Pearls Sells Out is very funny. The treasury is enhanced by creator cartoonist Stephan Pastis' commentary on a number of the strips: his inspirations, the reception of the strips, the sorts of complaints newspapers received because of his comics, amusingly self-deprecating remarks about his drawing ability. My favorite characters are the crocs. Poor 'zeeba neighba', in this volume he has them to contend with and some new-neighbor lions as well. Very entertaining. ( )

This is an absolutely fantastic treasury. Pearls Before Swines has quickly become one of my favorite comic strips in recent years. Its deep, philosophical, and ultimately very intelligent and exuding an understanding of the human spirit. From the way the characters like Pig, Rat, Goat, and Zebra handle their philosophical selves and their entities and moralities (or lack thereof) and the existence of their lives; swinging then to the hilarious for how stupid their actions are of the Crocs, Lions, and other characters like Guard Duck (and once again Pig). It touches all the bases it needs to and it works perfectly. Pastis has an incredible sense of character, of humor, and most importantly of people. ( )

I picked it up for the Spouse who reads the comic regularly. And then, you know, I was in one of those moods when nothing else seemed to appeal. Early on I was more fascinated by Pastis' commentary than by the comics themselves: there are a lot of jokes that he knew didn't really work before they were ever published. But that's the nature of a daily comic, I suppose. Gradually I really began to enjoy the travails of Zebra and his surrounding predator neighbors, much more so than the Pig and Rat ones. But there were a some more involved storylines that killed. As well as some one offs.

A mixed bag, but fun overall.

Library copy ( )