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School of Art and Design
U of M
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DEVELOPING COMICS ENCYCLOPEDIA: ARTISTS • THEMES
Gary Larson
by Jim Gianpetro
Fall 2004
ARTIST LINK | MORE ARTISTS | COMICS-RELATED TOPICS
Gary Larson was born on August 14, 1950 in Tacoma Washington. As a child, Larson was an avid comic reader, but never expected or even thought about becoming a cartoonist himself. Larson also loved to draw as a young boy, but never studied art in school other than the classes he was required to take. His interest in school was science, specifically biology.
Larson continued to hone his drawing skills as a young man until he graduated from Washington State University in 1972 with a degree in communications. After graduating, Larson formed a jazz duo with a friend and the two performed for about 3 years until they eventually decided to split up. Gary then decided to take a job in a music store and worked there for a short time until he decided to quit and focus on his true passion, drawing.
After coming to the realization that his passion was cartooning, Larson took some samples of his work to the editor of a magazine called Pacific Search. This led to a syndication contract for Larson's comic called, "Nature's Way". In 1979 Gary approached the San Francisco Chronicle's office to show them his work, which also led to a syndication contract for "Nature's Way", but editors decided to change its name to "The Far Side". The Far Side thrived for 14 years, and when Larson retired on January 1, 1995, the panel had appeared in more than 1,900 daily and Sunday newspapers worldwide and had been translated into 17 languages.
01.17.06: images removed at the request of artist's representative.