Gary Larson’s Far Side published some incredible comics during its incredible 15-year run, but even the cartoonist refused to publish one strip.
Gary Larson’s Far Side comics were largely unafraid of tackling controversial or taboo topics, but even the legendary cartoonist admitted one strip wasn’t worth submitting. Larson revealed that a comic featuring a woman giving birth to a baby who popped like a balloon was never sent to his editors. Instead, he refused to send it and rejected publishing the strip himself after realizing it wasn’t worth doing so.
In The Prehistory of The Far Side: A 10th Anniversary Exhibit by Gary Larson, Larson dedicated a section to comic strips that were either rejected by editors, newspapers, or by himself. Among them was a comic featuring a doctor cutting the umbilical cord of a baby who was just born, with the caption, “And now, as I cut the umbilical cord, your baby’s life begins!” However, when the doctor cut the cord, it popped the baby like a balloon. Larson shared that he didn’t even submit the Far Side comic, likely knowing it would be rejected by editors.
Gary Larson’s Far Side Had Many Controversial Comics
While the balloon baby comic strip never saw publication, Gary Larson’s Far Side has found itself in controversy on a handful of occasions during its 15-year run. Whether it was Larson’s most misunderstood comic that featured a dog on top of a car, a comic strip that drew the ire of the Jane Goodall Institute, or the Cow Tools strip that confused readers so much that the cartoonist admitted he wanted to “crawl into a hole somewhere and die,” Larson had dealt with it all.
In this particular case, given the sensitive nature of the comic, as depicting childbirth is already a topic that would likely be rejected under most circumstances, Larson made the right decision by opting not to submit the Far Side comic. Furthermore, it would have caused a considerable headache for the cartoonist, as his controversial comics always received a large amount of mail from angry readers. Ultimately, he refused to submit the baby balloon comic and only released it in the Far Side retrospective collection.
Even the most genius creative minds realize that not everything they create is worth publishing – and while Gary Larson would eventually share the comic, he initially passed on sending it to editors because he knew it would be rejected. The Far Side comic is one of the few strips he never sent off to editors, as even he refused to publish it, knowing the controversy it likely would have caused.
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