Lions and Tigers and Crocs, Oh My!: A Pearls Before Swine Treasury (Volume 6)

Mainstream comic strips generally won't go the places that Pearls Before Swine goes.That is not to say that Pearls is either embarrassingly edgy or glumly depressing. Stephen Pastis truly is one of the great cartoonists of his generation, despite his art style being among the weakest, by virtue of how deftly, hilariously, and even poignantly he juggles topics like the war, American illiteracy, generational trauma and depression, post-Bush despair, and even suicide, while having utterly ridiculous storylines that involve scenarios like an adulterous syrup bottle dating a pig. This seemingly would make the strip feel unfocused, atonal and sporadic but the same spirit flows throughout all of it; life is ludicrously cruel and dumb. Sure, Pearls can be quite serious; one of its most memorable strips, contained in this collection, discusses the impact of violence in the Middle East in a way so deadly solemn and controversial that Pastis feared it would cost him his career. But in the main, this strip is joyously, maddeningly funny, daringly inane to remind you not to take it all too seriously, and with humor so genuinely off-color (particularly for comics in the early 2000s) that it feels uncompromising while also not being tasteless and stupid. Pastis does not punch down but he is also honest about finding humor in even the dark parts of life.Yes, this is still a review about the strip that loves to indulge in shaggy dog stories that end in belabored puns.I think the reason why Pearls has lasted so long lies in its universal appeal. Rat and Pig represent people we all know in our lives while also being relatable enough to us (or at least to me) to not be just mouthpieces for Pastis. Even at his worst we can relate to Rat's frustrations, even at his dumbest we can relate to Pig's desire to be things one can simply never be. Even the plethora of puns give the strip a charm in their self-effacing nature and give its heavier themes some needed levity.To be sure, especially in its early years, the strip's art is clean and basic at best. Watterson, this is not. But, in all honesty, despite how good Calvin and Hobbes is, I find Pearls to be genuinely much more funny being the cynical adult that I am.It is, to be clear, not for everyone; some jokes may age poorly depending on your taste, and may be a little too mean-spirited for some people. Comedy doesn't uniformly age well especially in light of changing attitudes. Still, I think there's a heart to Pearls that makes its merciless ripping into other comics in this collection palatable. After all, it riffs most of all on itself, leans into its own limitations and embraces them, and it gets down to its bones what makes comic strips great.Called it a flawed masterpiece.

Got this book for my daughter this Christmas because she loved the first one I bought, St. Piggy's Lonely Hearts Club. She loves reading the comics on the Sunday paper, and that's how she first asked for her first Pearls Before Swine book, because she was curious if the strips on the Sunday paper were all there was to it. Like the other book we have, the strips offer nuggets of humor with hints of worldly wisdom, cynicism, satire, hyperbole, analogy, smart-alecky and "That's life" kind of stuff that becomes part of our life experience as we go on living in this world. This book's characters somewhat epitomize how we should not take life too seriously so we don't go bonkers trying to live too hard!

While the first treasury  Sgt. Piggy's Lonely Hearts Club Comic: A Pearls Before Swine Treasury  showed the genesis of Pearls, from its early days, it was still in a rough form. However in this treasury Stephan Pastis truly hits his stride. The art becomes cleaner and smoother, the writing more tight and clever and the characters begin to truly develop into their own. These treasuries are fun to read to see the evolution of a comics masterpiece. Furthermore, it is in this book that we are introduced to "Da Brudderhood Of Zeeba Zeeba Eata", the fraternity of Crocs who live next door to Zebra, and the laughs just pick up from there and go full steam ahead. This book also contains some controversial strips including the infamous Jerusalem Bus Strip. That strip was perhaps one of the most powerful in the history of Pearls Before Swine and shows just how powerful the comic can be. The weeklong series in which Rat and Pig discuss why the funnies are not funny anymore is a genius piece of work and truly gives insight into the industry. There are a few stinkers within, Da Da Tails for example, and the incredibly dark series where Pig visits a slaughterhouse thinking it to be a singles bar (not a stinker so much as just very dark). However most of the strips within are gold and we even get a selection of the strips that were pulled from publication.What makes this collection so worth it however, is the commentary from Stephan Pastis, which really offers a good insight into the strip and his work. All in all, this is a very worth your money collection!

I purchased this as a Christmas stocking stuffer for my beloved. I know that she is fond of this cartoonist's work. Now, when we have occasion to spend a quiet evening together watching TV, she amuses herself during bouts of advertising by perusing the cartoons in this book. She laughs out loud for several minutes at a stretch, until whatever show we were actually viewing returns to the screen, at which point she reluctantly puts the book back down until the next bout of advertising. I know from her laughter that she is enjoying the book, and I enjoy hearing her laugh, so its a win win. Plus she feels compelled to share some of her favorites with me, on the spot. They are really funny, and when she finishes going through the book, I will probably use it as she has been. If this catches on, I'm sure that television advertisers will put a hit out on this cartoonist.

Pearls before Swine is one of the first comics I look for in the Mercury News. This is the second Pastis compilation I have ordered. I got them to give to my son and my grandson. I ordered them in time to read them both before gift time. When I am reading them, I have a hard time stopping. I keep reading "just one more page". They are very punny and dark and cynical, sort of the opposite of Family Circle. I think Pastis compares well with The Far Side and Calvin & Hobbes. Peanuts (Charles Schultz) and Dilbert are inspirations of Pastis.