5 Far Side Giraffe Comics That Are 10/10 Perfect

Running for 15 years in syndication, Gary Larson's The Far Side exemplified a love of the natural world from beginning to end, often visiting African wildlife in search of chuckles. When it did so, it found the biggest laughs in giraffes, showcasing a dozen different ways to make fun of the long-necked ungulates.

Larson's wildlife gags come from a place of love and insight, with Larson having studied biology and worked fundraising for wildlife around the world. Even when he was interviewed by 20/20 in 1986, the news organization took Larson to the zoo so he'd feel more at home.

Larson even visited Jane Goodall's wildlife institute in Tanzania at her invitation (the two having struck up a friendship following a misunderstanding involving a Far Side strip mocking the primatologist.) Of course, when it came to giraffes, all of that went out of the window in favor of jokes about their silly necks.

Chair | Published June 5, 1984

In this strip, three giraffes look out for predators, finding that their long necks don't give them quite enough of a vantage to do the job right. Larson emphasizes the tiny amount of difference by putting his characters already atop a hill, and having them quarrel about whose turn it is to look out, with one giraffe unwilling to accept their safety unless they can check for themselves.

The joke is funny by itself, but there's also the surreal, Larsonian question of where three giraffes even got a chair from in the first place (and, if they got one, why they can't find another.) Of course, they're not exactly wrong to worry, given how creative Far Side's lion can be in taking down their prey.

When your predators can pick locks, stop traffic and sneakily let down tires, maybe every inch DOES matter!

Photograph | Published April 2, 1986

Larson loves the idea of animals attempting everyday human tasks and falling afoul of the process, and that's the case in the strip, where a giraffe photographer has (understandably) failed to get their family's faces in the photo.

For longtime fans of The Far Side, there's nostalgia in the memory of checking out holiday snaps on a carousel slide projector. As Far Side continues to amuse new generations, more and more anachronisms are liable to rear their head. Thankfully, the humor itself stands the test of time.

Crocodile | Published in The Prehistory of The Far Side

In this genius wordless comic, it turns out a giraffe's neck is a lot more flexible than it seems - just pull on the tail and the head retracts all the way in, similar to a turtle.

In real life, crocodiles aren't exactly a common predator of giraffes, but it does happen around watering holes, where the gangly animals are forced to bend down, putting them in a position where it's difficult to run away. Of course, even then, predators tend to target the young and elderly, however it does mean we can't strictly rule out the possibility that this Far Side joke has happened in real life.

Beach Parties | Published October 16, 1987

In this strip, the giraffes' long necks finally work in their favor, as Larson imagines the animals gathering for a friendly limbo competition. Hopefully, this experience makes up for being hunted by lions, preyed on by crocodiles and cut out of family photos, and to be fair it looks like it might, as Larson draws the long-necked animals with a sense of genuine delight.

Honorable Mentions

A pause in our list for some honorable mentions and fun facts about giraffes in The Far Side. Above are some of the worthy contenders who didn't quite make it onto this list - the giraffe with a stiff neck having come incredibly close. Fans of Larson can see another of his favorite gags - silly versions of 'missing' notices on milk cartons - along with a lot more 'long neck' gags.

One Far Side giraffe comic that doesn't fall into that category is the one below, which imagines a movie franchise depicting killer giraffes terrorizing skyscrapers. Larson's love of language is on show, as the movie boasts the tagline "This time, they're not just looking for acacia leaves."

Given the release of 2026's Hungry - which stars a killer hippo - this could go down as another situation where Far Side came close to predicting the future. In another notable giraffe strip, below, an innocent citizen encounters a shady giraffe dealer.

In The Prehistory of The Far Side, Larson reveals he originally wanted to caption this comic "...wanna buy an ungulate?" but couldn't quite summon the trust that his readers would understand the term. Larson jokes:

Of course, almost everyone knows that "ungulate" is the collective term for hoofed mammal, but then why risk confusion among a handful of illiterates?

In this rare case, we're forced to agree that Larson's first instinct was a little funnier than the version that got published.

Far Side's Giraffes Are Basically Noah's Sidekicks

While giraffes appear in plenty of Far Side comics making fun of them, they also appear in the background in a handful of Larson's jokes, most commonly those set aboard Noah's Arc.

Noah may seem like an odd recurring character in The Far Side, which isn't exactly known for ecumenical commentary, but then again, of course he is! Larson loves jokes revolving around animals, and who has more animal problems than a guy providing room and board for two of every species?

Larson explores every way that Noah could be inconvenienced by his animal charges, as well as some gonzo scenarios like Noah conning his charges at poker (until the Almighty orders him to knock it off.)

Gopher Holes | Published April 5, 1983

Back to our final entry with one of Larson's greatest slapstick creations. The strip shows a giraffe who just fell straight down a gopher hole, having sadly mistimed its step. Larson is the master of gag images that get even weirder once you think about them - how does a gopher hole go that far down vertically? How did the giraffe fall totally inside when we can see the other holes, and they're nowhere near big enough? The discordance is part of what's funny.

It's also worth noting that Larson makes this joke funnier with the visual context of the other giraffes, which provide a comparison for just how far 'Roger' has fallen underground. And speaking of 'Roger,' this strip nails one of Larson's recurring verbal tricks, where including a character's name helps to emphasize an unreasonably calm response to a bizarre situation.