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40 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A 10th Anniversary Retrospective, July 25, 2004
If you have ever wondered how Gary Larson started coming up with ideas for "The Far Side," this book offers a retrospective back to Gary's childhood days. The book is divided into five portions. The first portion takes Gary's past from his first drawings to syndication of "The Far Side." Along the path was a pre-Far Side comic called "Nature's Way."
In the second part of the book Gary offers his original sketches and captions in comparison to how the comics actually came out. In most cases the final version was better, but not always. At the end of this portion of the book is a short section titled "stories" that is what it says, comics with a lengthy caption that is at the very least a short story. In some cases the caption could be a novel, if you think about the concept very long, which I do not recommend. You might suffer further brain damage.
The third part is really interesting. It shows how Gary or newspapers made mistakes. The mistakes were often subtle, sometimes blatant. Some of the more interesting mistakes happened when the caption of adjacent comic was switched with that of "The Far Side."
The fourth portion of the book was humorous independent of the comics. Gary offers comments from various people offended by his art. Considering the art and the comments offered, I suggest that in many cases people saw something that was not there, which makes me wonder where THEIR mind was at. In other cases, people need to remember that Gary is offering a perspective on the world, in comparison to how people see things. It does not mean that Gary is interested in actually seeing the things in his comics happening; usually.
The fifth and last portion of the book offers Gary's favorites. I concur that most of them brought a smile to my face, and in a few cases an out right laugh.
Gary Larson succeeds in thinking outside the box, something that he does with great regularity. I suspect that he would be great at inventing. Of course, he is a self-described nerd, and I believe it. He also seems quite pleased that his comics find substantial popularity amongst scientists. Probably engineers too. If you think "The Far Side" is one of the greatest comics ever created, you will love this collection for its explanations. I recommend this collection highly for Far Side fans.
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20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hilarious!, December 25, 2001
"The Prehistory of the Far Side: A Tenth Anniversary Exhibit," by Gary Larson, is a slightly different volume in the "Far Side" book series. This book collects Larson's cartoons, but there's more: according to the foreword, the purpose of the book is "to reveal some of the background, anecdotes, foibles, and 'behind-the-scenes' experiences related to this cartoon panel." Part of the book's fun is figuring out what parts of this "behind-the-scenes" material are for real and what parts are just further jokes on Larson's part. Material in the book includes Larson's childhood drawings; early, rough versions of some of his cartoons, along with the versions ultimately used; stories of the personal experiences behind certain panels; and more. One hilarious section records an editor's mistaken switch of a "Far Side" caption with a "Dennis the Menace" caption (Dennis has never been more menacing). And there's much more. And of course, there's a straightforward gallery of some of Larson's twisted cartoons. Among the sights the reader will encounter are dog hell; the Secret Chipmunk Burial Grounds; a screening of an amoeba porn flick; and an encounter with the sinister Professor DeArmond -- "the epitome of evil amongst butterfly collectors!". Larson's "Far Side" cartooons are a unique blend of satire, horror, science fiction, and surreal hilarity. If you're a fan, don't miss this collection.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Eeeny-ooony-wanah!...Eeeny-ooony-wanah!...Eeeny-ooony-wanah!, August 7, 2000
What an unbelievable book! This is a dream come true for fans of The Far Side! In it, you will witness: 1. Gary Larson's strange childhood. 2. Nature's Way, a sort of early version of The Far Side that appeared in The Seattle Times. 3. Gary Larson's creative process, which is very creative indeed! 4. A sketchbook of drawings and ideas that never made it past the initial stage, including some that would definitely have been winners. 5. Background stories on certain panels and random ideas. 6. Mistakes that either Gary or the newspaper editors made. Some of these are unbelieveable! Prepare to bust a gut! 7. Subtleties which make him wonder why he did certain things. Things he wished he wouldn't have done and things he wished he would have done. 8. Public responses to some of his more controversial and/or confusing panels. This features a very cool reply to all of his critics. 9. Rejected cartoons; the weirdest of the weird and the grossest of the gross. Some were obviously not going to be printed and some will make you wonder why they weren't. The times are definitely a-changin'! 10. The Exibit: some of Gary's personal favorites. Interesting choices. As I stated earlier, this is an ABSOLUTE MUST OWN for anyone who is a fan or can appreciate a little weirdness now and then. Your Far Side collection is not even close to being complete if you don't buy this book!
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