Over the past few weeks, I have discovered several CIDU submissions of comics from The Far Side. These were never posted for a simple reason: back in July 2023, FarWorks issued a “take-down” copyright complaint to WordPress, and WP summarily deleted about a dozen comics from various CIDU posts.

Even though CIDU has always operated under the principle of “fair use”, none of us has the time, nor the money, nor the legal standing to pursue this issue. I find it especially aggravating that CIDU has been used as a scapegoat (via WordPress): FarWorks has done nothing about the thousands of Far Side cartoons posted to Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, or Xitter. It would seem as if Gary Larson doesn’t really care so much about his work appearing elsewhere, the real sin is to present and discuss The Far Side outside of Larson’s belatedly established “hallowed grounds”.

Therefore, for this singular special occasion, I will use the same technique as in the recent “NSFW Experiment” post, providing links for the following comics (to external websites), so that everyone can confirm which one was meant, along with the text of the CIDU reader’s original submission.

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Keera submitted this one (from 1981, rerun on 29-Mar-2024) as a CIDU. It shows a creature lying on its back on a standard mattress in the middle of a field, surrounded by three observers of the same kind of animal, one of which appears to have folded paws. Keera wrote: “There’s usually a caption. There are also people who comment. But I haven’t read those. I’ve decided to let you guys tell me if these are porcupines (?) at a funeral, or testing a mattress, or what.“

Solution: The animals are indeed porcupines, and it is a mattress, but it’s not a funeral. The gag is simply an inversion of the classic comic meme of a fakir “resting” on a bed of nails:

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For the “Welcome POTP” comic that was originally published on 13-Aug-1988, here is the description that J-L provided: “This … appears to show a meeting/reunion of people, with a banner above reading ‘WELCOME POTP‘. The caption reads: ‘The 25th annual “Part of the Problem” convention‘.“

J-L went on to write: “I don’t get it. I found this cartoon as #3 in an article showcasing a set of ten confusing/strange ‘Far Side’ Comics from 1988 that can be found here(+). The author of the article can’t explain this one, either. Can you?“

It’s not a big laugh, but the humorous incongruity is that these idiots (for lack of a better term) are celebrating their long-term problematic status, instead of trying to correct their stupid behavior.

P.S. (+) It remains to be seen just how long FarWorks will permit Ambrose Tardive’s “Screen Rant” to remain online and unmutilated.

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Finally, Maggie the Cartoonist submitted “The Old Cartoonists’ Home” (rerun on 31-May-2023) for the Sunday Funnies, because (as she put it) “… eventually you, me, and Gary Larson will all end up in The Old Cartoonists’ Home.“

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P.P.S. For obvious reasons, this will be the last appearance of the Far Side at CIDU: no future submissions will be posted in any form. I wish Mr. Larson the best of luck in his mercenary campaign to close the barn doors after the horses have already left.

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P.P.P.S. A similar takedown order was also executed by WordPress for “Farcus” on 22-Feb-2024, despite the fact that the authors “… are now on an extended leave of absence to pursue other creative projects… their popular comic feature continues to appear…” (as reruns). Since they have demonstrated the same lack of humor as Mr. Larson, Farcus will henceforth no longer be discussed at CIDU.

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