Some background on this comic:

Transcript:

I opened the newspaper one day, and The Far Side on the left is what I saw. The version I submitted, however, is on the right. As you can see, there’s a subtle difference

Normally, when a syndicate editor feels compelled to alter a caption, he or she contacts the cartoonist and the changes are discussed. No one contacted me about this one, however, and I cringed when I read the new, wimpy caption. In cases like this, I prefer cartoons be rejected altogether rather than “softened” in their impact

My editor only did this a few times, and, when the cartoon came up for inclusion in a book, I had the original caption reinstated