Rating: 
Summary: Great! The Far Side lives on!
Review: I received this rather large (21 lbs!) tome for Christmas this year, and boy was it a welcome gift. Not only does it seem well made, but there's just something fun about reading a book with this much heft to it.All far side comics from 1980 to 1994 are included, along with letters from both happy and disturbed "fans," text from Gary Larson and his editors, etc. Well worth it if you're a Far Side fan. My only complaint so far is that the ink used in printing the book smells fairly strong.. Hopefully that will wear off over time.
Rating:
Summary: This is seriously funny stuff................
Review: I have always enjoyed Far Side and mourned its passing. The Complete Far Side serves two purposes: it allows me to enjoy the remembered and forgotten joys of the series, and it also allows me to revisit the series the context of their original time frame. Unlike the other reader from Columbus, I find the series as funny as when it was originally presented. Not every panel is fall down funny, but the gems will still make me laugh out loud and a few even bring tears to my eyes. There are many Larsen-wannabes on the comics page today (i.e., Six Chicks, Cloer to Home). If you enjoy them, you should read this collection to see how the true maaster of the genre works.
Rating:
Summary: The Complete Far Side
Review: Everyday when my shift ended in the morning, my coworkers and I would get the daily paper and look for the new Far Side before going home. Since we worked in a medical lab, our warped minds had little difficulty grasping the content of the cartoons.
To those folks that I had to explain Far Side to, I learned to be wary of them. They were what is referred to as 'normal'. And look at where we are today under the influence of 'normal'. Too bad that we have to look at Far Side from the past, especially when Gary Larson has so much more material to work with now.
I received this as a Christmas present from my wife and it reminds me of the 'good old days' working in a hospital. I now work as a nurse (in the Dark Side) and looking back on the cartoons refreshes my spirit enough to return to work in the salt mines of our health care abomination.
I highly recommend this marvelous two volume set as an antidote to the wonders of our information driven, nacissistic, self-absorbed, malignant culture. Perhaps, if more people, especially the 'normal ones', were to be exposed to the Far Side, they'd learn to appreciate all the other Sides of life. Keep smiling, remember the lemming and the penguin.
Rating:
Summary: Superb, and There is Something New...
Review: For some reason I feel the need to respond to that one negative review of this collection, which was so far off base that it is ridiculous. The review criticizes "The Farside Complete" collection as being just a rehash of old stuff, nothing new, trashing the publishers for putting out the same old stuff. There is of course the obvious duh response: it is a collection, and offers a "complete" collection of all the Farside cartoons ever published, in a spectacularly presented format, on high quality paper, which is great unless you are one of the few people on earth who has every book, and all the other sources of Farside cartoons that were not available in book form. I mean, I have the first Farside Gallery, and there were cartoons in this collection from the first two years that I had never seen. And even if you do, the presentation quality of the cartoons in the book will be so far above what you already havem it would be worth it anyway. Then there is the fact that there is so much new in this collection: the organization in chronological order, the comments by the author at the beginning of each year, the introduction by the author's editor, the presentation of many cartoons in color that I had never seen in color, the addition of fan letters and hate mail to the author regarding specific cartoons and the Farside in general. Etc. Etc. In short this is a superb presentation of all the Farside cartoons and is a must have if you are a -fan- of this cartoon. It's like this: if you're a big fan of, say Pink Floyd, and you have all there old vinyl albums (scratched up, of course), you might want to buy a "complete" CD box set of digitally remastered recordings with new liner notes, comments by the band, etc.
Rating: 
Summary: You can't go back home.
Review: Excellent quality, however I was surprised that the strip was not as funny as I once thought. I guess this proves that some things are better left to memory. Quite possibly, the content that once seemed totally outrageous, just doesn't seem that outrageous anymore. Or, maybe you don't notice the monotonous repitition when reading only one panel per day in the newspaper. However, when you sit down and read 3 or 4 straight years worth, you finally just want to say. "Egad, Cummings, cows really aren't all that funny!!!!"
Rating:
Summary: Larson is a certifiable genius
Review: I was eyeing this marvelous collection at my local book store. The binding, presentation, etc is all fantastic and teh inside is even more appealing. Far Side will never grow old and the humor will never seem dated. There is a little bit of something for everyone to enjoy and the strip runs from being hilarious, to brilliant.
Rating:
Summary: These will be reprinted
Review: An earlier reviewer claims that this book will not be reprinted. I called Andrews McMeel Publishing and they say they have already started a new run and will continue to reprint the book as long as there is a demand for it.
Rating:
Summary: Larson Strikes Again!!!
Review: As a college student, I grew up with Gary Larson in the comics everyday. He helped to shape my sense of humor and my childhood, and I solely thank him for where I am today. This collection is a beautiful masterpiece, that everyone with any decency should feel obligated to buy.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: Here we have the COMPLETE syndicated run of the Far Side Comic series. It was ground breaking for many as one can see from the letters to the editor from newspapers which appear on some pages.
The only thin I didn't like was the fact that they didn't have a major bonus section like the book "Prehistory of the Far Side" had. That one had some which were rejected by his editor as being too racy, I would have loved to see more of those in this release. Still This item is well worth the price. I hope that Dan Piraro does this type of book If and when his "Bizarro" series ends. If you like "Far Side" you will like probably like "Bizarro" A few of the "Far Side" comics slightly offend me as a Christian, but almost all of them don't.
Rating:
Summary: twenty pounds of hilarity
Review: normally i don't buy my comedy by the pound, but this compendium offers both quantity AND quality. there does seem to be some discrepancy as to the set's actual weight--and frankly, i haven't had the time nor the inclination to actually weigh it, but suffice it to say it is BIG. the volumes are beatifully bound in hard cover and printed on a very heavy , archival bond. top notch printing and a gorgeous slip cover make these tomes a joy to behold. i won't gush in any detail about how larson is a genius or how his comic changed my life because i figure if you are reading this review to begin with, you are familiar with the farside. i will say this however, had i been drinking milk upon my first reading of this book, it would have surely spewn from my nose. it is THAT funny. one warning: the literal-thinking, slow witted, closed minded and/or acerebral witlings need not apply. if you don't "get" this kind of humor, buying this book will be a colossal mistake and will yield nothing more than a very nice, 20 lb paper weight. on the other hand, if you do get it--buy the book. trust me--have i ever lied to you before?
| 
