Da Brudderhood of Zeeba Zeeba Eata, 7: A Pearls Before Swine Collection

Dis booka lotte fun!! Me geets it fer Chrissmass. Me laugh so hard Zeeba hear me an runna way. Darn book too funnee. Now me sad but steel laffeng. Bob Da Croc

If like me, you miss Gary Larson's "Farside" cartoons, you must become familiar with the little folks in "Pearls Before Swine." Stephen Pastis admits to being influenced by both Larson and Charles Schultz. My favorite strips are the ones involving the crocodiles frustrated attempts to catch and eat the zebras. The daddy croc occasionally tries to pass off buckets of KFC for "zeeba." One can only conclude that crocs must be among natures most feeble-minded creatures. Pastis is fun, fun, funny!

Stephan Pastis has always been funny. However, this collection of comic strips showcases his growth as an artist. The panels contain more detail, his shading is better, adding more perspective, and the characters' expressions are more defined. Not only do the comics look better, but the humor is stong throughout. The typical brutal puns are there, as are strips with Angry Bob, and there are, of course, many comics that feature the crocodiles. I laughed out loud many times while reading this collection. If you are a Pearls fan, you will not be disappointed. If you have never read Pearls Before Swine before, I would read the first book or two before this one because that will allow you to get a grasp of who the characters are.

Da Brudderhood contains laugh out loud, clever humor in abundance. I'd give it six (or more) stars if that was possible.

I've enjoyed the comic strip Pearls Before Swine since it first starting appearing in newspapers several years ago. The strip has always been original, witty, and relevant and since Fox Trot started appearing only in Sunday strips a few months ago, Pearls Before Swine is the most engaging and funniest comic strip in most major newspapers. DA BRUDDERHOOD OF ZEEBA ZEEBA EATA is the latest book collection of Stephan Pastis' strips and is a great example of what makes Pearls Before Swine such a good comic strip. The title of this collection is a play on the group of stupid crocodiles who live next door to a zebra. The crocs and Zebra are just a few of the characters in the Pearls Before Swine world, but next to Pig and Rat, they have become some of the break-out stars of the series. Therefore, somewhere between one-third to half of the strips in this collection are about the crocs and Zebra. The Crocs are carnivorous, but they are also incredibly stupid. They want to eat Zebra badly, but are always unsuccessful no matter the method or manner they try to capture him. From putting on fake masks to dressing up like logs in a kiddie-swimming pool, the crocs have tried and tried and tried to get Zebra alone so they can devour him. The strips in the collection are a thorough example of what makes Pearls Before Swine such a great an unusual strip. There are some strips that have an absurd and surreal transaction transpire that lead up to the final panel which is a bad pun of a cliché, e.g. in a Sunday strip when Pig and Rat are talking over a fence (ala Charlie Brown and Linus in Peanuts) about Pig winning a game at the county fairground and not getting the prize he won and then entering a bread dough kneading contest that ends in a pun about a famous saying about getting what you want versus what you need. There are also several strips that take characters from other famous comics and use them in the strip, such as when rat comes up with the idea that Osama Bin Laden is living with some clueless American family and the last panels of the idea show the Family Circus adopting Osama or when Pig and Rat weren't invited to Blondie's big 75th Anniversary Party. This collection also has the first few strips of the appearance of Pig's guard duck, a very loyal follower of Pig who could take over the world himself if he wanted. Also included in the collection are the strips when Wee Bear, Pig, and Rat leave on a journey across America to talk to the one man who can unite the country again (Willie Mays), Rats creation and publication of his own comic book "Dickie the Cockroach", Pig's efforts to protect bowling pens from being used as objects of abuse, and he start of JoJo Croc's job as a radio talk show host. This is a great book for any fan of Pearls Before Swine or anyone who just likes reading good, witty comics similar to ones that used to be published long ago (an idea also discussed in this collection).