Summary
Gary Larson’sThe Far Sidefamously doesn’t have any official recurring characters. Larson wanted the freedom to tell single, self-contained gags where anything was possible (as well as the ability to mercilessly torture his characters without upsetting fans.) However, while Larson didn’t want to use the samecharactersover and over again, he had no such misgivings about using the same archetypes, and perhaps the most famous (next to his ubiquitous cows) is a character Larson refers to as"the Nerdy Little Kid."
Alongside the woman in the horn-rimmed glasses, the balding scientist,and the giant squid,the Nerdy Kid appears acrossThe Far Side’s entire run, often featuring on the front covers of Larson’sFar Sidecollectionsalong with the rest of the ‘cast.’ Not only is the Nerdy Kid extremely common, but he stars in some of Larson’s best comics of all time.
Screen Rant has collected the best of the best, showcasing the 15 funniestFar Sidecomics starring the nerdy little kid, including two all-time greats that are in contention as Larson’s best strips of all time. If you want to see how other readers rank these strips,don’t forget to vote in our end-of-article poll for your favorite.
15New Kid
In a Rare Strip, Far Side’s Nerdy Kid Actually Gets to Speak
Sometimes, allThe Far Sideneeds to have a good time is a common idiom to take overly literally. In this strip, the ‘new kid’ in class isn’t a recent addition to the school, but rather a student who’s still shiny and ‘factory fresh.’ This is one of the rare cases where the Nerdy Kid - with his snub nose, freckles, bristly hair, and thick glasses - is just a bit player in the story. Strangely, this is coupled with the fact that it’salsoone of the only comics where he has lines.
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14Monster Snorkel
This Comic Came from Gary Larson’s Childhood Fears
Gary Larson didn’t base a lot of comics on real-world events, butthe ‘Monster Snorkel’ stripcertainly seems to have been inspired by his own childhood. InThe Prehistory of The Far Side, Larson shares his childhood terror of monsters and habit of hiding under the safety of the covers to escape their attention. TheFar Sidecreator writes:
I nearly suffocated trying to stay completely under the blankets. Any exposed skin meant certain death. The monster snorkel would have been a wonderful thing in my little world.
Indeed,Larson’s greatest terror came from a nightmare his brother experienced then related to him in great detail- one in which he was being pursued by a terrifying wolf with"pure, white yes"that was"walking on its hind legs, trying to get him.“Larson reports that while his brother quickly got over the nightmare, the imagery terrifiedhimfor far longer. The wolf actually appears in a couple of places overThe Far Side’s run, including the above strip andanothercomic starring the Nerdy Kid, where it turns out nightmares are created by two tiny elves sitting at a control panel.
This was far from the last time Larson’s brother managed to instill an idea that made it intoThe Far Side, as later entries will show.
13Our 1.5 Children
Far Side Takes a Famous Statistic Too Seriously
It’s a commonly shared statistic that the average American family has ‘2.5 kids,’ i.e. that the average of children in a household is between two and three. The funny logic of the term - that anyone could have 0.5 of a child - gave it staying power in the national psyche, with the idea of striving for ‘a white picket fence and 2.5 kids’ coming to stand for a very specific vision of the American Dream and its impossibly ideal family life.
While the claim itself was always questionable in terms of the numbers (and is even more so in 2024), Larson imagines what the literal situation would look like, as the Nerdy Kid (here going by ‘Russell) becomes a sort-of twin to his 0.5 of a brother, Bill. Larson usually has a great idea of what targets will stand the test of time, but anyone who isn’t aware of the ‘X.5 kids’ saying would be particularly nonplussed by this bizarre panel.
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Larson describes his sense of humor as a result of growing up in a family that had"a deep, sincere appreciation for the many uses of a good gorilla mask.”
12Ant Farm
Bugs Are One of Far Side’s Biggest Obsessions
Gary Larson is a major fan of bugs, with many ofThe Far Side’s strips taking inspiration from creepy crawlies. Indeed, Larson is so fond of insects that he’s had multiple species of bug named after him by scientist fans, including the butterflyserratoterga larsoniand the chewing lousestrigiphilus garylarsoni. It’s therefore not surprising that so many of Larson’s comics focus on the idea of kids (or beings whoactlike kids) keeping insects in jars or ant farms to study.
In the case of the Nerdy Kid (this time going by ‘Robby’), this includes the cattle rancher-like behavior of branding his tiny pets - presumably so no ant-rustlers can steal them away. In one great strip, the Nerdy Kid faces protests by the friends of the insects he captured, however Larson has also depicted aliens, scientists, and even God indulging in the hobby.
The Nerdy Kid’s ant farm makes a return in another strip, however it’s ruled out of contention in this list on a technicality because rather than beingThe Far Side’s stock character, the kid in question is very specificallycalled out as horror author Stephen King. King seemingly saw the funny side, since he wrote the foreword for Larson’sThe Far Side Gallery 2collection.
11Take Your Brother Off the Rack
Larson’s Humor Was Inspired by His Family
Given the context of the white-eyed wolf nightmare, it won’t surprise fans to know that Larson’s brother often took the opportunity to mercilessly mess with him. InThe Far Side Gallery 1, Larson even notes"This is my brother’s fault"in regard to the franchise. It therefore makes sense that Larson would imagine the Nerdy Kid with a brother who torments him - although in typicallyFar Sidefashion, he does so with a medieval torture rack.
One of Larson’s favorite gags is a tepid response to outsized behavior - this can be seen in the strip where a couple hire a witch to babysit their kids, only to be peeved when they return home to discover she ate not just one butboth. The comic received heat from some fans, thoughLarson still numbers it among his favorites.
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However, it wasn’t justLarson’s brother who inspired his humor- inThe Complete Far Side,Larson describes his sense of what’s funny as a result of growing up in a family that had"a deep, sincere appreciation for the many uses of a good gorilla mask.“Indeed, Larson draws a distinction between the ideas of having a sense of humor and being witty, stating thatThe Far Sidehas always been about the former - jokes that are funny on a gut level.
10Playing with the Dog
Gary Larson Always Takes the Animal’s Side
If there’s a human bugging an animal in aFar Sidecomic, fans can be confident that Larson will take the side of the animal. It’s a relatable gag for any pet owner who’s ever had to stop a friend’s kids bugging their pet, but also acts as a prologue to a far darker strip that will appear later in this list…
Inthisstrip, Larson finds a way to split up the single image, usingthe dog’s revenge fantasyto add a subtle second panel to the comic. Larson often finds smart ways to divide up the panel, using the floor between two apartments, beach scenes where the reader can see above and below water, or even the front and back seats of a car to ‘cheat’ the constraints of a single panel.
9The Far Side Cast
Gary Larson Reveals the ‘Actor’ Who Plays the Nerdy Kid
Throughout its run,The Far Sidewasnever afraid to break the fourth wall, acknowledging its own existence as a comic and playing with the rules of the form. In this strip, Larson treats his comic like a TV show, revealing the fictional ‘cast’ who play its characters.The joke plays with Larson’s use of recurring archetypes, explaining their similarities with the idea that they’re played by the same actors.In the middle, it turns out the Nerdy Kid is actually ‘Jerry Miller,’ with a genius meta joke that the ‘actor’ was almost chosen to star in Ernie Bushmiller’sNancycomic, where Sluggo is depicted with the same kind of upturned nose.
The idea of newspaper comics hiring cartoon actors is a truly fun conceit, and Larson’s meta touch makes the most out ofThe Far Side’s unconnected comics, treating the strip as what it essentially is - a sketch show where fans have to wait a day for each new skit.
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InThe Prehistory of The Far Side, Larson reveals various ways he works out ideas, including writing short prose stories to find the perfect moment to capture as a comic.
8Animal Crackers
Far Side’s Love of Americana Is Its Secret Obsession
Animal Crackers are an iconic kids’ snack in America, adding a little levity with lion, elephant and camel shapes, among other exotic animals. Again, Larson derives humor from taking a term overly literally, having the crackers savage the Nerdy Kid when he opens the box. WhileThe Far Sidehas a lot of themes it likes to return to, one of the most ignored is its affection for everyday Americana. Growing up during the 50s and 60s, Larson’s humor may be timeless, but as he acknowledged in a 1987 interview with20/20, the world ofFar Sideis firmly rooted in the era ofLeave It To Beaverand Cold War paranoia.
7The Anderson Brothers
Bears Are the #1 Threat to Far Side’s Humans
Again, Larson uses the foreground and background to break the joke into two parts, making readersveryaware of the fate that befell the Anderson brothers. Fans who take particular satisfaction inThe Far Side’s mini-morality tales might like to imagine the earlier comic where two very similar brothers bug a dog as depicting the same characters, now finally paying the price for treating animals like toys.
6Metal Shop
This Far Side Comic Came from a Larson Short Story
Fans ofThe Far Sidemight fairly ask where Gary Larson could possibly get the inspiration for his bizarre strips. InThe Prehistory of The Far Side,Larson reveals various ways he works out ideas for comics, including writing short prose stories. The idea isn’t so much to discover what ideas to depict, but to zero in on the single moment in the story that will be the funniest when it appears as a single-panel gag.Larson’s story for this comicreveals a lot of extra details, and even adds a ‘morality tale’ aspect.
In the story, the kids work in metal shop on a robot that’s meant to help mankind, essentially ignored by their teacher"Mr. Rockford.“Scared that they won’t finish the project, the kids start working on it during study hall and after school, but without supervision, the project drifts towards a darker goal, with the narrator noting,“I think it was Randy Boone who suggested inserting the death-ray.“In the story, the kids showcase their robot in front of the entire school, with the concluding line,“Needless to say, when the carnage finally ended, we all received an ‘F.'”
