This article contains references to circumstances that may be disturbing or triggering to some readers. Reader discretion is advised.
The Far Sideis a comic strip that is famous for throwing an absurd lens on the entire world, depicting every day, borderline mundane activities in the weirdest ways imaginable. Everything from taking a train or waiting at a crosswalk becomes utterly ridiculous, and thetype of humor used in any givenFar Sidestripranges wildly as well. Sometimes the pure absurdity of a joke is enough to get the laugh, but other times,The Far Sidedelves into some pretty dark humor.
For the most part,The Far Side’s jokes are appropriate for readers of all ages, and even the ones that ride that line between appropriate and inappropriate usually contain jokes that would simply go over a younger reader’s head. And that proverbial line is exactly where these particularFar Sidecomics can be found, as they are examples of the comic strip’s ability to deliver some pretty dark jokes in anutterly absurd way that onlyThe Far Sideis capable of. Here’s10Far Sidecomics loaded with dark jokes!
10Intrusive Thoughts
This Construction Worker has Some Pretty Dark Intrusive Thoughts in The Far Side
A couple of construction guys are sitting on top of the frame of a new building, enjoying their lunch. At least, theywereenjoying their lunch, until one of them started telling his coworker, named Frank, about his intrusive thoughts. The construction guy asks Frank if he ever gets an “urge” whenever he’s sitting so high up in the air, as if a voice inside of him is urging him to do something terrible. Initially, it seems like the construction worker is alluding to suicidal thoughts, but thenit’s revealed that he’s having homicidal thoughts, and that Frank should be a bit concerned.
Thankfully,the construction guy is just voicing his own intrusive thoughts to Frank, and isn’t actually plotting any murders. However, even considering something like that is just plain dark, especially for a generally light-hearted comic like The Far Side.
9Bear Suicide
Bears have an Interesting Way of Taking Their Own Lives in The Far Side
A mama bear and a papa bear walk into their house to find another bear named Leonard - presumably their son - stuffed in the living room with a note on his chest that reads, “Goodbye world”. The mama bear exclaims, “Oh my God! It’s Leonard!… He stuffed himself”, which is a conclusion she came to after seeing the note on his chest. In other words,this bear took his own life, and he did so by having himself stuffed, which is as tragic as it is absurd.
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A bear - or any other animal - getting stuffed is a process that happens after the animal is already dead. It’s not a method one would use to kill the animal, which is why this particular comic depicting the outcome of a’suicide-by-stuffing' is hilariously ridiculous, while still being incredibly dark.
8Chicken Baker
This Chicken is Willing to Do the Unthinkable to Bake Her Cake in The Far Side
A chicken is baking a cake in the kitchen, with all the ingredients laid out in front of her. However, there’s one obvious ingredient that the chicken baker is missing: eggs. She does, however, have several eggs behind her in her nest - eggs that she had recently laid herself. Those eggs presumably have her future children in them, butthis chicken is considering doing the unthinkable for the sake of her cake.
The idea that a baker - chicken or otherwise - would sacrifice their own children just to bake a cake is utterly hilariousin the darkest way. While the chicken baker is considering the unthinkable, it’s possible that she won’t go through with it. However, even considering something like that is insanely dark.
The Far Side Turns a Popular Children’s Rhyme into a Dark Joke
A woman namedMary is sitting at her dinner table, carving into a slice of lamb that she had just cooked, and enjoying every bite. Indeed, the comic strip makes it clear that Mary had multiple servings, so it’s obvious she was enjoying her meal. While someone eating lamb isn’t an especially dark scene, as that’s a dish that is served at most fine dining restaurants, this scene becomes incredibly dark when considering what it’s referencing.
ThisFar Sidecomic is a dark retelling of the children’s rhyme “Mary Had A Little Lamb”. In this version, Mary did, in fact, have a little lamb - before she ate it. At which point,Mary had a little lamb… for dinner. It’s pretty messed up no matter how one looks at it, which is why it’s utterly hilarious.
6Vengeful Chicken
This Chicken has a Twisted Sense of Vengeance in The Far Side
A family sitting down for dinner is stunned into silence when their beloved dog, Fifi, suddenly rips his own head off to reveal he isn’t Fifi at all, but a chicken in a Fifi costume.The chicken then announces that she is the same chicken the family thought they were eating, but in reality, they are actually eating their own dog, Fifi. The chicken then starts laughing maniacally, with the caption of this comic reading, “Scene from ‘Dinner on Elm Street’”.
This chicken wanted vengeance on this family, as they were going to eat her without giving it a second thought. So,the chicken enacted her own brand of twisted vengeanceupon them, literally murdering their dog and making them eat it. It’s messed up, but kind of understandable, and definitely morbidly hilarious.
5Bear Bedtime Stories
Bears Have a Sick Way of Telling Bedtime Stories in The Far Side
A mama bear is trying to put her cubs to bed, but they refuse to go to sleep before hearing a bedtime story, even if it is the same bedtime story they’ve heard a number of times before - complete with visual aids.The mama bear puts two human skulls on her paws and puppets them as if they were toys, recounting the time these people wandered into their caveand were eaten by them.
The thought of people being killed and eaten by a family of bears is dark enough, but add to that the idea thatthose same bears keep the bones to use as visual aids to recount that moment over and over as a bedtime storyis just next level. These bears are sadistic, and relish their kills more than they should, and that is just plain dark.
4Bug Paradise
An Insect’s Dream is Humanity’s Nightmare in The Far Side
Nuclear explosions are going off all throughout this city, and presumably the world, as humanity has reached its end by-way of a nuclear holocaust. Billions of human lives are being snuffed out in an instant, and the ones that survive will assuredly die painful deaths later on. Indeed, thisFar Sidecomic depicts armageddon, which is something that people should only have to see in their nightmares. And,while all this horror is happening all around them, a bunch of bugs are dancing on a leaf, celebrating their new paradise.
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This comic is a play on howcockroaches can survive nuclear explosions, and how they will inherit the Earth if humanity kills itself through nuclear war. And, inThe Far Side, that extends to all chitinous insects, and by the looks of it, they couldn’t be happier.
3’A Goat in a Cloud Bank’
These Pilots Don’t Know They’re About to Crash Into a Mountain in The Far Side
A couple ofpilots are flying their plane through the clouds, when suddenly, they see a mountain goatseemingly standing on a cloud bank. One of the pilots turns to the other and says, “Say… what’s a mountain goat doing way up here in a cloud bank?”, and while that is a pressing concern, it kind of detracts from the dire reality of the situation.
This goat isn’t somehow floating in the clouds, the plane is about to crash into a mountain, and every second the pilots are confused about that is one more second they aren’t trying to prevent the deaths of their passengers and themselves. The pilots' stupidity is comical, but the fact that they and their passengers are all about to die is decidedly dark.
2The Fate of D.B. Cooper
The Far Side Reveals What REALLY Happened to D.B. Cooper
D.B. Cooper is a legendary outlaw who hijacked a plane and threatened to blow it up unless he was given $200,000 and parachutes. After receiving his money and parachutes, and allowing the other passengers to leave, D.B. Cooper instructed the flight crew to refuel and continue flying. At that point, Cooper jumped out of the plane with his parachute and his money and vanished, never to be seen again.D.B. Cooper was never caught, and his real identity was never discovered. And, inThe Far Side, it’s revealed why.
According toThe Far Side, D.B. Cooper landed right in the middle of “Ben & Vera’s Rottweiler Farm”, and was torn apart by dogs. That’s why he was never found, and why his identity was never discovered, because after the rottweilers got hold of him, there was nothing left.
1Baby-Eating Snake
This Snake is About to Pay for Its Unspeakable Crime in The Far Side
A snake is trying to leave a baby’s room, but because of the size of its last meal, the snake’s belly is too big to fit through the crib- and that last meal was the baby itself. The snake is noticeably annoyed that it’s too fat to slither out of the baby’s room, and honestly, it should be terrified, because this snake is about to be a dead snake the second the baby’s parents discover what it has done. Indeed, this snake will assuredly pay for its unspeakable crime, but that doesn’t erase the horror of what it has done.
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Any kind of ‘dead baby’ joke is automatically dark, butliterally seeing the baby in the stomach of this snake makes this particular one even darker. And that’s why this is one of the 10 bestFar Sidecomics with dark humor!
