13 Hilarious Far Side Comics Starring Characters Named "Ernie" (Including An All-Time Classic Gary Larson Pop Culture Reference)

The Far Side had a dense population of characters called “Ernie,” a name Gary Larson used in punchlines repeatedly throughout the years. Far Side fans will know Larson had a habit of recycling names in different comics over the years, and the proliferation of Ernies is just one more prominent example.

From repeat caveman character Thag, to the comic’s infamous detective, one of Larson’s favorite tropes, to the oft-mentioned “Arlene Charmichael”, The Far Side had far more familiar characters than most fans realize. However, given the nature of the strip’s publication, this wasn’t fully appreciated during its original run.

Only in retrospect have Far Side readers been able to draw connections between comics published years apart, identifying where Gary Larson engaged with the same ideas in different cartoons, where there was crossover between his many recurring themes – and occasionally, where the same character popped up more than once.

13 Ernie The Alien Starred In An Early Far Side Head-Scratcher (Where Is The Humor Here?)

First Published: September 20, 1982

An early Ernie appearance occurred in this Far Side alien panel, one that might ordinarily be overlooked because its humor is on the more hard-to-parse side of the Larsonian comedic spectrum. “Verrrrrrrry good, Ernie!” an alien teacher tells its student, as the young extraterrestrial doodles a picture of its dad; taken at face value, the joke here is simply the transposition of human behaviors onto alien characters.

As a result, this comic will have many readers asking “What the?” rather than laughing out loud, but in the context of Ernie’s many subsequent appearances, in many different forms, it is notable that he started as an alien child.

12 Ernie Is Gator Bait In This Farcical Far Side Comic (What Are Their Odds Of Survival?)

First Published: October 21, 1982

Here, Gary Larson introduces a human version of Ernie – and immediately puts him in great peril, as one of The Far Side’s more dangerous alligatorslaunches itself onto a couple’s rowboat, with the woman at the far end shouting “rub his belly, Ernie!” in a futile attempt to help him fend off the beast.

This Far Side cartoon’s predominant appeal is its blend of grave danger and outright silliness; even chalked up to a panic response, there is no sane world in which rubbing an alligator’s stomach is the solution to surviving an attack, and of course, that touch of insanity is the point of the joke.

11 The Far Side Proves Nose Cramps Are As Devastating As A Charlie Horse (Didn’t Ernie Hydrate?)

First Published: July 11, 1985​​​​​​​

“Suddenly, only a mile into the race, Ernie gets a nose cramp,” the caption of this Far Side comic reads, with Ernie easily identifiable among the illustration’s swarm of marathon runners by the way his nose is painfully bent upward.

The joke relies on the idea that the nose is generally not an area of concern for runners – but it really comes down to the simple, effective humor of the image. Despite being one of Gary Larson’s more sparse drawings, the artist somehow manages to evoke sympathy for Ernie, perhaps because he has been beset by a cramp so early in the run.

10 A Much More Placid Encounter Between Ernie And An Alligator (Is Ernie Impressed?)

First Published: March 8, 1986

In this comic, one of The Far Side’s many Ernies once more comes face-to-face with an alligator, but under very different circumstances. “He’ll keep that chicken right there until I say okay,” the gator’s owner explains, as it delicately balances a live chicken on its snout, waiting to be given permission to scarf it down, with the owner asking his guest,”you wanna say okay, Ernie?”

Again, the humor of this panel is concentrated in how its illustration realizes the absurdity of its premise. Like most named Far Side characters, “Ernie” is here simply to facilitate the joke, and to add detail and specificity to increase the punchline’s connection to the reader.

9 The Far Side Shows What Too Much Time Alone Does To Ernie (Who Would You Trust More?)

First Published: June 3, 1986

In this classic Far Side desert island comic, a man washes up on the shore of a tiny island to find another shipwreck survivor, named Ernie, and his ventroliquism dummy Gus –​​​​​​​ with the dummy immediately warning the new arrival that Ernie is actually a cannibal.

This joke is equal parts disturbing and amusing, given the chaotic interplay that comes from the argument between Ernie and “Gus,” with the man standing in the shallow water is a proxy for the reader, in the sense that he is a cautious witness to this spectacle. The panel is also noteworthy for its excessive use of back-and-forth dialogue, a rarity in The Far Side.

8 The Far Side Makes A Perfect Jazz Joke (Why Is It Actually Heartbreaking?)

First Published: April 6, 1987

In The Far Side’s most iconic comic starring anthropomorphized objects, Gary Larson riffs on the famous jazz standard “Mack the Knife,” by depicting Mack’s pre-success days “living in [a] squalid apartment” with roommates “Bob the Spoon and Ernie the Fork,” the latter of whom is depicted sitting diligently at the piano in the background practicing, despite the caption revealing he will never find “fame and fortune.”

Larson was a jazz musician himself, but as hilarious as this reference is, what is amazing about this Far Side comic is the level of pathos it manages to pack into this panel, as it manages to make readers viscerally feel the scene, and feel for Bob and Ernie, who “wound up in an old silverware drawer.”

7 On The Far Side, All Pigs, And Some Humans, Went To Heaven (How Did He Get There?)

First Published: November 9, 1987

In this chuckle-inducing Far Side panel set in the afterlife, “some unfortunate celestial error” leads to a man named Ernie being “sent to Hog Heaven,” with the image depicting him surrounded by pigs sporting halos and angel wings.

Life was essentially a cosmic joke to Gary Larson, and cartoons like this emphasize that, in this case by depicting admittance into heaven as something that can be botched. Whether Ernie’s unfortunate ending can be reversed by some angelic clerical clarification is a question without an answer, but nevertheless, this classic Far Side play on words will likely get a solid laugh out of most readers.

6 A Far Side Ant Makes A Bold Fashion Statement (Why Did Ernie Think This Was A Good Look?)

First Published: March 21, 1988

In this hilarious Far Side ant panel, a young ant named Ernie inadvertantly massacres his own family by wearing a giant pair of human shoes into their home. “Look what you’re doing,” the apron-clad ant mom cries, begging Ernie to “take off those shoes this instant before doing any damage.”

In this way, Gary Larson offers a great example of his jokes which focused on the intrusion of human technology on the natural world. It is an absurd elaboration on that theme, but that is precisely what makes it such an unforgettable Far Side cartoon, and why it has stuck with readers for years following its publication.

5 “Buick Head” Is The Far Side At Its Strangest (Why Not Have That Removed?)

First Published: October 3, 1988

Some Far Side comics are truly inexplicable – not that they can’t be explained on the surface level, but that how Gary Larson conceived of them is a true, enduring mystery. That is the case with this cartoon, in which a man runs into his old acquaintance “Ernie Wagner” for the first time in decades, and his surprise Ernie still has “that thing growin’ outta [his] head that looks like a Buick.”

The sheer absurdity of the image may very well provoke readers to laughter, the lingering after effect of this Far Side cartoon will be the irrepressible urge to ask “What the?”, even if no suitable conclusion can be reached.

4 These Far Side Shipwreck Survivors Didn’t Expect This (Are They Prepared To Be Boarded?)

First Published: July 12, 1990​​​​​​​

In this goofy Far Side “lost at sea” panel, Gary Larson extrapolates the existence of “navy ants” from the fact that there are “fire ants” – and unfortunate turn of events for this couple in an inflatable life raft, who are about to be overtaken by ants in vessels akin to Viking longboats.

In this way, Larson makes a silly joke, but also squeezes in a smart historical reference, of which The Far Side contained many more than the author gets credit for. Still, the humor of the panel ultimately comes from the exhasperation of the speaker as she realizes what is headed their way, wearily asking “now what?” before recognizing what’s in store.

3 Gary Larson Once Again Reinvents A Stock Phrase (Who Let The Cat Have That Wheelbarrow?)

First Published: April 29, 1991​​​​​​​

Some of the best Far Side comics featured Gary Larson’s take on classic sayings, and this cartoon is an underrated example. Through the window of their suburban home, a woman is depicted telling her husband Ernie not to let the cat in the house, because it is going to try to bring a wheelbarrow full of snakes and rats inside.

Playfully subverting the phrase “look what the cat dragged in,” Gary Larson showcases the fact that he was a relentlessly inventive creator, always looking at the familiar from unexpected angles, and managing to find the humor there time after time.

2 Ernie Miller’s First Far Side Appearance, Explained (How Did His New Life End Up?)

First Published: July 24, 1992

In this Far Side cartoon, Gary Larson effectively employs a split panel in order to tell a joke that requires two locations and an interval of time. In the top half of the frame, a man named Ernie Miller leans out his window and shouts at people on the street below that he is “moving to an island in the South Pacific” and to “kiss [his] butt goodbye, human cesspool.”

In the bottom half, Ernie is shown – slightly more sunburnt – sitting on a crowded beach full of tourists, poking fun at the increasing inability to escape from civilization. In addition to being a well-executed, laugh-out-loud Far Side joke, this panel is also notable because Ernie Miller would return in a subsequent cartoon.

1 Ernie Miller’s Second Far Side Appearance, Explained (Who Was God Calling?)

First Published: January 1, 1993

In another multi-panel Far Side cartoon, God accidentally dials the wrong number, and briefly ends up on the phone with Ernie Miller, who the caption informs readers “for the rest of his life…told friends that he had talked to God,” despite the fact that the deity quickly hung up on him.

This is a perfect Far Side joke, and what’s more, the character of Ernie Miller here is fully in line with the one that appeared the previous year. While they don’t need to share “continuity,” these connections between Far Side panels continue to be one of the things contemporary fans of the strip get the most excited about, and Ernie Miller’s two appearances are a fantastic example.