Gary Larson tests readers' reflexes.
Summary SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT According to creator Gary Larson, The Far Side was, in a sense, written as a test of the readers' reflexes – just not their physical reflexes. Instead, Larson's iconic syndicated newspaper comic was an exercise in reflexive humor, in the sense that it relied on evoking an immediate reaction from the audience, before they could intellectually scrutinize the cartoon.
Published in 2003, The Complete Far Side : Volume One collects the years 1980-1986, from the beginning of the comic's run until about the mid-point. The Far Side ran in newspapers from the start of 1980 until the end of 1994. Looking back at the totality of his original Far Side run, Larson assessed this as critical to the strip's effectiveness, writing in the Preface to The Complete Far Side: Volume One:
The "My God!" Reflex Was Just As Important To Gary Larson's Humor The Far Side Wanted To Get A Rise Out Of Readers Close wanted audiences to emotionally invest in his art...his humor had to be bold – and at times, boundary-pushing – in order to achieve that. As a result, many of Larson's comics targeted the reader's "My God!" Reflex.
When it was originally in publication, The Far Side certainly had its share of critics, and caused its share of controversies. While its creator didn't expressly seek out negative attention, getting the attention of the reader, and provoking a reaction out of them, was always the important part, in whatever form that reaction ultimately came.
All art is about eliciting a response, in some way or another, but some artists are more acutely aware of this than others. Gary Larson was one of those artists. His work certainly had its underlying themes, its recurring ideas, and even the occasional obvious point – that said, Larson's paramount goal was to make the audience feel something, even if different readers felt wildly different things about the same cartoon.
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