Show The Herald Journal Logan Utah Thursday November 27 2003 — C5 Larson revisits ‘The Far Side’ with anthology SEATTLE ( AP) — Crafty cows restless chickens talking insects and dorky scientists are invading bookstores across the nation This can mean only one thing: Clary Larson is back The Far Side" creator broke Fear is a recurring motif in Larpie style "you can kind of see it has- son's work He is after all the n't evolved since grade school" He studied biology and majored in inventor of the Monster Snorkel One of his cartoons depicts a device communications at Washington State that allows children to breathe in a University After graduating in 1972 d room while remain- - he formed a jazz duo with a friend-withimself on guitar and banjo ing securely under the covers In the essays included in the When musical fame and fortune ' ' anthology Larson explores the twist-' - eluded him Larson worked in a his fertile music and ed roots of later as an investigastore imagination tor for the Seattle Humane Society brother Special credit goes Dan a maestro at manipulating Lur- - ' — and he decided to try drawing ' son's learof closet monsters again He first published a single-- ’ Even Larson's current passion panel cartoon called "Nature's Way" in a Seattle-base- d leads the him buck to jazz guitar magazine called ' Pacific Search That e vol ved into ' importance of fear He plays daily takes lessons and jams with friends “The Far Side" which was eventu- -' In classic Lursonian language the ally syndicated and published in v music is“ii demon that keeps chas- more than 1900 newspapers world-- -' ' ’ fans every- of twisted-humwhere when he retired at the height of his popularity in 1994 to pursue his love of jazz guitar But Larson has returned to the monster-tille-d closet of his past to release a massive anthology two volumes containing more than 41XX) cartoons that tell the complete story of “The Far Side" In person the Larson looks as normal as his cartoon creations are weird or r : ' m tt laid-bac- - ' 'j i ' Blrjor " ViskHi o 5 V A Side"o! y' ’ J : tion blossomed as a child w hen he first started drawing on the scraps of paper his mother brought home fmm I ' ' work' He grew up in Tacoma and spent ' many happy moments of his child- hood mucking through swamps in search of snakes and bugs to collect Dinosaurs whales and other beasts dominated his early drawings! ' reflecting a fascination with animals ' that would inspire many panels of - - v - A Dollar Well ss 841 11 v il''1 AP Photo!' This cartoon is among1 more than 4000 cartoons appearing in the new cartoonist Gary Larson anthology The Complete Far Side” by Seattle-base- d two-volu- :Ct m iTiu nity A b Use R re ve n t o ri Se rvices Agency ' j VHeJpforvIcnmspfdQmestic tifaMitfvitifriiilifis violence and sexuql abuse: i : - ' ' - ' ckmgeroiismis I(y Club $ ' II 0 :'- v ' : ' Spent 8015524-202- I every!-bnei- '': 2020 Save OurSight ' f n "You start off thinking that the world has the same sense of humor as vour six friends" he says “I was surprised at just how upset some people could be" he stopped draw ing “Actually!'' he said about his sim: wwwA1ser5qwestnet-preventblindne- : wwwEDITEDFILMScom ' ANNUAL ''nAvAcTCD-- 'ttewAv' r you're-drinkin- : wo Myit' -- : It's easy to forget how new arid ' strange "The Far Side" was when it debuted jn 1980 Those who got ity loved it Many readers didn't 'TheyV' 'saw' danger in Larsbas-worand not just the danger of laughing so hard that whatever beverage shoots out of your nose “The Complete Far Side'! includes letters from readers ranging from to hostile: ' puzzled ' 'The Minneapolis Tribune should drop 'The par Side’ until Gary Larson completes psychothera' py to overcome his 'problem" “Dear Sir I have seen some rude nasty cartoons in my life but this is the worst" ' "Why don't you 'get rid of that garbage? We don't need it on the family funny page and I want to keep my subscription! Whatever hap- -' pened to 'Annie The complaints tookLarson bv “The Far Side But While his passion for collect-- '' ing critters continued into adulthood Prevent Blindness Utah 66l South 200 East Salt Lake Citv Utah : i wide: This new calling doesn't seem that different to Larson front creating ' !!' “The Far "“It has some parallels to cartixin-'mg because it’s improvisational you never know exactly how some- -' ' thing is going to turn out'' Larson ' says Taking a solo on a tune is always a little bit scary Yet it has y structure there are certain rules' to - follow arid you try to create some-"-- " thing within those rules" Larson's penchant for improvisa- - donation to Prevent Blindness you qm ivc the gift of thousands of Utahns A Si' donation when voii renew your to sight license plate driver’s license-'anvision screening: Ifbr children and adults' and CriverVEduatipn-student- jftn ?c ! " - Wth your ns i ingmey- ed ! y i : en with white hair curling just past his ears wearing glasses and New Balance sneakers he could be everyone’s favorite coL k lege professor yet geek-- ': ily passionate about his interests! modest yet smart enough that his ' ' trips punch lines sometimes prompt ' ! ' to the dictionary' y He neyer relished the role of celebrity cartoonist preferring instead to live quietly in Seattle with his wife of 15 years Toni and their bull mastiff Vivian He agreed to only a few interviews as his 20- ' pound anthology landed in hook- stores with a thud He walked away from “The Far Side" and cartooning in 1994 A per-- : fectionist who could spend hours drawing one pair of eyeballs to achieve the precise goofy etTect Larson wanted to retire before his quality started slipping' “You have to retain a little dose of fear with it to keep your edge to feel like every day is show time” he says “Youcanjust startcoastinga little bit I didn't want that to happen I wanted to bring it to an elegant conclusion” black-rimm- j CL1 : ' ' U monster-infeste- the-heart- s Soft-spok- THE FAR SIDE ' hour crisis phoheiine- : ' jedoenn 0J”£UUU- A ccepli hg n e:w: ba hies r v' chi & v owned a u Its r ' n- ? j : r L iWKs'l'f' Specializing ' ' : H os p 1 1 a N c w h or n 1 ' Primary bare nofal carcfor chi Id rc VI m mu n i z a 1 1 o ns’fa Mon! 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