January 1, 1995 was an important day for many of us. It certainly is not one of those “I remember exactly where I was when I heard” days, but something bad happened. Gary Larson
Sure I had his books and daily calendars and posters and bookmarks and wall calendars and mugs and toilet paper (I have not really seen Far Side TP, but I didn’t have a good ending), but there would be no new panels. No new challenge to figure out what he was trying to say. I have run into a few of his comics that puzzled me for some time. That makes them all the more fun and intriguing.
This is the only Far Side cartoon that I never was able to figure out. I have shown it to many people, but still no solution or should I say punch line:
Anyone that helps me solve that one can read my blog for free. I always thought that my humor was sort of twisted and reveled in Gary Larson’s irreverence and off-center view of our world and beyond. I especially like that The Far Side often took a lighter look at our visitors from outer space:
One of Larson’s other favorite subjects was farm animals and cows seemed to be a particular favorite. I have to admit to being one of those folks who slowed the car down to moo at cows. It’s just fun.
Here are some of my other favorites.
A number of years ago Gary Larson released The Complete Far Side
If you are a fan of Larson’s work, you may enjoy Argyle Sweater by Scott Hilburn
18 CommentsLeave one
“John Brown’s Body” is a song. According to Wikipedia, it originated around the civil war and refers to the abolitionist John Brown, who was considered by many to be a martyr.
“John Brown’s Body lies a moudering in the grave” The cartoon at the top is a take off on that.
Do I now get to read you blog for free?! Woohoo!
Thanks, by the way, for posting “Hopeful Parents.” I needed a copy of that for my brother-in-law.
I didn’t realize that Larson was that deep. Thanks for clearing that up and commenting on my blog. How did you find me?
I’d bet money there was an earlier version of Hopeful Parents, I think in the late 80′s. I lost my copy years ago and haven’t been able to find the original in the Complete Far Side. Is my memory that bad or was it not included? I think was even funnier, given when iI think I first saw it.
it’s about the first image To me… it’s Fred is the body and the car is the fender and their both in the garage I mean Jonh Brown is the body and he’s actually in the shop with the fender.. OK?
JOhn brown has a body and it’s presently in the shop with the fender, so the sign say’s
john brown opened and sold several tannerys that is how i’ve always looked at the cartoon.tannerys are body shops they just use the outside
First comment is correct. Let’s not overthink it. Just a play on the song, continuing with the title “John Brown’s Body…and Fender Shop.”
I’m embarrassed to say I’ve never seen this one. Clever advertising? People think their going to see “JOHN BROWNS BODY” in caps and get lured into John Browns Body [and Fender Shop] where he’s going over charge the dupe on a door ding repair. Larson’s mostly a hit for me, but this one’s a miss. Not too funny.
went to market? Maybe while he promised take her to market he failed to get up so she got mad and off went the toe, then surprised by his non arousal she decided to go to market alone, and forgetting the little snit decided to leave a little note, incase he wondered where she was, ironically he will likely not notice the note, eh?
“John Brown’s Body” was undoubtedly the most famous song in its time, and for many years afterward. Even today, almost every American knows the tune, but with the new words written at the beginning of the Civil War. The chorus was left largely unchanged. It goes: “Glory, glory hallelujah…”
does the bowl and water hose have any relevance?john or somebody hit the dog?dono could mull it over for ages!?genius cartoons tho
The dog is missing. The car that hit the dog is getting body work done.
Unfortunately that is not a dog leash. If you follow it to the building it is connected to a spiggot so it is a hose. I am not even sure that is a dog bowl.
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1993-08-06/news/9308060283_1_larson-john-brown-sentinel
Joke Leaves Some Readers On The ‘Far Side’ Of History
NAMES & FACES
You Have To Remember The Civil War-era Folk Song. If You Look Closely, You’ll See John Brown Hard At Work In His Body Shop. Pop Quiz Tomorrow.
August 06, 1993|By Lauri Whitmore of The Sentinel Staff
The offbeat humor of cartoonist Gary Larson usually leaves readers chuckling.
But the Larson cartoon that ran in Thursday’s Orlando Sentinel left readers scratching their heads.
Several dozen baffled readers called the Sentinel looking for an explanation.
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The drawing showed a bearded man repairing a car, the sign on his shop saying ”JOHN BROWN’S BODY and fender shop.”
Some of us at the Sentinel were confused too.
But a call to Universal Press Syndicate, the company that distributes Larson’s cartoon, steered us in the right direction.
Seems the joke lies not with the hose, which might have thrown people off, but in the sign, which pokes fun at the tendency of auto-repair-shop owners to name their businesses after themselves, said Jake Morrissey, an associate editor at Universal Press Syndicate.
Larson was playing on the title of the Civil War-era folk song ”John Brown’s Body,” so that’s supposed to be John Brown in the drawing.
Brown was an abolitionist who was hanged for treason for inciting an uprising among slaves after he led a raid in 1859 on the arsenal in Harpers Ferry, then in Virginia but now in West Virginia.
When I was younger I didn’t know they used hammers to fix cars, I thought that was the joke “Ha I get it, hes supposed to be fixing that car but he’s hitting it with a big hammer!”
THe hose reminds me of the cartoon of the dog sucking on a hose and his wife standing in the door chiding him saying “I suppose your going roaming with your friends tonight” or something to that affect. This could be a continuance of that cartoon indicating the dog had been hit by the car he is repairing. He is reflecting on the fact the dog is no longer there. Perhaps it reflects a personal loss he had with a pet.
Heather, it’s a play on a children’s rhyme where you jiggle the toes of the kid: “This little piggy went to market, this little piggy stayed at home” etc.
I think Gary Larson is just messing with everybody who reads the comic. i would if i were in his shoes, it would make me laugh every time i think about it