Customer Reviews

Last Chapter and Worse

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Whenever I am feeling low and in a depressed mood, I go over to my bookshelf and pick out one of Gary Larson's Far Side collections. They never fail to bring me back into good spirits.

Last Chapter and Worse, the Far Side collection coinciding with the retirement of Gary Larson, is a great collection of his witty and humorous cartoons. As usual, there is a wide range of subjects covered by Larson in this collection, including aliens, mad scientists, chickens, life in Hell, shipwrecks, cavemen, cows, and much more.

Near the end of the collection, there are 13 extra cartoons that have not been previously published. I don't know why, because they are just as funny as the other Far Side cartoons. The afterword is interesting and witty as Larson retells a funny story (with pictures) that his father told him.

If you want a good laugh, I highly recommend Last Chapter and Worse (or any other Far Side collection, for that matter) for a few chuckles and cartoons that will make you laugh your head off!

This is a very special Far Side book that has several Far Side comics from the time when Larson's comics were in the newspaper and thirteen new comics that have never been published in a Far Side book before. Some of Larson's funniest comics are in this book! Join Saton, the Cows, the Cowboys, Morty the Sloth, Aunt Zelda and all the rest of the Far Side characters in the last book ever made by Gary Larson. Recommended for Far Side fans and collecters who want to have a big laugh.

This isn't Larson's best book but being his last Farside cartoon collection before retirement is a collectors piece. The 140 cartoons in the bulk part of the book contain some classics such as the Inferiority Complex Sufferers cartoon and the ACME Wingbaby cartoon. The majority are good but there are some that you can tell were being left out of earlier books due to their standard. I love the two cartoons on page 80 (the end of the general cartoon section) that tell us The Far Side cartoons were all a dream of a man and the cavemen, cows, nerdy kids all looked like members of his family. The 13 full page cartoons at the back of the book are drawn after retirement and in most cases I would say aren't up to Larson's usual brilliant standard.

There is also an Afterword by Gary Larson that tells a tale his father drew on his kitchen table about a kid in school, drawing a box that becomes a lightbulb then becomes his mum bending over. Interesting story but I would have preferred a few more cartoons.

There are better Far Side collections than this one but if you own the rest you need this to complete your collection. There are plenty of good cartoons here.

For those of you Larson~FarSiders like me, this is a must have. You need to love and see FarSide on your daily life to understand and enjoy Larson's humor. This last book has more of what we all wished he could and would continue giving us. On a scale of one to ten farsides, and compared to previous FarSide books, this one is an "8". Buy it!

I hope that this is not Larson's last addition to the world of syndicated newspaper comedy. His humor is among the wittiest, most drop-dead hilarious stuff on the planet. WHile this may not be his most amazing work, it's still pretty damn funny. If you like this, you'll love his older stuff like the second Gallery. True comedic genious!

This book is the last six months of Far Side cartoons. Plus 13 new cartoons. They are phenomenal. And now, a moment of silence for The Far Side...

I have a lot of Larson's books, and a few calendars, which are great considering that the Far Side was never published in any of the national UK newspapers. So when G.L. retired, naturally I was not best pleased. BUT A NEW BOOK...yahoo! Without doubt this is one of the best ever, with cartoons I have never before seen, and additional new ones too! The perfect antidote for withdrawal sympoms: you laugh so hard you forget you ever missed it. Thank you, Mr. Larson, thankyou

Gary Larson has a macabre and twisted sense of humor and I commend him for it. His "The Far Side" comic strip was one of my favorites from the first time I read it until he retired the strip. This book contains the cartoons of the last six months of the strip as well as 13 additional cartoons drawn by Larson after he retired. They all have the twisted look at life that was Larson's trademark. If your funnybone is twisted into a similar contortion, then this is a book that you must read.

"Last Chapter and Worse" is a great Far Side volume to have around. Not only does it contain a plethora of bizarre Larson cartoons, but also was made as he retired, giving us one final treat. Larson writes a bit about retirement (I still wish he would resume an active cartoonist's career,) and gives the audience thirteen new cartoons for this book. He also tells an amusing story about how his father got him interested in art at a young age, complete with re-created illustrations from that important life lesson.

I was especially amused by several of the cartoons in this volume. On p. 41 there is one that I found hilarious, mostly because of the caption: "Artist: G. Larson Medium: Ink on paper Title: It Was Late and I Was Tired." As a lover of classic Japanese sci-fi movies, I was also enthralled with "The Army's last-ditch effort to destroy Mothra." Larson's infatuation with all things creepy and weird also gave great joy here (as always) with a lunchroom conversation of "Tropical House" scientists when one poses the following riddle over sandwiches: "OK, here's one, Marv: What's got 12 legs, six eyes, a hairy thorax, was found dead in its display case this morning, and goes 'crunch' inside a submarine sandwich?"

As he headed off into retirement, Larson drew two particularly insightful color panels, which are on p. 80, recounting his Far Side experience in a touching and funny "Wizard of Oz" analogy. (I particularly love the audience members surrounding him in the first panel.) Larson is a delightfully twisted and wonderful cartoonist, and was for years the only reason I read the newspaper. Come back, Gary! We need you!

This contained some of the funniest cartoons I have ever seen. I am recommending it to all of my friends