Once More: The Far Side Debuted on December 31, 1979
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Okay it is Gary Larson and Andrews McMeel’s fault.
In the Foreword to The Prehistory of The Far Side Larson states that The Far Side began on January 1, 1980.
Larson corrected that in The Complete Far Side:
But Andrews McMeel complicates matters by starting the running of The Far Side in The Complete Far Side with the Jan. 1, 1980 panel:
A Google search of “The Far Side” + “December 31, 1979” brings up several sources that note the panel began on the last day of 1979 though that iffy reference Wikipedia claims the Jan. 1, 1980 as the start date.
Then there is the confusing fact that The San Francisco Chronicle ran a full page ad for The Far Side on Dec. 31, 1979 which some people know about. From Lukas Shayo & Natasha Elder at CBR in 2024:
“The single-panel comic strip’s official origin came on January 1, 1980, as Larson published his first entry in The San Francisco Chronicle. However, it was not the first time The Far Side saw print, as The San Francisco Chronicle published an advertisement on December 31, 1979, featuring some of the panels to showcase what audiences could expect from Larson’s work.”
That December 31, 1979 promo for The Far Side on page 10 says that the panel would be “starting today on the TV listings page.” And sure enough there at the bottom of page 34 of The San Francisco Chronicle is the first panel of The Far Side.
(By the way, that aside in The Chronicle that the comic would appear “Weekdays except Wednesdays” was incorrect as it did appear on Wednesday January 2, 1980 though after that Wednesday Chronicles ran the TV ratings in that space.)
This all comes up because yesterday once again the first Far Side panel of Dec. 31, 1979 was ignored when CBR posted “The First 10 Far Side Comics Gary Larson Ever Drew” with screenshots apparently from The Complete Far Side and, naturally, the first panel listed is January 1, 1980.
Googling “The Far Side” + “January 1, 1980” will find a host of entries getting the facts wrong including, embarrassingly, this writer who should have known better as I had Allan Holtz’s reference guide at that time.
The Far Side is © Gary Larson
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