Pearls Before Swine: Blts Taste So Darn Good

BLT's is the first Pearl's Before Swine Collection. If you haven't been reading this strip, you are missing the funniest comic in the funny pages. While I adore this collection, I do recommend Sgt. Piggy's Lonely Heart's Club instead, as it includes all the strips from BLTs Taste So Darn Good including the Sundays in color. Then again, you could buy both to help support the author/artist Stephan Pastis. No, he didn't pay me and he is not a relative. I just think we should encourage as many lawyers as we can to become such funny cartoonists, or at least support this particular one.

Is genius too strong a word? Pastis has it all: Wit, cynicism, thought provoking commentary, and the most hilarious characters in many, many years. Rat, the nasty 'hate him so much ya gotta love him' leader of the pack, Zebra, who's blind optimism is so sad it's funny, Goat, who just seems to sit back and take it all in knowing he's the only one who really knows what's going on, and Pig, the scene stealer and real star of this strip - whos child like innocence and 'good in all beings' attitude makes you stop and think that you'd like to be him sometimes... If bad puns, thought provoking commentary and pushing the edge of the comic envelope intrigue you - or it you just want to have a good old fashioned laugh strip after strip after strip, you have GOT to follow the adventures of this troop, not just in these books, but every single day on the web or in your daily paper.

One surefire antidote to the complexities of modern life can be found in the first collection of comic strip "Pearls Before Swine," an Internet pleasure brought on by Stephan Pastis. Up-to-date strips can be read online, but it's great to have "BLTs Taste So Darn Good" on hand when you need a laugh and the university network connection is down or, better yet, when nature is calling. Pastis' story is interesting - he's a lawyer who simply decided to hop into cartooning, found a supportive United Media editor who backed the strip, and then rocketed to glory when he got endorsements from two of the comic world's best and brightest shining stars, Scott Adams ("Dilbert") and Darby Conley ("Get Fuzzy"). "Swine" has grabbed attention from critics who have deemed it a throwback to dearly departed "Calvin and Hobbes." The golden classic and the newbie certainly share the same amount of heart. Pastis gives us characters who voice the things we wish we could say as we muddle through our days. Rat is a self-center schemer who just wants to strike it rich by doing as little work as possible. His plans for doing so include creating his own comic strip, which bears a striking resemblance to "Dilbert" (after perusing a "Dilbert" desk calendar, Rat informs his pals that he has about 365 new ideas for his "Bildert"), hosting his own television show and interviewing local celebrities like the waitress at the Waffle Barn and his garbageman and just basically insulting Pig. Pig is naïve to the point of stupidity, which makes him the perfect foil for Rat's schemes, and also excellent comic fodder. He makes friends with a reflection of himself in a small pond ("You remind me of my other friend, Mr. Quiet Medicine Cabinet Guy"), plays hopscotch on chalk body outlines and ... simply exists, trying to muddle through. My absolute favorite "Pearls Before Swine": Rat to Pig: "If you could have a conversation with one person, living or dead, who would it be?" Pig: "The living one." (Pause.) "You must think I'm really stupid." Hee-larious. Pig and Rat are the big names, but they are joined by socially conscious Zebra, who is trying to get the herd back home to stop getting eaten by alligators, and Goat, who is the voice of reason in the strip. Goat doesn't show up all that often. Overall, it's a quiet, little strip that is capable of eliciting big, loud guffaws.

I arrived home late from work the night this book arrived and literally woke up my wife from laughing so loudly while reading. The drawings are simple, the subject matter implausible, and the hip, biting, quick-witted humor add up to an uproarious good time. Any fans of Bloom County, Calvin and Hobbes, Get Fuzzy or any fine comic should get this book.

One day while surfing the net I came across comics.com, and found the comic strip Pearls Before Swine. I immediately became hooked, because reading it made me laugh out loud. I now have the strip delivered daily to my email. Reading this little strip has been the BEST way for me to start my day! Stephan Pastis is a witty genius at finding the humor in the quirks of the mundane, using his curious cast of characters, each with his own unique personality. I think all of us can identify with PIG, who is innocent, naive and unsophisticated, but I also think most of us have a RAT side as well, that is slightly sarcastic, ego-centered and mischevious. Just when I think I've seen it all, up pops another batch of whacky strange character...I LOVE it! I believe Stephan Pastis will soon be every bit as popular as Charles Shultz has been with Peanuts. I have ordered copies of this new book for all my friends and family. I am also trying to get him published in my local newspapers, and hope others who love this comic strip will do the same.ENJOY!