'Pearls Hogs the Road: A Pearls Before Swine Treasury' by Stephan Pastis is a large collection featuring lots of comics and funny comments by the creator.

The centerpiece of this collection is the strips that Bill Watterson did as a collaboration with Stephan Pastis. In these strips a little girl shows how she is a better artist than Pastis. The work of the little girl was contributed by Watterson. This is talked about in the intro.

The rest of the collection is the usual zany silliness and bad puns. This time around a lot of the strips have commentary from Pastis. Either talking about how he sneaks things past the censors, or the mail he gets on certain strips. The comments are pretty funny and show that his humor is in fine form.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Andrews McMeel Publishing and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.

I'm not a fan of this strip by any means, but I keep downloading books of it, either by accident or design. This collection, given the full archival treatment with new footnotes and so on, is still a little ropy, but heck – it actually managed to make me laugh a few times, especially with the convoluted puns such as the one-ton wonton futon etc. It remains more misses than hits, but it's perfectly adequate for a flick through.

Stephan Pastis has done it again. He managed to compile 18 moths of material, jammed it between two covers, and wrote "clever" remarks under various of the strips. But this volume does have a rare treasure included as three strips are drawn by Bill Watterson (Calvin and Hobbes)! If you like Pearls Before Swines, you are likely to enjoy this treasury. if you are not yet a fan, read this volume and you may become one.

<i>*I received this book from the publisher and Netgalley in return for a fair review.*</i>


This is a Treasury instead of a Collection which means that it contains two of the smaller 'collections'. Which two? hmms. Not sure. I do know that it contains "18 months' worth of <i>Pearls</i> strips." because the introduction says so. That tidbit plus the part wherein three of the comic strips were "drawn by <i>Calvin and Hobbes</i> creator Bill Watterson, who, in 2014, ended a 19-year hiatus fromt eh comics page to draw three <i>Pearls Before Swine</i> strips."So, if nothing else, this Treasury contains that important bit of comics - three Waterson drawn comic strips. - And then I read the introduction. And it was hilarious. All about attempting to contact Bill Watterson, workign with him, etc. And then the introduction indicated where I could find the Watterson strips so obviously . . . I finished reaing the introduction. But once that was done, I hurriedly turned to those pages and gazed upon them (okay, I wrote that I did. Now I'll go gaze upon them; and so I read those three strips, and they were brilliant). And then I read the rest of the book. The end. Yay screamed . . . um . . . something screaming.

That was a neat hook to use, to pull myself into and through writing something, anything. Otherwise . . . what exactly do I write? 'The comic strips were good, they were funny - when the were, occasionally flat, enjoyable experience' - seems the safest without me going line by line and writing a 900 page treastise on Stephan Pastis's comic book. Because that's what I tend to do when I review comic books I pick up from Netgalley - ramble in a text box while reading. Occasionally inserting things like '*giggles* - you had to be there'. Fun, right? So - glad I had a hook to sink into the fish shaped . . . um . . . I need another word than hook, I already used it. mmphs.

Well, there is obviously something else I could mention - there are little wiggly lines underneath the comic strips - they form letters/words/sentences - Pastis has left thoughts on his comic strips. I do not recall if I've seen his thoughts before in such a manner. This is what I get for reading collections instead of treasuries, I assume. And there are some rather hilarious bits in those sentences (as, for example: "Whenever I'm unsure about something in the strip, I check Wikipedia, because whoever does the page for Pearls knows more about the strip than I do."). Occasionally I found myself laughing loudly - and realize that it wasn't because of the comic but because of the words under it. And then I'll giggle a few times, later, and realize it was because of the comic and not the words (see, this is what I was saying earlier, this is kind of boring. I stop now).

Rating: 4.44

April 8 2017

It’s a Pearls Before Swine collection. Nuff said; I’m there.
Starts with a cool intro to say that Bill Watterson (Calvin and Hobbes) wrote three of the strips. But as to the comics themselves, all I can tell you is that if you love puns, this is your jam. Even if they make you groan, it’s still a good time.
So what makes this different than reading them in the newspaper or online? Besides having them all in one place and not having to click? Author commentary! It’s just as funny, like throwing your kid in the water to test out the theory that nurse sharks are the most harmless breed. And of course there’s an “except for you, reader” line in there.
Some of the best:
Close up of a lemming, his widdow hands curled into fists. . .
Sweater-neckers; yes, totally agree.
Elizabeth Hurley and Ron Cey in the same strip? Wow. . . even included the mustache. (On Cey, not the lovely still-crush-worthy Ms. Hurley.)
“Please don’t criticize my wheelhouse.” Been there.
Abraham Lincoln tweets!
“To infinity and bed, bath, and beyond!”
“Everything happens for a raisin.”
“Bombast cable!”
Definitely agree on the oyster thing. Eerie how sometimes Pastis and I are in telepathic communication. . . not to mention we’re about the same age and grew up in the same area. We probably met as kids.
End with a special extra: Pearls Without Rat. And then Pig. And Goat. And others. It’s surreal and funny in a completely different way.
Public Service Announcement (more of a warning): on the back cover—or last page if digital—do not look at the tramp stamp! For your own sanity!

Great, as always. Pearls is a pearl on the comics page and this collection shines like all the rest.

I loved all of Pastis's commentary! Pearls Before Swine is my favorite comic strip.