Why These 10 Funniest Far Side Comics About Dinosaurs Still Hold Up 40 Years Later
Prehistoric Trouble Takes Shape
Dinosaurs have been a recurring subject in Gary Larson’s The Far Side. The cartoonist used them to joke about prehistoric life and modern human behavior, pairing dark humor with absurd observations.
In one strip, two paleontologists find a clutch of eggs they believe are millions of years old. They remark that the eggs look freshly laid, while the shadow of a dinosaur mother looms behind them.
Bubbles And Breakfast Surprises
Another comic shows three dinosaurs blowing bubbles. One produces a large bubble with a human face visible inside, suggesting an unsettling source for the gum. A 1986 strip brings a familiar breakfast ritual to a tyrannosaurus family. One young dinosaur searches a box of “Meaties,” a carnivorous take on Wheaties, while the packaging promises a “Free Kid Inside.” The joke leaves open whether the prize is a toy or a real child.
Horns, Friends And Extinction
At a bar, two female triceratops notice a male with four horns. One tells Edith, “Oooooo! Check it out, Edith! It’s a quadraceratops!” The imaginary dinosaur’s extra horn turns a familiar idea about physical attraction into a prehistoric gag. A darker strip follows a young dinosaur carrying a bat and baseball mitt as it stands outside caves marked “Extinct.” The signs explain why the child has no one to play with: its friends are gone.
Key points
- Larson’s dinosaur comics combine prehistoric settings with jokes about recognizable human behavior.
- One strip turns a search for dinosaur eggs into a looming encounter with their mother.
- A young tyrannosaurus searches a “Meaties” box for its promised “Free Kid Inside” prize.
- The extinct signs outside the caves leave one dinosaur child without friends to play with.