Original artwork, not a still
Gary Larson's most baffling caption, The Far Side (1982)
Cow tools
— The Far Side • 1980
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
It is the Far Side's most famous failed joke, and the failure is the point: a gag so odd that readers assumed it must hide something, and the cartoonist had to say it did not. Fans quote the caption for anything baffling.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for The Far SideShow the scene
Cow Tools ran on October 28, 1982. A cow stands upright behind a table of odd, misshapen implements, one of them vaguely saw-like, under the single caption Cow tools. Readers could not see the joke, and the syndicate was flooded with calls and letters asking what it meant; Larson later put out a statement that there was nothing to explain. He said he had pictured crude tools made by cows, and admitted the saw-like object may have sent readers looking for hidden meaning. It is often named the most baffling Far Side.
Sources (2)
- Wikipedia: Cow ToolsOverviewReference checked
- Wikipedia: The Far SideNotable cartoons: Cow ToolsReference checked
Context reviewed
