It’s No Joke: ‘Far Side’ Cartoonist Gary Larson to Retire Jan. 1

Gary Larson, creator of the syndicated cartoon “The Far Side,” plans to retire at the end of the year, United Press Syndicate announced today.

Larson has drawn his cartoons of the absurd--featuring things like cows in singles bars and bacteria with family lives--for 15 years. It is distributed to nearly 1,900 newspapers. The last release will appear Jan. 1.

In a statement released today, Larson, 44, said his reasons for retiring were “simple fatigue and a fear that if I continue for many more years my work will begin to suffer or at the very least ease into the Graveyard of Mediocre Cartoons.”

Larson, who is based in Seattle, will continue to work with Universal Press on several proj-ects, including “The Far Side” books, calendars and greeting cards.

In 1991, Larson received the Reuben Award for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year from the National Cartoonists Society, which also named “The Far Side” the best syndicated panel in 1985 and 1987.