For five long years, a great darkness has hung over the land. A gaping void has lingered in the homes, offices, and very lives of millions. There hasn't been a daily dose of dancing cows to cheer the multitudes, no nerd boys to spread levity, or cavemen cracking wise. There has been no Far Side Off-The-Wall Calendar.

Over the course of its 17-year run, The Far Side Off-The-Wall Calendar was the proverbial 800-pound gorilla of date-keeping devices, when it went out on top, unchallenged as the best-selling calendar in the world. Folks, it was mighty popular. And then it was over. To the extreme despair of those who like to laugh and know the date, the Off-The-Wall would be no more.

Or would it?

For 2007,we are releasing an "encore edition" of The Far Side Off-The-Wall Calendar, featuring the same cartoons as The Far Side Gallery 2001 Off-The-Wall Calendar, which collected the most popular comic panels in the cartoon's illustrious run.

One year. 365 cartoons. And a very big sigh of relief from Far Side fanatics around the globe.

Just one question remains: Why? Why, after five years is Gary Larson bringing back the Off-The-Wall calendar for 2007? The answer is simple: He's doing it for the beasties. Conservation International (CI) is a nonprofit organization that works to protect critical habitats worldwide. All Gary's royalties from the sale of this calendar will go directly to fund CI's work, especially its efforts to halt illegal trafficking in wildlife, from turtles to tigers. That's the cause. And the effect? Pure, unadulterated joy at having the Off-The-Wall calendar back and helping protect threatened wildlife.

The 800-pound gorilla is back. Maybe it takes one to save one.

The Far Side® and the Larson® signature are registered trademarks of FarWorks, Inc.

One hundred percent (100%) of the royalties payable by the publisher, Andrews McMeel Publishing, to Gary Larson's corporation, FarWorks, Inc., will be donated to Conservation International, 1919 M Street, NW, Suite 600, Washington, D.C. 20036, (202) 912-1000, to support the work of Conservation International, with special emphasis on efforts to halt the illegal wildlife trade in Asia.