Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for November 18, 2013

Pastis should be.

This could drive Rat to get so hammered that he’ll get sickle to his stomach.

That’s quite a mouthful Goat has there in the second panel.

A see a red flag here!

Oh wait, you see a red flag whenever you mouse-over someone’s comment. ;)

But seriously, I don’t get the first “flag” in the tongue twister. "“The parent’s raising of their son Red FLAGS because…” (I assume Red here is the son’s name)Is “flags” a verb here? Does it mean “getting tired” or “is failing”?

Ah, to answer my own question, I realize now “flag” can mean “to droop”

Clever, okay; but also audacious, irritating, and probably cursed, too….

No, not “clever” … That other word … stupid.

Yes Mr.Pastis..your ’da man.

Every so often Stephan reaches too far for a play on words, and it becomes just clumsy more than funny. This is an example.

He actually could have left out “their son” in the first line, to improve the flow: “The parents raising Red flags because raising red flags is raising red flags.”

He deserves a double helping of gulag.

Yes, Stephan, in America you’re the life of the party. In Soviet Union, Party gives YOU life.

i love the pbs puns…

It’s hard to believe there are people who miss the old UofSSR…just like some people miss the Times Square of the late 1970s!!

A happy 75th birthday to Gordon Lightfoot (dob 11/18/1938), Canada’s greatest singer!

I got so angry at this strip I printed a copy, wadded it up and threw it in the river. Unfortunately it got caught in the eddies around the roots of a pine tree and just swirled around.

Swirls before Pine

Next a strip about Ma’s Cow?

“The comic strip characters control the means of production”I’m gonna go back and re-read “Crime and PUNishment”And, no, “Back in the USSR” was NOT written by Vladimir Lennon.Now quit Stalin….

Darn clever but I’m flagging it red.

now I enjoyed that, as well as Mr. Sherlock Watson’s comment, and, of course, Mr. Pastis’ original.

I love Rat’s scowl in the last panel!

I don’t know if it’s cleaver or not, but it probably says something about the sort of mind that would spend a lot of time coming up with it. Not sure what it says. probably not anything very profound.

Captain Midnight ‘n Ma’s Cow?

Only clever if you are aware of comma’s and their usage….Not being able to use a comma properly raises a red flag regarding this poor attempt at punditry.

So that tongue twister is too hard to say real fast three times? Try this simple one: Red’s rising of a red flag is a red flag because he raises the red flag of a red country.

Somebody red flag this strip.

Then the little kid Red grew up and changed his name to Barack Obama… He still like to fly the “red” flag of the Soviet Union…

Does Pastis actually get paid for this?

Who would name their son Red?

I particularly like this strip because I don’t think it’s a pun and I don’t think it works very well (unlike the real puns he’s done) AND since it’s not a pun (IMO) and it’s true and none of the the characters moan or groan, it’s especially gratifying that Stephan comes out to congratulate himself.

I give it an A for uniqueness. (Marks off (no A+) for including the awkward and somewhat redundant “their son”, as mentioned.)

Yes you are, Steph.

Isn’t the point at which Rat has a baseball bat in his hand in order to punish the oh-so-deserving cartoonist?

STOP! Why has Steph moved his “clever” jokes to Monday? Aren’t Mondays depressing enough?

This strips fourth wall isn’t just broken it’s missing.

Little-known fact: Little Red went on to become an NFL Ref. Now Red, whose raising flagged because he raised red flags by raising red flags gets flagged by red flags.

Clearly Rat doesn’t think so.

His face says it all.

xxx

Hey Pastis—-How about getting REAL clever and bring back Danny Donkey for a visit????

They need to buy their son a yacht so he can be the “Red son in the sail set”.

@John VinsonNice!

Reminds me of a very punny old Christmas joke about the Russian weather forecaster Rudy, who is arguing with wife whether the precipitation outside is rain or snow (he says rain; she says snow). He finally proclaims: “Rudolph the red knows rain, dear!”

I think my head just exploded.