Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for April 06, 2014

Now Pastis is opening himself up for a Cey-lander lawsuit,

Any place where you can find puns like this is truly the home of the brave.:Play ball!

It’s a good thing he didn’t bring in Fernando Valenzuela – the last thing this strip needs is a pun based on an ABBA song (and one of their weaker ones at that)…

mmmmm….Liz Hurley.

Does this mean it is time for some baseball?

I think this is one of his best puns.

That was…interesting

What about Jose? Can he see? Ask him…

Actually, that one was worth waiting for.

For some reason Stephan thinks Sunday is a good excuse to subject us to dumber than usual cartoons?

The Penguin!

And this is why I like reading PBS.

No! Don’t hit my favorite cartoonist!

This is his best pun since “Dunk rye for me, Arch and Tina!”

I wonder how hard it is for him to come up with these gems?

Okay,people! When every panel is crammed with dialogue-pun’s a-comin’!

Cartoon-Boy probably reverse-engineers these potent puns. Start with a punch line (a famous quotation, a line from a poem or song, a popular saying, etc.), then work on witty alternative wording, and then construct a set-up to fit. Today’s pun is very amusing, but also frightfully constructed, in the sense of necessitating introducing a couple of ad hoc characters and some improbable dialogue.Mechanics aside, this is very funny stuff, Cartoon-Boy! Now take your beating from Cey like a man!

Maybe Stephan should place a “Groaner Alert” in the first panel for those newbies who aren’t used to he pun-strips.

Actually it takes a lot of thought to put that all together! I love the puns.

When I see one of those starting, I skip to the end. It’s quicker and equally rewarding.

The more complicated the pun, the better. I think it’s hilarious you got Ron Cey in there. :)

Excellent groaner, it is.

Go for the home run, Steph!

Was it a flashlight or in reality a fleshlight?

super sunday

If not your best pun, certainly in the top 5! Don’t listen to the haters, keep them coming.

It’s the perfect strip .. The Penguin and a guy IN a penguin suit!

I knew the pun was coming, yet I couldn’t look awaaaay …

This is epic!

sheer perfection!

I don’t know what’s worse, the pun or the convoluted setup.

Standard comic strips don’t have a lot of text – they get to the joke, usually something short, quickly. With Pastis’ extended puns, you have to read quite a bit more, but it’s worth the wait. The man is a genius!

The sad thing is, when you see the black stare on his face, even as he’s about to get wallopped, you just know he’s churning away to think up another stinker.

Sorry, I want to encourage him! I love the puns!

wow… i wonder how long that took to set up.

That was a great one. Good job, Steph!!

This is my new all time favoriteStephan if you can top this ill be amazed

I can see a set up from the first panel. I hope he never runs out of material.

He he…. I like this one.

I think Stephan does these on Sunday for 2 reasons. More space to set it up, and not as many people will see it (only those who read it online, or get the Sunday paper). He runs some of his lamer strips on Saturday for the same reason.

I do enjoy his Sunday puns most of the time. It’s interesting to see how he leads up to it.

That was a terrific tribute to baseball and opening day.

I don’t get it :( Can someone please explain the pun to me? English is not my mother tongue and I don’t know if I know the reference.

An absolutely brilliant pun!

Oh, the humanity!

How long does it take for Pastis to come up with these?

Pastis always goes the extra mile to work out these puns! I can tell something is up starting in the first panel, but I don’t let myself peak at the end, so I don’t ruin the buildup. :)

equally valid with Jose Canseco

What a LOT of work for such a lame punch line.

….so….awesome….

Keep punning Mr. Pastis. Those are groans of joy at the end.

Remarkable. You can’t always get what you’ve won.

Another one of Stephan’s guest characters wanting to hit him with the bat.

Whatever next?

xxx

I like this one, it’s fun. Would be much better without the last panel.

As Ramona, from Beverly Clearly’s books, said: Can you see by the downzer’s lee light?

I give that one three groans

Very creative! He gets bonus points for working the Penguin into the strip!

Please Rat and Ron, hit him especially hard for this pun.

Stephan, I gotta’ say this is one of your best (worst?)…

I admire Stephan’s ability to think out these complicated puns, and I love them!

ha.

the setup is convoluted. and i like it that way.

I can Cey clearly now the rain has gone….

Any more puns like that, and some readers will show Stephen where to stick those batteries. (But not me; I love puns!)

That one took some work. Still laughing….

Hall of Famer, this one; it all fits so well.

… together …

Loved it!

I understand now why cartoon Stephans wife left him

Could someone please explain this pun to a non-native speaker? =)

LOVE IT !!!!!!! But make sure that Ron ’swings for the fence"

Steph! You’ve actually managed to find the absolute bottom of the barrel; dig beneath THAT; and reach a depth so low it’s beyond anyone’s possible comprehension! Good for you!!

Technically speaking, shouldn’t the Don be the one to take care of Stephan for that pun? I’m sure he would be much more imaginative than a baseball player…

(hint: Pig’s head in Stephan’s bed, that sort of thing. I would have suggested Rat, but his head is too small to make the right point)

So, if the pun is the lowest form of humor, does that make Pearls the lowest form of comedy?

Normally I don’t like puns, but Pastis’s set-ups are so elaborate and imaginative that I make an exception in his case. This one was as brilliant as “Dunk rye for me, Arch and Tina”!

Someone else said it to, but the best since Dunk Rye for me Arch and Tina! God I died for 5 minutes. You know it at the first panel this is gonna be one of those, it took me 3 minutes to read it trying to figure it out. Ron Cey completely confounded me. Absolutely great

The Colonel says (and we paraphrase), “Now, I’ve noticed a tendency for this strip to get rather silly. Now I do my best to keep things moving along, but I’m not having things getting silly. This Sunday strip did get very silly indeed. And that last one was even sillier. Now, nobody likes a good laugh more than I do, except perhaps my wife and some of her friends. Oh yes, and Captain Johnson. Come to think of it, most people like a good laugh more than I do, but that’s beside the point.”…(Hail Monty Python!)

Yeah, they should have sent the Don to deal with Pastis. Never bring a baseball bat to a gun fight.

Pearls Before Swine=Land of Plot Convenience