‘The Far Side’ Comic Hints at Return After 24 Years Away – WSB-TV Channel 2

The cartoonist who brought you Boneless Chicken Ranch and Mount Stoogemore may be coming back.

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Gary Larson, whose quirky one-panel comic “The Far Side” produced laughs from 1980 to 1995, hinted as much on “The Far Side” website. A cartoon drawn by Larson showed a man with a blowtorch thawing out a block of ice containing some of Larson’s most familiar characters.

Below the design is a message: “Unusual, unreal and (soon) thawed. A new online era of “The Far Side” is coming!”

The website, which has been dormant for years, is maintained by syndicator Andrews McMeel Universal, according to The Oregonian.

Larson, 69, has created a cult following with his cartoons, The New York Times reported. The strip was syndicated to more than 1,900 newspapers, from January 1, 1980, to January 1, 1995. The strip expanded to merchandising items like daily calendars, coffee mugs, t-shirts, and even credit cards. wishes, reports the newspaper.

The “The Far Side” brand was grossing around $500 million before Larson announced his retirement in October 1994, according to the Times.

Comics began to fade towards the end of the 20th century, coinciding with the decline of newspapers. Berke Breathed ended “Bloom County” in 1989, and Bill Watterson quit drawing “Calvin & Hobbes” in 1995, The Oregonian reported.

The death of “Peanuts” creator Charles M. Schultz in 2000 ended 50 years of his iconic comic book, the newspaper reported.

So, are slug holiday disasters making a comeback? Will bears, alligators, robins, saber-toothed tigers and other animals return to the comic universe?

Judging by “The Far Side” website, that sense of the absurd might return.

Cox Media Group