{
  "id": 16305388,
  "title": "7 Hilarious ‘Far Side’ Comics With the Worst Puns",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/24/7-hilarious-far-side-comics-with-the-worst-puns",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-10-24T09:00:21.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Polygon",
    "slug": "polygon",
    "url": "https://www.polygon.com/best-far-side-comics-with-terrible-puns/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Gary Larson, the genius behind the Far Side comic strip, had a knack for taking seemingly mundane phrases and turning them into hilariously bad puns. One such example is his take on tar pits. Larson noticed the rhyming similarity between \"tar pits\" and \"carpets\" and created a comic strip featuring people falling into a carpet. It's a simple gag, but it's brilliant in its absurdity. Another one of Larson's pun-filled strips features an inconvenience store, a place with all the necessary items placed well out of reach. This joke plays on the dual meaning of \"inconvenience store.\" Larson also created a character named Boneless Chicken, who, as the name suggests, had no bones. This character was featured in the late 1990s cartoon series Cow and Chicken. Larson's puns often serve as a palate cleanser after a series of overly clever jokes. One of his worst, as he later admitted, was a strip featuring a cow with fruit on its head named Cowmen Miranda. This character pays homage to the iconic Carmen Miranda, known for her use of fruit in her costumes. Lastly, Larson's \"worst\" cartoon, according to him, is one depicting runaway trains on milk cartons. The phrase \"runaway train\" is a play on the commonly used term \"runaway child.\" Larson's puns may be lowbrow, but they're undeniably clever, providing a delightful contrast to the often sophisticated scientific and philosophical humor in his comics.",
  "summary": "Some of Gary Larson's best Far Side comic strips featured a purposefully bad bit of word play, which was further proof of Larson's genius",
  "key_points": [
    "Gary Larson turned mundane phrases into hilariously bad puns",
    "Notable puns include carpet falling people, inconvenience store, and Boneless Chicken",
    "Larson's worst pun was a cow with fruit on its head named Cowmen Miranda"
  ],
  "editors_take": "Larson uses lowbrow wordplay to provide a necessary comedic contrast to the more sophisticated scientific and philosophical themes found throughout his iconic comic strip.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}