Sgt. Piggy's Lonely Hearts Club Comic: A Pearls Before Swine Treasury (Volume 3)

When Pearls Before Swine first appeared in my local newspaper comic page about 1 1/2 years ago I must admit that I thought it was quite stupid. This treasury changed everything. My brother brought it over one day and I became curious at how he could sit laughing in the corner over a comic strip that I thought to be useless. I picked up the book, and several hours later I couldn't put it down! The comic strips coupled with Pastis' commentaries are absolutely hilarious. I rolled with laughter for several hours and still have a smile come to my face when I think about my favorite strips in this book. I shared them with my friends and we have fun telling everyone about our personal favorites. Even if you have yet to discover the genius that is Pearls Before Swine I would heartily recommend this book. This is a great was to start your Pearls collection!

I made the mistake of trying to read this book in bed. I kept waking up my wife because I couldn't stop myself from laughing out loud! Pastis' comments throughout are insightful into how he conceived of and crafts the strip. Caveat emptor: I believe this book contains the same comics as two smaller collections.

Often, comic strips issue smaller collections with black-and-white Sunday strips, then, later, compile two or three of these into a larger "treasury" which is no different except for color Sundays. This treasury is different. It reprints strips from both of the two previous "Pearls Before Swine," but Stephan Pastis adds to this with both an unusually detailed introduction that explains how the strip got started and with comments on many individual strips. The individual comments range from detailed explanations of a problem with a strip to funny comments about a strip. I have not seen this type of thing in a "regular" treasury before; I have seen it in "greatest hits" strip collections. It's nice to see this kind of thing in a regular strip collection.

I'm a huge fan of Pearls and eagerly pre-ordered Sgt. Piggy's Lonely Hearts Club Comic. Beyond rereading some of my favorite strips ("Dear Jesse Jackson, Every time you speak you say, 'Keep Hope alive.' Who is this 'Hope' guy and how sick is he?" - see page 36) - the best part of this collection is Stephan Pastis' introduction (including some early drawings/strips) and the comments he makes below many of the strips. I love the comics, and it's always great to hear the stories behind the strips or jokes. I highly recommend this to fans and recent converts of Pearls Before Swine!