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Summary: The Greatness of Comic Strips in the '80's
Review: The Far Side is something that I miss from my younger years. The truly great comic strips of the 1980, which include Calvin and Hobbes, Bloom County, and even every now and then, Doonesbury (who's true greatness was exhibited in the '70's), along with the revered Far Side... Don't know what else can really be said. There aren't many strips today that are worthwhile. Maybe Dilbert and Get Fuzzy. But Dilbert jumped the shark a while back. And Get Fuzzy is not consistently great. They don't make strips like Far Side any longer. The greatness of The Far Side can probably be summed in the fact that Gary Larson never looked down on the people who read his strip. He always (1) assumed that people were intelligent enough to figure out what he was trying to say, even when they weren't, and (2) never assumed that what he was saying has great cosmic significance. This, of course, gave The Far Side great cosmic significance. To have all the Far Side in one place... can, if only for a brief moment, make this planet an all right place to be.
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Summary: Cow Tools
Review: Everything about this publication is of the highest caliber. The reviews below already (accurately) describe the high production quality of the two volumes themselves. The slipcase is correspondingly well-constructed; it is thick enough to accommodate the bulk of the books, and it is adorned on each side with a different vibrantly colored "painting" in classic Far Side tradition (one, depicting a couple of butchers hunting a flock of flying cows, can be seen in the image above, but the thumbnail hardly does the picture justice). And maybe it's just me, but the books even smell expensive.
The fact that the comics are in (roughly) chronological order allows anyone so disposed to track the evolution of The Far Side. One thing I noticed is that the Far Sides published in any given week tend to follow a particular theme, such as shark attacks or desert scenarios. Rereading more than a decade's worth of Far Side comics in such a relatively short time frame also reveals how much repetition there is, more so than I remembered. This is not necessarily a bad thing; as one commentator put it, "one could argue that the repetitive panels are like jazz riffs on the same melody."
Also, contrary to the publisher's description, only about a third of the panels are in color. This preserves the original presentation of the majority of the comics for Far Side purists, but also provides some refreshing variety for the reader and helps to justify the hefty price tag.
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Summary: The COMPLETE Side
Review: This compendium weighs a ton. No kidding.
A delightfully inspired packaging of "all things FAR SIDE" from the looney talking cows all the way to conspiratorial chipmunks. Wonderfully packaged but very, very, very expensive, this two volume set includes occasional essays (yes, I said essays) from the genius Larson himself covering such items of the nature of "what I was thinking when I drew ___" to "gosh, I'm sure sorry this thing is going to weigh so much." Of course, there's no apology for the price (snicker, snicker), but, having grown up on his simplistic renderings of single panel humor, I have to admit that this collection is honestly worth every penny. The best two-volume investment I've ever made, THE FAR SIDE should be required reading for high school graduation, as far as I'm concerned.
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Summary: might as well be called The Cow Side...
Review: the far side is possibly the funniest cartoon ever published...it is absolute comic genius...however, people who have cartoons of nancy or other family-oriented cartoons posted on their refrigderator, may not like it. I will admit that it is sometimes sort of disturbing...but that is what makes it hilarious. If u find such things as two dogs playing "tethercat" disturbing, u probly wont like the far side...but if u find these things funny, besides needing some form of help, u will probly love the far side...just like me
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Summary: I see this book and I'm speechless...
Review: The only existing comic strips that come close to its genius are Pooch Cafe and Get Fuzzy. I've found my Xmas gift to all the people that matter in my life.
Rating:
Summary: Totally awesome book
Review: The Complete Far Side book set needs to have a health warning on it. Readers of the Far Side are a special group and to tackle this will show the world you can handle anything. The Complete Far Side book set is an awesome, totally side splitting , back breakingly heavy book set. I know that after reading it I'm going to look like some of the characters from these comics. So a little disclaimer if you please, to protect you from looking bent over with warped facial muscles do the following:
1. Have a friend help you carry the books
2. If you don't have a friend get a dolly ( Raggedy Ann, Andy's to lazy. No? When was the last time you saw him?)
3. Lift with your legs
4. On call Doctor, oh sorry wrong century. Be sure your HMO covers side splitting and facial distortions from hysterical laughing.
And you have all of your referrals in place.
5. Finally a WWF wrestler to wrestle the books out of your hands, so that you don't overdose, miss sleeping, eating or whatever.
You are now Warned. The Far Side is classic humor, that sometimes makes you go huh? And other times you just look at the picture and without reading the caption you're laughing. The Complete Far Side is funny, great and is the best coffee table book that's been out in years. When you have family or friends over, just place the books on the table and walk away. Within moments people will be laughing, screaming and talking about these great cartoons.
The only criticism I can say is that, there should have been insights or commentary from Mr. Larson. Like why pick these characters, where did the inspiration come from to do these scenes and what does this scene mean?
Little tidbits of his creations would have really made this A++ book an A+++.
So I guess I need to start saving for the Ultimate Complete Far Side book set. Enjoy ( Mr. Larson, thanks for the laughs.)
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Summary: Wow.
Review: I would love to see the leather bound edition of this because the hard back edition is just fantastic. The binding is solid, the paper, printing, everything is of fantastic quality. The cartoons are absolutely hilarious, despite their age and Gary Larson's fear that they would not be understood now. I spent two hours reading these tonight and I've got a long, long way to go. It's a great piece of extremely high quality. You can do no better than this. If you or someone you know is a fan of the Far Side then this is an absolute must have.
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Summary: I prayed for this day to come!
Review: Thank you Gary Larson. Your legacy work has been reviewed and approved with my highest regards. No fan of "The Far Side" should be without these two large books that completely encompass the entire life of the cartoon. I can think of nothing (with the exception of the Far Side animated works) that has been held back. This will come to be known as the definitive collection, and it has been appropriately constructed with the highest quality of materials and design. If you don't purchase this set, you'll end up wishing you had. I must also thank my wife, who insisted that I immediately buy the set when I discovered it for sale at a local bookstore. She saw the excitement in my eyes and knew I had to have it despite the high price tag. It was the first thing I had purchased with a credit card since we got married five months ago.
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Summary: Worth every penny of the price
Review: I more than enjoyed the Far Side from the time it first appeared
in the newspapers and have bought every paper back edition and many of the calenders over the years. This book weighs it at nearly 20 pounds and is FANTASTIC!! The color printing on those panels in color is perfect. The quality of the slip cover, the paper, the printing and binding is well worth the price. Just wish I could afford the 750 dollars for the leather bound. At 73 years of age it just made my year for me. Thank you Gary for this book - it is a treasurer! All I can say is a FANTASTIC book in all respects. Buy it and you will be more than delighted if you are a Far Side fan.
Rating:
Summary: Far Side is the best cartoon ever.
Review: Now we're lucky enough to have all the cartoons, thousands of pages of humor. A must for Far Side fan (and at a great price)
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