Dude, I really like Pearls Before Swine! I haven't been able to get into Newspaper Comic since Calvin And Hobbes ended! Get this, the cartoonist, Stephan Pastis, was a lawyer. Unfortunately, I don't have a clue what kind of lawyer...there just seem to be so many types. To be honest, I don't think that highly of lawyers (mostly because of how they are protrayed in fiction, I guess). I was just shocked when I found out that a lawyer quit his day job to become a cartoonist who draws a Webcomic and a Newspaper Comic. It is just so interesting to get to see a lawyer's point of view!
Oh, Equestria, we stand on guard for thee!The cartoonist has said that he had to work hard to get into newspapers. Part of the problem was that newspapers have a rigid set of rules, and the subject matter of Pearls Before Swine clearly goes against these rules. Another part was actually getting people to notice his comic strip. Fortunately for him, Scott Adams, the cartoonist of Dilbert, saw the strip, liked it very much, and promoted it. Stephan Pastis had to be quite the Determinator to get Pearls Before Swine into the position it is now.
He has also said that Executive Meddling has occurred from time to time. Then again, with the Black Humor featured in the strip, that is bound to happen. He does say that the syndicate he works for has given him a lot of leeway, much more than other syndicates would have. It's just fun stuff to learn, am I right?
edited 6th Aug '11 6:01:30 AM by TiggersAreGreat
Oh, Equestria, we stand on guard for thee!There's long periods of time where I go without reading the comic, so here:
Believe it or not, several episodes of Pearls Before Swine have been made into animated shorts. You can get started on seeing them on You Tube here
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Some of the characters are voiced so perfectly. I just knew that Pig was going to be given a voice that sounds like a little kid, or a woman's voice.
The voice they gave the crocodiles is not quite what I expected. When I read the episodes with the crocodiles, I always imagine them talking like deep-voiced African-American gangsters on the streets of the inner city. I understand if that sounds racist or loaded with Unfortunate Implications, but that's what pops into my head when I see those crocs. Of course, some You Tube comments claim that they sound Japanese, which could be considered Unfortunate Implications.
Oh, Equestria, we stand on guard for thee!Yeah, some You Tube comments said that the crocodiles sound like Jar-Jar Binks. I'm sure those who hated that character probably enjoy having the crocs given that voice. By the way, I didn't think Jar-Jar was such a bad character. I thought he was an okay character, as far as a klutzy comic relief character goes anyway.
edited 30th Aug '11 12:18:24 PM by TiggersAreGreat
Oh, Equestria, we stand on guard for thee!
By the way, those crocodiles have, in my opinion, earned the title of Jerkass Woobie. At least, Larry, the one who's married to Patty and is the father of his smarter son Junior, is this.
I mean, think about it. The crocodiles have been unable to catch Zebra, and they are painfully aware (at times) that nobody likes them very much. Rat has actually exploited them by selling them tomatoes and telling them that they are zebras.
There was also this one set of episodes where Pig made friends with a hippo (so that he can be hugged by soft, jiggly arms) and it was followed by Larry joining up with a group of crocodile ninja. No, I am not making this up! Naturally, Larry makes some blunders (some of which were not his fault) and gets kicked out of the ninja group. He retorts that he has other friends who are tougher and cooler than stupid ninja. Then a sad-looking Larry is shown in the arms of the hippo. If that does not earn him the title of Jerkass Woobie, then what does?
Oh, Equestria, we stand on guard for thee!
Okay, that's actually pretty good!
Out of curiousity, did you see that episode where Goat convinced Rat to stop worrying and relax, and then whacked Rat on the head with a frying pan when he did? Goat said, "I've been wanting to do this for 10 years!" Admit it, Rat totally had that coming to him!
Witness Goat Kick The Son Of A Bitch Rat here
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Rat is a Jerkass, which I know, since I've read Pearls Before Swine. Some episodes have him as a Jerkass Woobie. But many episodes have Rat as a Karma Houdini. Seeing Goat inflict retribution on Rat was...perfect! ![]()
edited 19th Feb '12 2:23:40 PM by TiggersAreGreat
Oh, Equestria, we stand on guard for thee!I saw this one set of Pearls Before Swine episodes that did an impressive Deconstruction of Comic-Book Time, or more accurately, when CBT becomes an Averted Trope.
The first episode has Rat and Pig talking about how every single comic strip is going to run in real-time, and every character is going to be aged accordingly to how many years the strip has been in existence. At that time, PBS was only 4 years old, so it didn't affect them much. However, Rat and Pig discover to their horror that The Family Circus characters are not well off from the change. See, TFC debuted in February 29, 1960, which means that the kids are now in their 40s or 50s. They look old, hard-used, smoking, drinking, cursing, and getting thrown out of the bar more than once. Fridge Brilliance: They didn't get to grow up naturally, so they are stuck as ManChildren.
The next two episodes have Rat and Pig commenting on the results of the changes. One episode has a middle-aged Billy playing with his children's toys and his elderly father urging him to get a job. The other episode has the kids in a shopping cart and saying "Faster, Mommy! Faster!" It's interesting that they managed to fit themselves into the cart considering that they are now adults. Clearly, the jokes in TFC are funny when it focuses on kids, but not when it focuses on adults acting like kids!
Another episode has Rat and Pig pointing out that since the kids are now adults, the subject matter has to be made more adult and mature, and you can bet that it's not going to be as funny. In fact, the episode shows Jeffy in his wife-beater shirt and saying, "And remember, no telling Mommy I shot my probation officer!" Yes, Jeffy apparently got turned into a convicted felon!
The final episode of this set has Pig saying that this real-time stuff really has got to go. Rat is happy to announce that CBT is going to be put back in, and everything will be restored back to the way they were. Pig is relieved to hear this, because Blondie just hasn't been the same since it got put into real-time. It shows the graves of Blondie and Dagwood Bumstead, with Dagwood saying, "Hey! I thought I ordered a sandwich!" B debuted in September 8, 1930, and a number of the characters seem to be in their 30s or 40s. Old enough that 70+ years would render them very elderly...or dead!
Boy, if that set of episodes was not showing Deconstruction in action, then I don't know what you'd call it!
I still can't believe that Pastis also directed Happiness Is A Warm Blanket
I drink 17 cups of coffee in court.
What? When was this?
And if he did, it makes perfect sense to me. Dude works part-time as a security card at the Charles M. Schulz Museum as a security guard even though he doesn't need the money, puts Charlie Brown stripes on random background items, and even did an entire series of Peanuts tribute comics on the anniversary of Shulz's death. He's a pretty big fan.
Maybe you'd be less disappointed if you stopped expecting things to be Carmen Sandiego movies.

As an on-and-off follower of the strip I see we have no thread on Pearls Before Swine, so here it is.