“Pearls Before Swine” is a comic strip written and illustrated by Stephen Pastis. It first caught my attention in the Orange County Register Sunday Funnies, with an hilarious logo showing the main characters, Pig, Rat, Zebra and Goat as the Ramones. I’ve been following it ever since.
IMO, it’s not laugh out loud stuff (sorry Stephan) but some of it is very clever. When the strip began foundering, Pastis introduced a new group of characters to the mix: crocodiles.
The bumbling crocs speak in broken English, and spend all their time trying to dupe the smarter Zebra into letting them eat him. Pastis was way too subtle for me, until I spotted a not-so-subtle commentary in Pastis’ new storyline:
I don’t think I need to point out the symbolism here. On Monday 7 June 2010, Pastis continues:
In today’s strip, POTUS apologizes and Zebra asks him to “Just leave.”
Pastis deserves commendations for his subterfuge. Now, Stephen, about that elephant…
Tags: Open thread, Stephan Pastis
