzzes in. The dino swings its spiked tail and obliterates the fly, along with another chunk of wall. A panel of peace and quiet. Then another fly buzzes in. The size of the panel and the scope of the joke go hand-in-hand in this Far Side comic, resulting in one of Larson's best jokes.

3 "Take It From Me, She's Lyin'!"

First Published: September 21, 1986

A pastoral scene. Gazelle and zebras mingling out on the plain, grazing and chatting. Except the gazelles' conversation gets a little too loud, when one of them disputes what another said it heard from a female member of the herd. Emphatically denying this alleged slander, the gazelle shouts:"Well take it from me, she's lyin'!"

Cue stampede, as all the other animals around them hear "lion" and bolt. Again, it is a Far Side joke that needs multiple panels to work. The punchline is in the one-two, set-up/delivery of the side-by-side frames, with the contrast between the peaceful and chaotic moments being the funny part.

2 "No Size Restrictions & Screw The Limit"

First Published: September 28, 1986

There's a Key and Peele sketch where Peele is sitting by the window at a coffee shop when he sees a nuclear bomb go off in the distance. As the shockwave starts heading his way, he calmly pours a ludicrous amount of sugar in his coffee. Because why the heck not, right? It is a great joke. One The Far Side did a version of nearly 30 years earlier.

"I'll tell you what this means, Norm," a guy out fishing on a lake says to his buddy, as they watch four mushroom clouds rise over the horizon, presumably signifying the end of civilization as they know it. Which means they don't have to abide by any "size restrictions" when it comes to what they catch anymore. "And screw the limit," the guy says. Like the Key and Peele punchline, the speaker's calm in the face of Armageddon is the punchline here.

1 "The Giant Locusts Have Begun Their Attack"

First Published: October 12, 1986

"Giant locusts" descend and "[begin] their attack." It is not the worst thing to happen to one of The Far Side's cities. And in this case, a news report tells readers that "most residents have already fled." Except for the lady waiting at the window of her high-rise apartment building with a flyswatter, determined to fight back.

Everything about this Far Side cartoon could only work in an extra-length Sunday panel. The size of the locusts in juxtaposition to the buildings, and the woman in the window, are all essential to the joke, and it would not have come across the same if it had only been allotted 1/3 of the space.

Honorable Mentions:

Sunday cartoons became a staple of The Far Side for most of the rest of its seven years of daily new material. (Gary Larson took a year-long break in 1989; repeats ran in syndication during this time.) Notably, though, many of the most fondly remembered Sunday panels came from this first year.

The cartoons above have all already celebrated their 40th anniversaries, or are about to, but it is also worth shouting out some Sunday Far Sides that still have anniversaries ahead, like "Night of the Crash-Test Dummies," and "Custer's Last Group Photo," and the one where the city skyline turns out to be a row of giant dominoes.

Beyond that, there are many more great super-sized Sunday Far Side cartoons to explore from the later stages of Gary Larson's career.

What are some more that you want to see coverage of, Far Side fans?