Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for November 05, 2015

He’ll end up returning to Cleveland.

Wait, aside from the god awful pun in panel two, why didn’t Eddie the Eagle hold a 75 minute TV special to announce where he was going? Course in comic form that would probably be a long two month arc.

Does Stephan have a lot of talons, or is he just flocking with us?

Silly Eddie. The Raptors are in Toronto.

I’m sorry, but what’s the punchline here?

But there are no ski jumps in either Miami or Cleveland.

Sorry, explanation needed for us non-Americans. :)

Reference to a 2010 announcement by LeBron James.

That was a pun?

I guess that was Stephan’s second technical. I must have missed the first one.

I think Rat is a Cavs fan

Clearly an in-joke to readers in the US

@TEMPLO S.U.D.according to urban dictionary it is now a euphemism for masturbation or screwing someone over.

Might be the weakest Pearls strip I’ve ever seen. Fingers crossed that this isn’t an arc.

Talons=talents? That’s a really lame uninspired pun.

I would have guessed Philadelphia.

I’m a US reader, but didn’t get this. I don’t watch sports, so I guess that’s why.

Lousy Lebron reference – and dated at that.

Pun locker getting low Pastis?

US basketball. Not worh explaining.

See? Now you know why I hate puns in general and Pastis puns in particular. Jeeesh…

WAY past its sell by date

Amazing that nobody has picked up on the mis-drawing of your national symbol – the adult Bald Eagle’s tail is pure white, too, not just the head.

I seem to be in a small minority here; I thought the “talons” pun was pretty funny. They can’t all be medal winners, folks, some are just small chuckles.

A flagrant foul by Toon Boy.

Thanks, I knew it sounded familiar but I didn’t know why! They should have given him a medal for surviving!

On the one hand, past it’s sell by date. On the other hand, kind of mean to have used prior to “The Return”. But the real joke is in panel three anyhow.

Since this is a LeBron James pun why didn’t Pastis use a crow?

@Jonathan MasonMore accurately it is an in-joke for basketball fans.

You’re leaving out Eddie “The Eagle” Belfour. Of course, he’d have to be offering a million (?) dollars to get out of a driving violation

By now, for our non-U.S. friends, someone should have said that LeBron James is a star pro basketball player who, at the time of the referenced pretentious announcement (his nickname is “the King” or “King LeBron”) was a player for for the Cleveland Cavaliers, more or less his hometown team, as he is from nearby Akron, Ohio. The people of Cleveland who are fans of basketball were very upset at his leaving; but after his return to the Cleveland Cavs from his years playing for Miami, pretty much all has been forgiven.Cartoon Boy needs some time on the bench. Introducing “Eddie the Eagle” simply to facilitate a bad pun (the only kind!) is infra dignitatem.

heavy sigh (wait 2 seconds) roll eyes-yes it appears to have been a slow day – yes it is a weak pun – yes it probably could be writer’s (cartoonist) idea block -but great make of a bad daygo back a couple years draw a stupid pun – BUT THENfinish it off by getting thrown out of comic strip land for the stupid dated pun – BRILLIANT!ironyself effacingmaking the best of itAND best of all – Pastis being Pastis

Comic strip readers don’t care about basketball.

Red carded.

The ref looks like Joey Crawford.

I often see bald eagles in the Cleveland area. Don’t know if they’re named Eddie, though; we’re not on a first-name basis.

Hey! Isn’t that ref Tim Donaghy?

Is this a repeat? Five year old puns don’t make it. Even five-year-old Pastis puns.

Thanks to all for the explanation. I don’t follow “celebrities” on a regular basis.

The pun loses its humor by having to be explained, sadly. Oh, you were writing for sports fans; not for a general audience.

Lame

Stephen’s talons are wasted here

I don’t get this one. :( I assume talons = talents, but I don’t understand the reference. Oh well.

actually, the final panel makes it. the ref called a foul for pun weakness and lack of timeliness. suspended for one game while rat takes over

I just love it when Stephan makes fun of himself like this.

This is the first of Steph’s puns I failed to get since I started reading the strip. Thank you, leftwingpatriot for the explanation.

Philadelphia, of course. Duh. (Lebron jokes notwithstanding.)

Explanation was needed not just for the non-Yanks, but those of us in the States who don’t follow sports very much, either. That’s ok, he throws enough geek puns out there as well to keep me groaning.

To be fair the only reason to be in Cleveland would be for millions of dollars.

Don’t get it. And im from Miami.

Dear Readers, just because you do not get a pun, that does not make it a bad pun. If you are not in the know, don’t whine at Pastis. I had to have it explained but that doesn’t make Pastis stupid. This strip is really funny despite you whiners!

How many puns are we going to be subject to before the end of the year? Not two, not three, not four, not five, not six, not seven…

Was this really as bad or is there some hidden reference to something? It’s probably high time I reconsider reading this comic on a daily basis because it’s supposedly “cultural” and “witty”.

Ah, ok, just read the “explanation”. So I’m not quitting starting tomorrow, but the comic for sure entered probation for me.

For the benefit of all you non-US folks who didn’t get this, this Yank is in your company. But then, I don’t pay attention to the NBA.

You have competition…. http://www.gocomics.com/brevity/2015/11/06

I’m an American, big pun fan, and I didn’t get it either…

How long was Stephen sitting on that?

I man really, it is not only a terrible pun, but obsolete as well.

The sports puns fly right over my head.

I don’t get it, but I bet the NRA mascot appreciated the shout-out. :-P

That joke didn’t age well