Sgt. Piggy's Lonely Hearts Club Comic: A Pearls Before Swine Treasury

Pearls Before Swine #1-2

by Stephan Pastis

The Fab Four of the funny pages come together again-this time in their first book treasury.

Rat, Pig, Zebra, and Goat, the central characters of Pearls Before Swine , are back in Sgt. Piggy's Lonely Hearts Club Comic , the first Pearls Before Swine treasury-supersized for your enjoyment.

But this is no ordinary cartoon treasury. Like the influential Beatles album that inspired the book's title, Sgt. Piggy is full of surprises. In addition to collecting all of the Pearls cartoons that appeared in BLTs Taste So Darn Good and This Little Piggy Stayed Home , cartoonist Stephan Pastis takes readers on a VIP backstage tour of one of the most successful comic strips in newspapers today.

In Sgt. Piggy , Pastis explains the genesis of Pearls ( it didn't begin at an artist's easel), why he was initially reluctant to show it to newspaper syndicates (and the surprising reason he changed his mind), the unexpected responses from readers to his work, and which Pearls strips worked and which ones didn't (and how he would have corrected the ones that didn't). The result is a rare and revealing glimpse into the world of Rat, Pig, Goat and Zebra. Full of humor and insight, sardonic asides and unexpected truths, Sgt. Piggy's Lonely Hearts Club Comic is a book that comics fans everywhere can enjoy anytime-even when they're 64!

Genres: Comics, Humor, Comic Strips, Graphic Novels Comics, Fiction, Comedy, Graphic Novels

256 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2004

About the author

Stephan Pastis was born in 1968 and raised in San Marino, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. He graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 1989 with a degree in political science. Although he had always wanted to be a syndicated cartoonist, Pastis realized that the odds of syndication were slim, so he entered UCLA Law School in 1990 and became an attorney instead. He practiced law in the San Francisco Bay area from 1993 to 2002. While an attorney, he began submitting various comic strip concepts to all of the syndicates, and, like virtually all beginning cartoonists, got his fair share of rejection slips. Then, in 1997, he began drawing Pearls Before Swine, which he submitted to the syndicates in mid-1999. In December, 1999, he signed a contract with United.
Pearls Before Swine debuted in newspapers in January, 2002, and Pastis left his law practice in August of that year. Pearls Before Swine was nominated in 2003, 2004 and 2007 as "Best Newspaper Comic Strip" by the National Cartoonists Society (NCS) and won the award in 2004 and 2007. Pastis lives with his family in Northern California.

Reviews

[Cheryl Gatling]

This humor is dry. It is goofy. It ranges from the intellectual to the downright stupid. It is certainly irreverent. Anything that can be skewered will be skewered. Some of my favorites are the elaborate pun setups. Anyway, this book is funny, and I laughed.

Stephan Pastis, one-time lawyer turned cartoonist, writes an introduction that tells how he got into cartooning. And some of the strips are annotated with comments by the author, telling where he got his inspiration, or commenting on his limited drawing ability, or sharing the feedback different strips got from fans. This commentary added to my enjoyment.

This book is recommended for anyone who lives in a house of crazy people, like I do.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

RAT: "Please don't humanize the morons around me. It makes me very uncomfortable." (p. 25)

RAT: "Everybody says you shouldn't be judgmental, but how can you help it when life is filled with so many idiots?" (p. 65)

RAT: How can you kick me out of heaven just because I was bad?...I didn't ask to be born.
ST. PETER: So?
RAT: Well, given that I didn't volunteer for this life thing, I'd say I was a pretty good sport...that oughta count for something.
ST. PETER: Here's a nice toaster oven...maybe Satan has some bagels.
(p. 177)

[Graham Bates · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stephan Pastis is quickly becoming my favorite modern cartoonist. Reading this first collection helped me understand where Pearls Before Swine began and delve into Pastis' mind. The humor is intelligent, crass, at times cynical, and almost always in good taste. He isn't for everyone, but I like his work.

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read Pearls Before Swine since 7th grade and it is one of my favorite all time comic strips ever. The first book I read was BLTs Taste So Darn Good. It was the first ever collection of Pearls newspaper strips so the cartoons weren't as good as the ones today, but the first two books give you a good starting point because it gets you used to the comedy and the cast of animal characters.

[EuroHackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun, double-edition collection of early Pearls strips, with some history, meta, and sidebars sprinkled throughout. I knocked off a star because the Scott Adams hero worship did *not* age well, woof!

[AidanJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

While the cartoon-ish design of the cover and art style may make some people believe that this is a book aimed at kids, its truely one of the most dark and "teen to adult oriented" books ever. With the only thing keeping it in most newspapers is the occasional censor or reprint to keep it PG. The author goes into detail of many of the more controvercial comics telling stories of how he had to, sometimes at the last minute, change a word or entire comic in order to stay employed or how he recieved angry reader mail that, at times recieved death threats.

The Midget Pier, Turkish Ambasator, ADHD, and Lou Greig comics are not for everyone.

[Duane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoy the aristic style of this comic strip. The artist does a great job of making his strip basic, which gives his dialogue the impact that it really deserves. Following the lives of animals such as a rat, pig, zebra, and goat, the author goes from basic elementary humor to poignant social humor only a adult will find funny. A great book for lovers of comic humor. As a bonus, I enjoy the little quips the author includes in some of the strips.

[Oinkin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just about the best darn Cartoonist out there - and he's out there..

[J.J. Lair · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked how I learned the history of the comic from his earlier ideas. He points to little things in the strips that enhance the comic. He tells you who inspired him, who his friends are, and how they get put into comics.
I laughed. A lot.

[LauraW · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first of Pastis' Treasury books, as far as I know. What I especially like about the Treasury books is that he annotates them, giving some background here, an additional insight there, and an extra joke on the side. My daughter got me reading these comics. I had seen them before, but I had dismissed them, because I read a series with the alligators, who talk funny. I still don't particularly like series about the alligators, but I have grown to really like the rest of the cast. My particular favorite is the goat, who is the intellectual of the bunch. Jokes about him and with him hit at some of the topics I know fairly well.

[Eric Bauman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started reading "Pearls Before Swine" when I was getting the Washington Post--an event that no longer happens because they wanted to start charging me over $11/week for home delivery. After reading the more current exploits of Pig, Rat, Goat and Zebra, I decided to go back and read the earlier books. In this book, the first treasury, you can see Pastis's development of the strip (his drawing ability--or lack thereof, as I'm sure he'd say--his writing, etc.).

I'll be starting the second treasury soon.

[Donna Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, no! Here's another hysterically funny collection from that attorney-turned-cartoonist, Stephan Pastis. One of my daughters was lucky enough to find this left on a "free" shelf at school. What a find! Pastis steps away from a lot of conventional cartooning practices, and is the first such artist to place himself in the cartoons, always in a self-deprecating manner. It's not a crutch he has to lean on, though; all of his cartoons are really funny. My family favors the crocs, but almost every single cartoon is new, fresh, and darkly amusing.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish it had more. This is mostly early years stuff, which, while still fantastic, just isn't the same. like, the zebras haven't been properly introduced and what not. but it's still hilarious. and it's good that as the years go by, the comics get more and more relevant and funny. man. i love this comic.

[Katariina Kottonen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The very first of Pastis' comics, so not as well-formed as the later books & a tad repetitive. Still, funny, incredibly easy to follow (the dark sense of humour included) & I always like to know how it all started.

The fact that the cover parodies The Beatles' album artwork, and that each drawn character is actually named at the back of the book, is a plus.

[Brianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes, I KNOW this is a comic book and I should probably read things that are...well, novels. But seriously, atleast I read something over winter break! Pearls Before Swine is the best strip I've ever read, and this treasury is HILARIOUS! I highly recommend it. :D

[Wyattboy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very funny comic book.It is about a rat,pig,zebra and goat and what they do.It is very funny and under some comic strips the author has his own annotations. This book isn't very appropriate sorry to say, if it was a movie it would be PG-13

[Amelia · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were some really good ones, but others that I didn't like so much. There weren't very many crocodile ones, which are the best. I missed the crocs. Still it was a good collection, especially since these are the earliest ones.

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like Pearls. I like how it mixes lowbrow, puns, and black, black humour. Stephan himself is just icing on the cake. What comic artist so frequently rips himself in his work? And in these larger format collected volumes, his commentary is worth the extra cost.

[Justus · Rating 5 out of 5]

interesting to read since this is his early work. I don't think its as awesome as his later stuff but it is still very good and very funny! I got this treasure in NYC last year while visiting for Celina's wedding.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have fairly little to say when something impress me as much as "Pearls Before Swine" did. The setup is so unpredictable and end up as a pun that makes sense, but you could never see come. Everything just works in this comic, and that's all I can say, really.

[angrykitty · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was such a funny comic. if you like the humor of get fuzzy, you'd really like this. i mean...there's a rat that puts people that annoy him in a cardboard box....it's that kind of humor....

[Madam Claire of Whistley Woo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love Pearls Before Swine too. I really enjoy the Alligator characters.

[Bree · Rating 5 out of 5]

Got this as a gift for my birthday last year and I've read it countless times. I LOVE PEARLS BEFORE SWINE!!! :)

[Jacob · Rating 5 out of 5]

VERY VERY VERY FUNNY read all the treasuries

[Carolyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Pearls Before Swine

[Sabine Won]

Genius in a comic strip. Something that challenges the world view and tickles the funny bone.

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic Pearls Before Swine. Love the commentary by Stephan Pastis!

[S.]

"Doomed salmon=instant comedy"

[David Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this comic. I alwayds get the treasuries to get Pastis' commentary on his onw wrk, reaction to it, etc.

[Nina]

I love this book but some times stephan can be a little inappropriate