Rat in "Pearl Before Swine" is the greatest cartoon character of our time. He knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. Pig, Zebra, and Goat confront his massive cynicism and are rendered speechless. This time, Rat turns his white-hot scrutiny on blogs (like this one). If this is (fair & balanced) effrontery,ao be it.
[x Pearls Before Swine]
By Stephan Pastis
Meet the cast:
Rat—Arrogant, quick-tempered, (and cynical), Rat is obsessed with fame, immortality and making a quick buck. Spends his time with Pig because it makes him feel superior and, more importantly, no one else will hang out with him.
Pig—Humble (in fact, painfully aware of his limitations), practical, kind and a little slow in the head, Pig has few aspirations in life, other than to spend his days watching TV and doing almost nothing productive. Apparently sees something redeeming in Rat, as he is willing to endure Rat's endless barbs and numerous schemes. Kicked out of the Society of Cultured Pigs because he was caught eating a BLT.
Zebra—Just trying to stay alive. In a world filled with lions, tigers and crocodiles, this is not an easy task.
Goat—The smart one. Would rather spend his time with his snout in a book than talking to any of the other odd characters in this strip.
The Fraternity of Crocodiles—Proud members of Zeeba Zeeba Eata, a fraternity dedicated to the destruction of Zebra and other prey, the crocodiles are Zebra’s next-door neighbors. Stupid, slow and barely articulate, these particular crocodiles are a disgrace to their species. Croc Larry is dumber than dirt.
Duck—Pig's loyal, but violent and unstable (guard) duck. He sits in a bunker on Pig's front lawn on guard duty, defending the property against mailmen, Girl Scouts and offensive neighbors.
Click on image to enlarge.
[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 and won the award in 2004 and 2007. Pastis lives with his family in Northern California.]
Copyright © 2007 Stephan Pastis
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