On This, the 12th Anniversary of Pearls Before Swine, A How-To-Guide to Collecting Every Single Pearls Strip

I am often asked by readers for the easiest way to collect all the published Pearls Before Swine strips going back to the very first strip, which was published 12 years ago today, on December 31, 2001.  And I have to admit, it can get confusing.

After all, there have been 14 collections (the small books), 6 treasuries (the big books), 2 gift books (the hardcover books), and even one Pearls kids book (yes, I did a Pearls kids book).

So let me simplify things.  The quickest (and cheapest) way to collect every single strip from the very beginning is to just buy the 6 treasuries.  They are, in order of publication date:

Sgt. Piggy’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (published 2004)

Lions and Tigers and Crocs, Oh My! (published 2006)

The Crass Menagerie (published 2008)

Pearls Sells Out (published 2009)

Pearls Blows Up (published 2011)

Pearls Freaks the #$%# Out (published 2012)

And if you’re a think-ahead kind of person, you can even pre-order the seventh treasury, which comes out in March, called Pearls Falls Fast (sneak peek below).

As an added bonus, each of these seven treasuries contains my commentary below many of the strips, which some people say is funnier than the strips (a compliment?  not a compliment?  I never know).

I’m also asked what the difference is between a “collection” and a “treasury.”  In short, a Pearls collection contains 9 months worth of strips.  A treasury contains 18 months worth of strips.  So a treasury is simply two collections put together.  Thus, there are twice as many Pearls collections (14) as treasuries (7).

So another way to collect every single Pearls strips is to just buy all 14 collections, and skip the treasuries altogether.  Either way, I get your money.  And that’s what’s important.

So if you want to go that route, here is a listing (and Amazon link to) every single collection, in order of publication:

BLTs Taste So Darn Good (published 2003)

This Little Piggy Stayed Home (published 2004)

Nighthogs (published 2005)

The Ratvolution Will Not Be Televised (published 2006)

Da Brudderhood of Zeeba Zeeba Eata (published 2007)

The Sopratos (published 2007)

Macho Macho Animals (published 2008)

The Saturday Evening Pearls (published 2009)

50,000,000 Pearls Fans Can’t Be Wrong (published 2010)

When Pigs Fly (published 2010)

Larry in Wonderland (published 2011)

Because Sometimes You Just Gotta Draw a Cover With Your Left Hand (published 2012)

Unsportsmanlike Conduct (published 2013)

Rat’s Wars (published 2013)

And now I am going off to celebrate Pearls 12th anniversary as any cartoonist would.

By drawing more strips.