B A R E L Y B A D  W E B  S I T E  
   <<Previous       Next>>   

     Back to Fun Pix list    

Whoa Whoa

May 16, 2006 -- The image that used to be here has been removed indefinitely.  Keep checking back to see whether it returns.

The "Far Side" cartoon at left is a model of elegant brevity.  The scene is set perfectly with only a few strokes of the pen.

We know instantly that's it's a deserted island, we know instantly that it's an extremely small island, and we know instantly that there are only two people on it.

And a Barcalounger.

Gary Larson, the author of the fabled "Far Side" comics, uses the Deserted Island theme fairly often, and here he's certainly done it well.  One criticism is why the palm tree is leaning over so far, but did you notice how Larson depicts the two men with long beards?  The obvious implication of this seemingly trivial detail is that they've been there a long time, which of course makes the punch line even funnier.

The Deserted Island theme so tersely limned at left is popular not just with cartoonists but with almost anyone who's thought about it.

Many questions arise if you know you're going to be stranded on a deserted island forever.  The assumption is that you will have all you need to live but that you will never be rescued.  So, if you knew you could bring with you only 100 songs, which ones would you want to listen to for the rest of your life?  What about the top 100 books or movies or family photographs?

And if you could bring with you only one chair, which one would it be?  It's unclear exactly how two people could end up stranded on a deserted island and possess between them only a Barcalounger, but of course that's another element of the humor in this particular cartoon.

If you are a budding cartoonist and you want to make people laugh, this is a good example to study because it packs so much into so little, as does the "Far Side" comic here.

 

B A R E L Y B A D  W E B  S I T E  
   <<Previous       Next>>   

     Back to Fun Pix list