30 Years After The Far Side Ended, Gary Larson Returned With One of His Greatest Strips Ever

Published Sep 8, 2026, 1:38 PM EDT

TJ Mills is an editor on ScreenRant's Comic team, where she combines her lifelong passion for DC with her analytical background as a former Intelligence Analyst. Since joining ScreenRant in 2023, she has specialized in covering major DC storylines, character evolutions, and industry developments. 

25 years after the original The Far Side ended, Gary Larson returned to the legendary strip, and five years after that, he produced one of the greatest strips of his entire run. What makes this latest addition to The Far Side legacy so notable isn’t just the humor found within the single strip itself, but the fact that it also serves as a callback to one of Larson’s best strips from his original run. In this strip, Larson captures the humor that made The Far Side so beloved while also creating one of the most heartfelt tributes in comic strip history.

January 1, 1995, is a date that most fans of The Far Side will never forget, as it marked the publication of Gary Larson’s final original newspaper strip and the end of the comic’s original syndicated run. However, unbeknownst to even some die-hard fans, the legendary comic strip quietly returned digitally in 2020, when Larson began publishing new Far Side cartoons on his official website.

The return kicked off with three brand-new strips, marking Larson’s first new Far Side work in 25 years and making it an exceptionally notable comeback. However, while this marked the official return of The Far Side, it was NOT a resurrection of the comic’s daily newspaper run. Larson made it clear in a creator’s note that he wouldn’t be sticking to daily uploads, or even any set schedule, but would instead create when the mood struck him and share his work on his website under the “New Stuff” page.

In his creator’s note, Larson explained that all “The ‘New Stuff’ that you’ll see here is the result of my journey into the world of digital art,” before continuing to urge fans to “please remember, I’m just exploring, experimenting, and trying stuff. New Stuff.” Below, fans can find Larson's latest Far Side creation, and trust us, it’s a 10/10, especially when considering the history behind this particular strip.

The Greatness of Gary Larson's Newest Far Side Comic, Explained

Published October 15, 2025

“The Far Side by Gary Larson” is the official site where fans can find Larson’s digitized creations, as well as digital uploads of his original work. On the site’s main menu, a “New Stuff” option takes viewers to a creator’s note explaining the inspiration behind his return to digital art (a clogged pen), as well as what fans can expect from his new Far Side work. On this page, the “ENTER” button takes fans into the lab of Larson’s experimental digital art.

Here, fans will find Larson’s latest upload, dated Wednesday, October 15, 2025. While this new addition reflects Larson’s digital art journey, the art style and humor are instantly recognizable. The strip depicts a club filled with a band of chimpanzees and chimpanzee patrons. The scene is humorous, but two small details hidden in the strip elevate it into a masterpiece.

First, on one of the empty tables is a reserved sign that reads, “Jane Goodall.” The second notable detail is the bar's name, “Club Gombe,” a reference to Gombe National Park in Tanzania, where Goodall began her groundbreaking research on wild chimpanzees in 1960.

As a quick refresher, Jane Goodall was a legendary English primatologist and anthropologist who also became the subject of one of Larson’s most iconic strips from his original run. Published on August 26, 1987, the strip pictured a female chimp grooming her husband, only to find a blonde hair on him. The female chimp then says, "Well, well-another blonde hair. Conducting a little more 'research' with that Jane Goodall tramp?"

While the Jane Goodall Institute wasn't amused by the strip, Jane herself loved it and even signed a copy. Hence, the 2025 strip most certainly feels like a callback to Larson’s original Jane Goodall gag. However, this new strip goes far beyond a simple callback, instead serving as a heartfelt tribute to Goodall, who died peacefully on October 1, 2025. With Larson publishing the strip just two weeks later, it’s clear that this was an intentional tribute.

While the imagery of chimps going wild in a club, along with a reserved seat for Jane Goodall, is humorous in itself, it’s the history between Goodall and Larson that truly makes this strip legendary. What initially seems like another classic Far Side gag becomes something much more meaningful when viewed through the history shared by its creator and the woman at the center of the joke.