Jane Goodall’s ‘The Far Side’ Comic Controversy Was Quite the Scandal in the ‘80s

Renowned zoologist and primatologist Jane Goodall was well respected in her field. When she passed away at 91 in October 2025, many remembered her contributions to chimpanzees, becoming the first to document these wildlife creatures.

Goodall's groundbreaking work and love for chimpanzees weren't always received. During her career, she received critiques from many of her peers, including Gary Larson, the creator of The Far Side comic.

Larson and Goodall were connected for decades after he made a controversial take on her work.

Let's dive into the controversy.

Goodall's controversy with The Far Side began when Larson targeted her in one of his comic strips. According to a Reddit post, the artist published the strip in the Arizona Daily Star newspaper on Aug. 26, 1987. The cartoon featured two chimpanzees sitting in a tree when one of them picked a piece of blonde hair off the other's back. The discovery prompted the chimp to ask if the other had been in Goodall's "research lab."

"Well, well — another blonde hair..." the comic strip read. "Conducting a little more 'research' with that Jane Goodall tramp?"

The strip was intended to be satirical and to poke fun at Goodall's extensive and celebrated research on chimpanzees. However, her supporters weren't too fond of the joke, as one of them wrote to the Arizona Daily Star, stating they were "appalled" by the comic strip and called Larson a "loony."

"To refer to Dr. Goodall as a tramp is inexcusable - even by a self-described 'loony' as Larson," the reader wrote. "The cartoon was incredibly offensive and in such poor taste that readers might well question the editorial judgment of running such an atrocity in a newspaper that reputes to be supplying the news to persons with a better than average intelligence. The cartoon and its message were absolutely stupid."

"Dr. Goodall is a world-renowned scientist who has devoted 28 years of her life to studying chimpanzees in the wild," the message continued. "Her findings have caused the scientific world to redefine the meaning of the word "mankind" with her discoveries that include the erroneous presumption that man was the only primate to make and use tools, a distinction that - until her findings disproved it - been a measure of superiority of human beings over other primates.

"With no alignment to any animal welfare group, Dr. Goodall is working very hard to instigate better treatment of chimpanzees in biomedical laboratories. Dr. Goodall has vowed to speak out for those animals that cannot speak for themselves. 'Tramp?' Hardly."

While Larson's comic strip about Goodall nearly got him canceled long before "Cancel culture" was even a thing, the conservationist herself wasn't bothered by it. As Reddit commenters discussed in another thread, she and Larson actually became friends through the controversial moment. Goodall also reportedly didn't take offense to his "tramp" comment and didn't believe he was personally attacking her.

Several users shared that Goodall and Larson would go on to financially and creatively gain from his sense of humor. She was commonly satirized in his comics moving forward, and she would later write the foreword of one of Larson's Far Side collections, The Far Side Gallery 5. Goodall also profited from the joke when she released a T-shirt for her institute, The Jane Goodall Institute, featuring the comic.

So, it's safe to say all was well between them!