In defense of absurdism

On The Far Side, the benefit of silliness, and what is and is not absurd.

I am mad on behalf of absurdism.

But first, let me explain myself.

Last week, for the first time in 25 years, cartoonist Gary Larson released new panels of his long-dormant and much-loved comic strip The Far Side. The comics are simple, single panels, each of them, with one-note gags: an urban commuter hailing a taxidermist rather than a taxi, alien hunters preparing to “probe and release” a human, bears eating Cub Scouts. If you don’t bear a deep fondness for Larson’s work like I do, they honestly might not do a lot for you. For me, they’re an essential blast of nostalgia for something that helped, in its own small way, make me who I am. 

Before the internet, the best outlet for a kid seeking something to laugh at was the Comics page of the daily newspaper — for me, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, which I grew up pilfering the best sections of from my parents. Most of the daily comics were dull, filled with straightforward gags built on tired tropes of domestic drama or office life. There …