Teaching is often called a noble profession, but inThe Far Side, Gary Larson makes it hilariously clear that it’s also a battlefield. From chaotic classrooms to misbehaving students, Larson’s comics expose the absurdity and stress that teachers face daily, while also highlighting the kind of mental toughness every educator needs to survive.
In honor of back-to-school season, this article highlights ten of thebestFar Sidecomicsthat showcase the chaos, confusion, and sheer endurance it takes to be a teacher.Hopefully, it will also remind kids and parents to go easy on their educatorsthis school year, because what teachers deal with daily is enough to challenge even the most mentally resilient.
10Let’s Be Real, Kids Are Basically Cavemen
Larson’s Classic Trope Collides With Classroom Chaos
Any fan ofThe Far SideknowsGary Larson loves cavemen. They’re a recurring trope in his work and a key part of his absurdist humor. In this strip, Larson hilariously blends the prehistoric era with modern education, showing a caveman standing at the front of a class, writing“I will not act primitive”on a chalkboard.
While the chalkboard punishment may feel outdated for today’s students, the joke still lands. As any teacher can confirm, trying to manage a classroom full of unrulykids often feels like wrangling a group of cavemen.The comic nails that universal frustration in a way that’s both funny and true.
9Attention-Seeking Chaos
When Disruption Becomes a Full-Blown Invention
As many teachers and even parents know, children often act out to get attention when they feel ignored or unsupported. In classicFar Sidefashion, Gary Larson takes this all-too-familiar behavior and pushes it to absurdity, showing a mischievousstudent preparing to activate his elaborate and ominous“attention-getting device.”
The device itself is hilariously over-engineered, towering over the child and packed with knobs, levers, giant speakers, and even a jack-in-the-box clown head.This gag turns a relatable classroom problem into full-blown cartoon chaos.It’s a visual punchline that captures just how extreme disruptive behavior can feel when you’re the one stuck managing it.
8Gary Larson Reinvents the Oldest Homework Excuse
The ‘Dog Ate My Homework’ Joke Gets a Canine Makeover
Nearly everyone knows the classic excusekids have used for decades to explain why they didn’t do their homework:“The dog ate my homework.”This phrase has been repeated so often that it has become a joke itself, and a cliché that has clearly lost its charm over time in the books of teachers.
However, Larson breathes new life into this old cliché by imagining the excuse from the dogs’ perspective. In his comic, an anthropomorphic dog teacherasks her class of young canines if any of them managed not to eat their homeworkon the way to school. This clever reversal makes the once cliche exceptionally funny.
7Alien Invasion in Room 203
Late to Class, But Definitely From Another Planet
One of the most common interruptions teachers face, especially at the start of the school year, is latestudents rushing into classrooms only to realize they’ve entered the wrong class.Larson takes this familiar school trope and flips it on its head with a clever alien twist.
Instead of an ordinary student bursting through the door, an alien crashes into theFar Sideteacher’s classroom. The alien’s exclamation,“Whoa! … Wrong room,” reaches new comedic heights sinceit’s clear this visitor is not only in the wrong room but possibly on the wrong planet altogether.
6Mutiny at the Canine Academy
When Dogs Stage a Ball Revolt Against Their Teacher
Everyone knows teachers are supposed to be in charge of their classrooms. Yet any teacher with an unruly group of kids can relate to the feeling that the students are actually running the room, sometimes even seeming like they areplotting an uprising to overthrow the teacher.
And that’s exactly what happens whendogs at a canine obedience school rebel against their human teacherafter she refuses to let them play ball. The humor shines through in the image of the teacher hog-tiedwhile one dog triumphantly holds a balloverhead, declaring,“And I say we go outside and play with this ball!”
5Teaching Troubles: When Simple Gets Complex
MeetThe Far Side’s “Mechanically Declined”Classroom
ThisFar Sidecomicpauses the usual classroom antics to warn educators that no matter how simple a task appears,some students will need step-by-step explanations.Without this, teachers might face unexpected and disastrous outcomes they never imagined, highlighting the patience required in teaching even the most basic skills.
This strip focuses on a group labeled“Mechanically Declined,”students who struggle with simple mechanical tasks such as knowing which end of a flathead screwdriver fits into a screw.The humor captures a very real reality teachers face,reminding them to prepare for challenges that may soon become a normal part of their work.
4When Classroom Chaos Meets Greek Mythology
How One Student Became a Legendary Menace in ThisFar SideClassroom
Mostteachers can attest that there is often a child in the classroom best described as a menacebecause of their near-constant misbehavior. These children leave a lasting impression and are hard to forget. In thisFar Sideteacher’s case, that child’s name was Pandora.
Here, Larson combines classroom shenanigans with the legend of Pandora’s Box to create a humorous scenario. A student named Pandora, who recently moved away, sends her teacher a gift to apologize for misbehaving. Butthose familiar with Greek mythology know that nothing good comes from opening Pandora’s box, as chaos always soon follows.
3Larson’s Prehistoric Take on a Classic School Prank
Cavemen Kids Put a Thagomizer on the Teacher’s Chair
Larson targets another classic teacher-versus-classroom trope:putting tacks on the teacher’s seat.This prank has become a cliché, with many unsure whether it truly happened or just grew popular through pop culture. Regardless, it remains a well-known example of student mischief aimed at unsuspecting teachers.
Larson brings fresh humor to this cliché by imagining the prank in the caveman era. His art cleverly shows students placing a dinosaur’s spiked tail,known as a Thagomizer, on the teacher’s chair.This replaces tacks with something both absurd and fitting for the prehistoric setting, adding a hilarious, era-specific twist.
2Even a Cow on a Blackboard Isn’t Simple Enough inThe Far Side
The Struggle to Teach the Obvious Never Ends
The panel shows a classroom where a teacher points to a simple drawing of a cow on the blackboard. The humor comes from the teacher’s line, “Yes… I believe there’s a question there in the back,”as a student raises their hand,presumably to question the very basic, self-explanatory image of a cow.
This strip’s humor echoes that of the“School of the Mechanically Declined,”where Larsonhighlights the daily struggle teachers undergo in having to explain even the simplest concepts to students.This comic also adds cows into the mix, and as anyFar Sidefan knows,Larson loves featuring cowsand using them as focal points for his wacky sense of humor.
1“My Brain Is Full”:The Far SideStrip Every Student Relates To
This is one of the most simplistic yet hilarious strips on this list, and it’s extremely relatable for both teachers and students. Larson shows a student raising their hand to say,“Mr. Osborne, may I be excused? My brain is full.”It’s a feeling nearly all of us have experienced during our school years.
This captures very real classroom interactions, even if those exact words aren’t always used. Sometimes when students ask to use the bathroom, they’re really saying their brain is overloaded and they need a break. While this can frustrate teachers, Larson’sFar Sideadds a humorous twist that turns the moment into something universally funny.
