Larson's Far Side humor sparked controversy, with "Bobbing for Poodles" drawing ire from animal lovers. The Far Side's unique approach to surreal, one-off gags defied the usual recurring character structure of comic strips. Larson's dark humor explored existential questions through animals, with dogs often surviving better than humans in his strips.

One of The Far Side's most controversial cartoons was originally more shocking than the version that caused outrage. Gary Larson’s Far Side is noted for its punchy, left-of-center humor, but not every gag landed well with readers. Over the course of The Far Side’s existence, Larson received hate mail for several comics, with one in particular drawing ire from animal lovers – despite Larson originally intending it to go even darker.

The Far Side became wildly popular during its time as a syndicated newspaper comic strip largely because there was nothing else quite like it at the time.