Summary
The Far Sidefeatured its share of mummies and Egyptologists throughout the course of its run in publication;the exploration and excavation of ancient Egyptian tombs is perhaps one of the less frequently cited, though no less routinely hilarious, recurring bits that creator Gary Larson returned to repeatedlyover the years.
As exhibited byThe Far Sideon a daily basis for fifteen years, Gary Larson was never short on ideas, and part of that came from his cultivation of a wide range of exciting intellectual interests.
Before becoming successful as an artist,Larson came from a science background, and he was also fascinated by fields like anthropology and archeology. All of these things found their way intoThe Far Sidein a variety of forms – including numerous Egypotologists who found themselves in trouble after disturbing the dead.
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11Gary Larson Put A Bow On It With This Far Side Mummy Panel
First Published: August 17, 2025
The joke in Gary Larson’s firstFar Sidecomic featuring a mummy is incredibly straightforward – to the point whereit might slip by readers at first. In this panel,after having pried open a sarcophagus with a crowbar, an Egyptologist discovers a mummy with the slight flourish of a bow tied at the top of its head.
According to Larson, everyFar Sidecomic was its own process of discovery; once he had an idea, it was a matter of developing it into a suitable illustration, a process through which his initial idea tended to evolve to some degree or another. Readers might imagine him sitting down at his desk with the idea of drawing a man discovering a mummy, and working through a series of possible punchlines before landing on the subtly amusing “bow on the head” visual.
10Always Check The Label Before Opening A Sarcophagus
First Published: June 10, 2025
One ofGary Larson’s funniest techniques inThe Far Sideinvolved mash-ups of disparate elements – often, the familiar markings of the present would be mapped onto some aspect of the past, in order to triangulate its punchline. That is the case here,as an Egyptologist shines his flashlight on the side of a sarcophagus, revealing “No Preservatives Added” stamped on itin clear, English letters.
SomeFar Sidepanels cast the reader as something of an omniscient observer, privy to a scene, but from an outside perspective; others utilized “focal characters,” so to speak, in which the audience’s reaction should in some way mirror theirs. That is the case here, as the reader is likely to be as surprised and confused by the “No Preservatives Added” label as the Egyptologists are bound to be.
9Gary Larson Thought Ancient Curses Were Peak Hilarity
First Published: July 01, 2025
Almost as often as Egyptologistsappeared inThe Far Side, they found themselves on the receiving end of a curse for meddling with the resting places of ancient Egyptian rulers. This panel is a particularly hilarious example, as one explorer turns to the other and says:
Ha! Check this out Andrews. Seems there’s some kind of ancient curse on those who defile this crypt.
Of course, as the Egyptologist is saying this,both him and his compatriot Andrews are depicted rapidly melting, having clearly triggered the supernatural defenses of the tomb they have defiled.
What makes this cartoon so funny is the dissonance between the speaker’s casual disregard for the curse, while the illustration shows that the duo have already succumbed to it. Whether the look on Andrews' face is one of stoic acceptance, or panicked incredulity, is not a question to be answered; rather, the ambiguity adds to the comedic effect.
8Ancient Egypt’s Equivalent Of The Matryoshka Nesting Doll
First Published: July 31, 2025
Most readers will be at least somewhat familiar with the concept of the nesting doll, a series of hollow dolls holding progressively smaller versions of itself. In thisFar Sidepanel, Gary Larson offers an ancient Egyptian take on the idea, asa pair of Egyptologists find their effort to uncover a mummy stymied when they open a casket that instead contains tinier and tinier caskets.
While the caption of this comic – “What the?…Another little casket?” – drives home the punchline, it can be argued that it is unnecessary. This could have functioned as one ofThe Far Side’smany captionless installments, as the visual of the sarcophagus lids stacked up in front of the increasingly more compact versions of the casket clearly communicates the humor in its own right.
7Gary Larson Liked To Leave A Lot To The Reader’s Imagination
First Published: June 16, 2025
ThoughGary Larson’s humor did result in more than one controversyduringThe Far Side’stime in newspapers, he rarely featured anything overtly salacious in the comic. In fact, this panel is about as risque as Larson’s humor tended to get –as a crowd of mummies shout at a female mummy on stage, asking her to “Unravel! Unravel! Unravel!”
One of the hallmarks ofThe Far Sidewas the way that even its most obvious jokes tended to raise more questions than provide answers. To a degree, Gary Larson’s humor was designed to leave room for interpretation, or extrapolation, by the reader. While the artist advised fans not to look too deeply for meaning in his cartoons, the preconceived ideas, notions, and knowledge that audience members brought to any givenFar Sidecomic invariably informed how they reacted to it.
6Sometimes Deciphering The Far Side Was Easier Than Others
First Published: July 30, 2025
In this panel, two Egyptologists hold a torch up in front of a column featuring depictions of ancient Egyptians. The archaic art has three rows, with figures walking in lines – except one isdepicted “breaking the fourth wall,“so to speak,staring back with large googly-eyes, along with archaic graffiti that says “Hi Mom!”
“Any theories on this, Cummings?” one of the archaeologists amusingly asks the other, as if they have found something inscrutably difficult to decipher, rather than blatant anachronism. In a way, this reflects a simple truth about readingThe Far Side: just as often as it went over readers' heads, or was too obscure to understand, Gary Larson’s humor was hit-over-the-head obvious and unvarnished by the need to interpret it.
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5The Far Side’s Egyptologists Were Overly Casual About Curses
First Published: June 13, 2025
The humor in this panel comes from the Egyptologists' casual disregard for the supernatural punishment they have called down on themselves. After dumping a mummyout of its sarcophagus, down a flight of stairs – causing it the indignity of having its bandages come loose – all one of the two archaeologists has to say is “Whoopsies!”
The speaker in the caption goes on to say:
If this tomb does have a curse on it, Webster, I daresay we’ll be the first to find out.
Once again, the caption andthe art of thisFar Sidepanelare in perfect harmony, allowing Gary Larson to maximize the potential of this panel’s punchline. The Egyptologists' cool response to their potential doom hilariously adds to the memorable image of the two men at the top of the stairs, open casket between them, staring down at the huge mess they have just made.
4You Get A Curse! You Get A Curse! You All Get Curses!
First Published: July 20, 2025
Once again,thisFar Sidepanelextracts a great deal of humor from the juxtaposition between the abstract horror of the idea of an ancient Egyptian curse premise, and the casual tone with which the comic approaches it.
“Okay let’s see,” a freshly unearthed mummy says, pointing at the trio of Egyptologists that disturbed its eternal resting place. “There’s a curse on you, a curse on you, and a curse on you.“The mummy’s matter-of-fact delivery, paired with the rigid “we messed up,” posture of the archaeologists, make this one of Gary Larson’s most laugh-out-loudFar Sidecomics set in an ancient pharaoh’s tomb. Of course, readers will be left wondering what kind of curse the mummy has in mind – considering that, as exhibited inThe Far Side, some were worse than others.
3This Dancing Mummy Just Needs Some Time To Limber Up
First Published: August 18, 2025
As previously mentioned, Gary Larson approached everyFar Sidecomic as an opportunity to discover the funniest variation on any given idea. This was essential to the process of creatingThe Far Side– and once again, readers can pictureLarson sitting down to work at night, imagining a dancing mummy, but not knowing exactly how that would manifest on the blank page before him.
Ultimately, the answer wasthe mummy being admonished by his dance partner for dragging his leg, while other dancers surrounding them look on in concern. The idea that a mummy dancer is amusing in its own right, but in this case, Larson elevates the joke by putting it in an entirely ordinary context. In this way, readers might even feel a pang of sympathy for the mummy – as surely, its joints are stiff after millennia in a casket.
2The Difference Between Short Term Vs. Long Term Curses
First Published: July 23, 2025
As other entries on this list have made clear, ancient Egyptian curses inThe Far Sidewere a total wild card – while earlier adventurers found themselves melted,the character of Belsky in this panel is told to “consider [himself] fortunate” when a giant spring-loaded boxing glove pops out of a sarcophagus and wallops him.
His compatriot goes on to point out how much worse it could have been, noting:
As curses go, that sure beats having your descendants strangled in the night by a walking corpse.
As far as Gary Larson’s useof the “ancient curse” bit as a punchline, this is perhaps the most memorable, given the way that it adds a layer of slapstick humor to the joke. Adding a layer of comedy are the respective reactions of the two Egyptologists, with Belsky’s frustration – as he lays under the door of the casket, knocked off its hinges – delightfully contrasted by his companion’s amusement.
