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Pearls Before Swine #15
Breaking Stephan: A Pearls Before Swine Collection
The addictive humor, snarky cast, and calculated wit of Pearls Before Swine returns in its most recent collection, Breaking Stephan , cracking wise on the hit crime drama Breaking Bad .
The familiar gang of characters cook up hilarity with their banter on current events, bicyclists, and the strip's creator, Stephen Pastis. Some of the action this time around features Rat in his very own movie, driven by the brilliant plot of "Rat kicks Pig," and Croc's pursuit of a job with the one weapon in his drinking.
Pastis's Breaking Stephan is sure to entertain with its perfect chemistry of commentary, satirical logic, and dark wit.
The familiar gang of characters cook up hilarity with their banter on current events, bicyclists, and the strip's creator, Stephen Pastis. Some of the action this time around features Rat in his very own movie, driven by the brilliant plot of "Rat kicks Pig," and Croc's pursuit of a job with the one weapon in his drinking.
Pastis's Breaking Stephan is sure to entertain with its perfect chemistry of commentary, satirical logic, and dark wit.
128 pages, Paperback
First published November 4, 2014
About the author
Stephan Pastis
107 books449 followersStephan 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
December 25, 2014
Some things I learned from this book:
1. I really should go ahead and binge-watch Breaking Bad the way I've been planning to, so I can get all the references on this cover.
2. Stephan Pastis is the only writer I can think of who never makes you sorry you read the introduction.
3. I'm not the only one who finds it blindly infuriating when guests arrive at my house hours early for dinner or a party. Guard Duck's ideas about what to do to such people are a little extreme, but only a little.
4. I'm also not the only one who thinks our current campaign contribution laws amount to legalized bribery, though I don't express myself on the subject as entertainingly as Stephan Pastis does.
5. Pearls Before Swine can have actual "aw" moments. As in, you're alone in the house and you still have to say "Aw" when you get to the end of the middle comic on page 59, because if you don't the medical authorities have to check to see if you have a functioning heart.
6. Rat's dream religion is just like mine, other than the beer. (I don't drink. I do want to punch bad people and get spiritual credit rather than demerits.)
7. It turns out that defining manners as "the things we use to hide our real intentions" is not only funny but perfectly accurate -- in fact, Miss Manners, who is mentioned by name in this collection, would heartily agree. (She once advised a young woman not to start a fist-fight with someone who didn't invite her to a birthday party, because the definition of a lady is "someone who wants to punch someone else in the nose, but doesn't." True fact.)
8. I haven't crunched the numbers yet, but I think if I conducted a study of "the amount of time I've lost in my life due to people who don't accelerate at green lights because they're too busy doing something on their smartphone," I'd probably get the same amount Rat did: seven million years. ("There were a lot of people.")
9. Pearls Before Swine has been around for over a decade, but it's not one of the comics that you read and shake your head and think, "This guy should have retired years ago." Lord willing, it never will be.
1. I really should go ahead and binge-watch Breaking Bad the way I've been planning to, so I can get all the references on this cover.
2. Stephan Pastis is the only writer I can think of who never makes you sorry you read the introduction.
3. I'm not the only one who finds it blindly infuriating when guests arrive at my house hours early for dinner or a party. Guard Duck's ideas about what to do to such people are a little extreme, but only a little.
4. I'm also not the only one who thinks our current campaign contribution laws amount to legalized bribery, though I don't express myself on the subject as entertainingly as Stephan Pastis does.
5. Pearls Before Swine can have actual "aw" moments. As in, you're alone in the house and you still have to say "Aw" when you get to the end of the middle comic on page 59, because if you don't the medical authorities have to check to see if you have a functioning heart.
6. Rat's dream religion is just like mine, other than the beer. (I don't drink. I do want to punch bad people and get spiritual credit rather than demerits.)
7. It turns out that defining manners as "the things we use to hide our real intentions" is not only funny but perfectly accurate -- in fact, Miss Manners, who is mentioned by name in this collection, would heartily agree. (She once advised a young woman not to start a fist-fight with someone who didn't invite her to a birthday party, because the definition of a lady is "someone who wants to punch someone else in the nose, but doesn't." True fact.)
8. I haven't crunched the numbers yet, but I think if I conducted a study of "the amount of time I've lost in my life due to people who don't accelerate at green lights because they're too busy doing something on their smartphone," I'd probably get the same amount Rat did: seven million years. ("There were a lot of people.")
9. Pearls Before Swine has been around for over a decade, but it's not one of the comics that you read and shake your head and think, "This guy should have retired years ago." Lord willing, it never will be.
March 30, 2018
Another good collection of "Pearls Before Swine"
August 14, 2019
Enjoyed it and really got a chuckle out of the story written in the Introduction.
January 2, 2021
Relaxing insanity as always.
September 1, 2021
Witty and snarky! Love it!
May 2, 2023
read in the "pearls gets sacrificed treasury"
October 10, 2016
Rat really gets rotten in this book, like he was not rotten before. Watch out for killer dolphins and if you read this one you will find some strips with Jef the cyclist back in true form. I find this comic strip to be a lot of pun. Whoops! I really meant to say a lot of fun but with Pastis there does seem to be a lot of puns. Funny stuff that puts a smile on my face gets a high four star rating.
February 10, 2017
This was such a and clever read.
October 31, 2014
The misadventures of Pig, Rat, Zebra and Company continues unabated within its 128 pages of daily and Sunday (colored) funnies fun. That Pearls is entering its second decade with this many fresh, original material is pretty astonishing on its own, but it’s clear that Pastis retains a deep love for what he’s doing and isn’t shy from pushing the comic strip envelope – especially when you consider what little remains of the traditional newspaper market adheres to a morality code from a bygone era.
Breaking Stephan: A Pearls Before Swine Collection Book Review on Popzara
Breaking Stephan: A Pearls Before Swine Collection Book Review on Popzara
June 22, 2015
This is yet another Pearls Before Swine collection. If you didn't like any of the others, you probably won't like this one either. Pearls is still one of the best-written comic strips currently running. It's smart and funny and always worth reading. This collection is a tad heavier on the puns than some have been, but Stephan does better puns than anyone else, so it's all good.
November 6, 2016
Love these as before bedtime reads. Can read just a few of the strips with a laugh and turn out the lights.
This one has Rat with the toddler bookie, Zebra vacationing on a desert island, and more fun.
This one has Rat with the toddler bookie, Zebra vacationing on a desert island, and more fun.
December 23, 2014
Pearls is always funny. Nice to read a compilation for once, instead of just daily strips.
May 8, 2015
Grade: 90% / 'A-'
July 1, 2015
Funny
October 30, 2015
Read for fun. Yes, I am so behind on my yearly reading goal that I am resorting to reading comic books, but hey, this collection was funny. Or punny, I should say.
March 9, 2015
I wish my local paper ran this strip instead of the boring stuff they have on it
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews