European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 06, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                M i t m in Don t know where my ideas come from. Will admit that one key ingredient is caffeine. I get couple of cups of Coffee into me and weird things just Start to  Gary Larson me Henling t nolhln1. I m going for he whole sneer of god. I Hole walking through Hij Ploc at no Gnu the far Side More far out weirdness Symik Genalo new York Bureau look out it s a song Philus  s no joke. Probably the Only cartoonist in the world to have an insect named after him it s species of chewing lice is Back at his drawing Board. Gary Larson creator of the far Side has returned to work. His original cartoons began appearing in newspapers again this week. Larson has just resumed from a 14-month sabbatical during which he avoided any cartooning. He is a private individual who dislikes doing interviews. He Hopes his new Book the prehistory of the far Side will answer most of the questions his fans have about where he s coming from. The Book has been on he new York times bestseller list Tor 10 weeks. Basically i Felt the purpose of my sabbatical would have been nullified by cartooning and i avoided the drawing table like the plague he says in the Book. Newspapers including the stars and stripes received selections from Larson s earliest works during his sabbatical. The strip appears in More than 900 newspapers nationwide As Well As in foreign periodicals throughout Europe Scandinavia and Japan. There Are also profitable tines of sweat shirts to shirts mugs posters greeting cards and calendars. There have been almost 4 million far Side calendars sold for 1990. Larson is amazed by the Success his cartoon has achieved Over the past 10 years. He had started out to be an advertising executive majoring in communications at Washington slate University. I loved to draw As a kid. But i need to emphasize that i never once thought about being a cartoonist he say in the Book. I never studied Art other than the required classes in Grade school and Junior High. " where do you get your ideas has always been the question i m most often confronted with he writes. I be always found the question interesting because it seems to embody a better that then exists some secret tangible place of origin for cartoon ideas. I Don t know where my ideas come from. I will admit that one key ingredient is caffeine. I get a couple of