The article looks at seven Gary Larson Far Side cartoons about alien invasions, from picnic pranks to cowboys meeting saucers. It argues the jokes show Larson’s gift for turning familiar sci-fi ideas into deadpan absurdity.
01Summary
- 01Gary Larson grew up in the 1950s, when UFO sightings and classic alien-invasion films were common cultural influences.
- 02The article says alien jokes form a major subgenre in The Far Side, with space invaders among the best examples.
- 03One cartoon shows aliens attacking a picnic, only for the weapon to fire a flag marked “Zzz!”.
- 04Another 1994 cartoon presents Larson’s “romanticised idea of cowboys and aliens” years before the 2011 film Cowboys & Aliens.
- 05The piece also cites a 1988 cartoon in which aliens are disguised as crosswalk signs on every street corner.
02Why it matters
For readers interested in comics and pop culture, the piece shows how one of the most recognisable newspaper cartoons mined science fiction for sharp visual jokes. It also links Larson’s work to later films and wider cultural ideas about aliens.
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