The Crass Menagerie: A Pearls Before Swine Treasury

Pearls Before Swine #5-6

by Stephan Pastis

Pearls is the hottest comic in the newspaper business these days." - Raleigh News and Observer

Named Best Comic Strip of the Year by the National Cartoonists Society in 2004 and 2007, Pearls Before Swine is regarded by fans and critics alike as a thoughtful commentary on humanity's pitiable plight.



Stephan Pastis sketches this nuanced comic strip tale, which features the arrogant, self-centered, and totally hilarious Rat, who leads his four-legged friends through misadventure after misadventure. Joining him for the journey are Pig, the slow but good-hearted conscience of the strip; Goat, the voice of reason that often goes unheard; and Zebra and the eternally inept Crocodiles who pursue him. Together this mindful menagerie mocks the flaws and shortcomings of human nature through Pastis's cynically biting wit.

* The third Pearls Before Swine treasury, this book combines all the cartoons from and , along with annotations by Pastis.

* From courtroom antics to references of other cartoon strips, Pastis's strip is a fresh presence on the comic pages.

Genres: Comics, Humor, Comic Strips, Graphic Novels Comics, Fiction, Adult, Cartoon

263 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2008

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

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the best comic strip ever invented

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was first introduced to Pearls Before Swine when I was forced to read the newspaper on a daily basis in a high school Government & Economics course. It quickly became a habit for me to skip directly to the comics section, and there I fell in love with this strip. I am still not a newspaper reader, but a friend recently gave me The Crass Menagerie as a gift, and I couldn't put it down. Something about Pastis's characters strongly appeals to my sense of humor. Rat is everything you would hate in a real person, but you can't help but laugh (and cheer a bit) at some of his candor. And poor, poor Pig makes you want to bang your head against the wall and give him a hug at the same time. To be honest, I'm still not likely to pick up the newspaper to find this comic--but I AM likely to purchase another treasury. It's a great read for a good laugh!

[Carolyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have Pearls Before Swine problem.

[Lana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Guard Duck is so precious it hurts! With the jail uniform and the little ball & chain, I love him!

[Oinkin · Rating 5 out of 5]

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

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another very funny Pearls before Swine Treasury.

[Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's interesting going back to these earlier Pearls Before Swine strips. This volume has so many first appearance: Pig's Viking action figures, the guard duck, the killer whale. And I'm pretty sure I'm missing a couple more. The crocs speech pattern is more grating than what it eventually evolved into. All the characters are present and established, but there's still rough edges everywhere. Too many strips have too many words, a fault Pastis calls out in his own commentary.

But the biggest thing missing from these earlier Pearl Before Swine strips? There are no puns! It's astounding to read an entire treasury and get maybe one pun. The later incarnation of the strip regularly has pun strips that end with Pastis getting hit by a baseball bat.

Pastis representation of himself in the strip is also radically different than the modern version. It's also much less consistent. Given how often he appears, it's good that he eventually settled on a consistent, better version.

I think that's the most entertainment from this collection. Seeing the evolution of the strip is fascinating, even if this early version isn't nearly as smooth or laugh out loud funny.

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the third Peals Before Swine Treasury...and it is the third one in which I have given a 5-star rating to. The collection of 18 months of jokes that are great is just too much for me to give anything less.... well I say that 3 volumes in! The introduction of the Killer Whale, the greater use of the Crocs (which to me are priceless and I don't mean they have no value...ha ha ha) and further adventures with cameos from tons of other comic strips...this is another easy home run! I don't know if the magic will begin to fade over time, but for me Stephan Pastis is hitting on all cylinders and is simply a force for humor and joy in the comic strips!

The title of the book is based off the Glass Menagerie by Tennesse Williams. A literary masterpiece! Also, I would be remiss to not comment on the unpublished strips in the back. The commentary below a lot of the strips gives you the insight and access you never really have as a fan...and it makes these books essential for any fan.

[Colin Murtagh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another wonderful addition to the treasury collection. It's becoming now the strip we know and love, and the longer the book goes on, the more it becomes the characters we know. The Crocs, the Whale and the Guard Duck are all becoming characters in the book. With strips raising from the incredibly dark, to really quite sweet, This is probably the best strip being published at the moment.
As is common with the treasury editions, the strips are accompanied by commentary from Pastis, which are worth the entrance alone. This one however has an addition in some unpublished strips, either because they were pulled as he didn't think they were good enough, or due to concerns from the syndicate.

[LordSlaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun and funny, strange and silly collection of Pearls Before Swine comic strips by Stephan Pastis. The Pearls treasuries, like The Crass Menagerie, are particularly wonderful because they contain commentary from Pastis. I find most interesting the strips and jokes that offend readers. Crass, like other volumes, contains some exquisitely groanworthy puns. The inept, slow-witted crocs continue to be my favorite characters. Pearls is a wonderful strip.

[randomPfp · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best of the series. The arcs are at the absolute height of their absurdity (the Osama bin Laden one is fucking brutal) and the jokes are in the sweet spot of the earlier cheese swept into their later sass that I love so very much. The crocs just fill a gaping hole that's otherwise present without them, the strip really develops here.

[Peyton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading Pastis' explanations of his comics. It is always interesting to read the insights behind why things are written. I also was fascinated with how much comic strip creators collaborate together, work with each other, or poke fun at each other. It was good look at the behind the scenes of comic books.

[Beth Cato · Rating 5 out of 5]

I needed a light read after reading several serious books, and this fit my needs nicely. This is a new treasury of Pearls Before Swine, an irreverent daily comic I began following a few years back. It is known for idiotic crocodiles who want to eat their zebra neighbor (Helllooooo Zeeba!), egotistical Rat, pitiful yet endearing Pig, and a host of other amusing animal characters. Puns abound, and many are so awful that the character comment on the poor writing quality of their own strip.[return][return]The element that sets this apart from most other comic treasuries is that Stephan Pastis has commentary on many of the strips. I loved finding out what inspired a panel, which ones drew the most complaints (or caused a newspaper to cancel his strip), and how he spent an hour drawing some minute detail. In the back of the book, there are strips that were never published in newspapers due to potential backlash or the artist's own second thoughts.[return][return]I also want to add that the front and back cover of this is hilarious and I spent far too much time studying the details.

[Gphatty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two things: I love this strip. Much of the time, it hits a sweet spot for me, somewhere between sophmoric humor and truly absurdist. This collection contains the strips and sequences that got me hooked in the first place -- the crocodiles moving next door to their "neiba" (and intended prey), Zeeba; the killer whale strips; the introduction of guard duck. Lots of cartoon violence, and so many, many bad puns.

I highly recommend this collection, as it is annotated by the author, with comments and criticisms about the cartoons. Pastis' observations of the process -- what works and doesn't work; how shocked he often is by his success -- is often funnier than the the strips themselves, and these are not included in the smaller collections. Also, this edition includes a colletion of failed, edited, banned and incomplete cartoons at the end.

[Jojo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hellooooo zeeba neighba. Leesten: I haven't really followed the comics since the mid-90s, when I stopped getting the daily paper delivered to my house. Lately I have fallen back into my comic strip obsession, and thanks to the wonders of technology I have been able to catch up with my old favorites and discover some new ones. Pearls Before Swine is by far the funniest thing on the comics page. Hilarious, sometimes harsh, sometimes almost heartwarming, and sometimes just ridiculous, but pretty much non-stop funny. In an interview with creator Stephan Pastis, he says that newer readers like the croc storylines, while older readers tend not to enjoy them as much. Personally, I love the crocs and Zebra - they're really what hooked me into the strip.

[MsBrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection of a year's worth of Pearls comic strips is sure to engage and amuse. New characters such as guard duck, whale, and the vikings, are introduced. Rarely has a collection of strips so consistently hilarious, been compiled. Added to this particular collection are the occasional Pastis 'insights' written below select strips. Insights include info on what words are not allowed in comic strips, others about what topics are taboo, and finally some insights simply reveal additional info about the characters. It's nice to visit the author's mind occasionally.

Highly recommended bedtime reading. Enjoy!

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this collection of Pearls Before Swine. I always enjoy the characters and story lines Stephen Pastis writes about. This book was different in that the author actually wrote commentary beneath most of the strips. Some of it was interesting, but some of it fell really flat.

I especially enjoyed the last section, in which the author printed comics that were not deemed appropriate for the newspaper, or comics that the author deemed 'lame'.

A must read for any 'Pearls Before Swine' fan!

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I admit it: I love this comic strip. It all started a few years ago with the lines, "Bob popped like a grape and died. Don't taunt the monkeys." I'm laughing even now. I just stopped reading all my other books to read this...and I was on the airplane laughing out loud. His jokes are right up my alley, and his commentaries added to the strips are often more funny than the strips themselves...and that's saying a lot. LOVE it.

[Meeester-Haseeb · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book isn't one big story its a comic book with a bunch of comic strips in it. I really liked this book because it was really funny aspesialy the crocs they were halaryas.there allways trying to eat there zebra naber. and they have a funny acsent like this when there saying hello to the zebra "hullooo zeba neba".and these two other carachters rat and pig they live in the same house and about a third of the book is about there crazy conversations.

[angrykitty · Rating 5 out of 5]

just got the new pearls book. this guy thinks just like i do. it's almost eerie.

still great.....i love the crocs....and angry bob is so a character that i would relate to....even if he's really not a character of the strip, but a character of rat.....

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this comic strip, I especially love listening to my seven year old daughter say "Helloooo zeeba neighba" when she is reading them out loud to me. This book has added commentary also which makes it even better.

[Duane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another great collection by a great author/artist. Pastis' humor is both juvenile yet real so adults can relate to their childhood and their everyday struggles. A great bonus is in the back are a collection of strips that couldn't be used in newspapers for their "controversial" content.

[Ayne Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

This comic strip is absolutely hilarious and definitely the most biting currently in publication; I put it on the same level as "Calvin and Hobbes," "The Far Side," and "Bloom County" in overall quality. Yes, it's just that good.

[Daniel Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here Pastis introduced a few of my favorite secondary characters - Guard Duck, Annie Mae the sea anemone enemy, the seal and orca, and Danny the Donkey. In addition, there are a few great crossovers with comics such as Family Circus, and of course an abundance of puns.

[Nikii · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most delightfully subversive comic in syndication today does not falter in this, its third treasury. Far from it! Pearls just keeps getting better as time goes by.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I honestly think I have more laugh-out-loud moments with Pearls Before Swine than I ever did back in the days of Calvin & Hobbes. A must read!!!

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

What can you not learn from zeeba hunting crocs?

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is the cutest comic book

[Jacob · Rating 5 out of 5]

FUNNY!!!!!! When is the next treasury coming out?

[Jack23 · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a SUPER funny book with lots of smart comedy and cool drawings. It's one of my favourite comic books ever. All the characters are different but they also relate to each other at the same time.