Pearls Blows Up: A Pearls Before Swine Treasury (2011) - Plot & Excerpts
*A group of hyenas moves into Zebra's neighborhood...and opens a funeral parlor (Note that hyenas are carrion eaters.)*The crocodiles form a corporation, which they dub "Eetazeeb."*Rat becomes a concierge.*Guard Duck and Snuffles the cat try to overthrow the Cuban government. *Guard Duck is reunited with his lost love, Maura.*The crocodiles try to blow up Zebra with a nuclear missile.*Three crocodiles form a super hero group called the Fantastic Four ("Math is not part of their fantasticalness.")...and so on and so forth.PEARLS BEFORE SWINE is my favorite currently-running comic strip, and I think it's darn funny. If, like me, you appreciate puns, talking animals, cartoon hijinx, breaking the fourth wall and occasional cynicism, then you should find it funny, too.I love all the book collections, and this one is no exception. I went from collecting the single books to treasuries like one, because the treasuries are a much better bargain. They collect the equivalent of two single books (PEARLS BLOWS UP collects strips originally published in 50,000,000 PEARLS FANS CAN'T BE WRONG and WHEN PIGS FLY) and cost less than the same two books would separately. They are also larger, enabling one to better enjoy the artwork. Finally, the treasuries include extra commentary from creator Stephen Pastis. Pastis provides insights into his creative process, cheerfully points out his mistakes (in both continuity and artwork) and conveys some self-deprecating humor. He also seems to have a bit of a love of the spotlight, and I admittedly sometimes feel that I know more about the guy that I really need to know, just from reading his comic collections. Overall, though, his commentary definitely enhances, rather than diminishes, the final reading experience.I love PEARLS BEFORE SWINE (obviously) and highly recommend any PEARLS collection. It really doesn't matter which collection one picks up first, and PEARLS BLOWS UP is as good as many. The commentary on this treasury is quite insightful, and pretty just darn-right hilarious. Stephan Pastis makes one of my favorite comic strips even funnier. Something that is often hard to do. I found myself breathless from laughter at many points throughout the book and he understands how unique a world the comic making world is and allows you an insight into what its like to work with other artists and create ideas for profound comics.
What do You think about Pearls Blows Up: A Pearls Before Swine Treasury (2011)?
Classic Pearls. The personal comments from the author make it a good read.
—latika
Loved reading the latest PBS collection- a guilty pleasure.
—Joe
