Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for April 05, 2016

Zebra, tell the Crocs to use hydrogen balloons and then let them go down your chimney.

Bye Bob. As dumb as crocs are, I’m surprised they aren’t extinct yet.

Maybe they can still bring him down with a rifle.:BTW, I’d like to see more Zebra strips without the crocks; if he were better defined as a character, a lot more could be done with him.

Next time give Bob a pin — problem solved.

Jinx? Nah. A blessing in disguise for Zebra if you ask me.

So another Bob is going to die when that balloon pops. Zeeba Zeeba Eata must be 75% Bobs as most of the crocs who die seem to be named Bob..

jinx? looks more like high jinks.

I’d like to see a lot more of the crocs. They are the reason I started to follow this strip, which is one of three strips I read every day.

Does analyzing humor kill it? Some say so, but I disagree. As for the appeal of the kwokydials…. A large (and largely unconscious) part of the pleasure of humor is the feeling of superiority we get when seeing idiots fail at their idiotic schemes. Consider the Three Stooges. Or Lucy’s schemes to get into Desi’s nightclub act. The misery of others is often funny. As Mel Brooks said, tragedy is when I have a hangnail, and comedy is when you fall into an open sewer and die. The quintessential banana peel, no? Falling down an open manhole. See? The crocboys are perfect for these purposes. I love ‘em. I love many other aspects of the strip. Seeing Pig fail is different, because we kinda like him and there’s the frisson of poignancy when he comes crashing down. Seeing Rat fail is different because we hate him and love seeing him get his comeuppance. Goat we kinda like and kinda resent. His heart is in the right place, but he’s pretty self righteous, so we like to see him win and lose about equally. All these characters and the many others in this strip play in the same arena, all are doomed to smack up against cold reality, all remind us of ourselves.

And what I’m really loving, right now, is the magic hedge that somehow protects Zebra from the Crocs and thus necessitates their wild schemes to ambush him rather than grab him right now. Also classic is the villain explaining his evil plot in detail to his victim so that the victim gets to plan an escape… or here, to immediately point out the flaw in the plot.

Just got a phone call from Bob. Where the heck is Lakehurst, New Jersey?

Yay, the crocs! I"m hoping for more croc antics tomorrow

Stoopid zeeba! No ees fare!

Why do I hear the Fifth Dimension singing in the background(Oh yeah. I’m weird. Now I recall.)

It is Cartoon-Boy who has jinxed Bob Croc, simply by naming him “Bob” and thus making him expendable….Up, up in the air, in my beautiful balloon….

Ok. Cartoon physics is one thing, but there’s no way he’s going to ride on TOP of that balloon.

Remember Sharknado, with killer sharks swept up into a tornado and then falling out of the sky? So…Crocballoono….or something. Anyway, I’d watch that. :-)

The crocs are back – yay!

I wonder if there are hundreds of Bobs, or if Bob is like Tom from Tom and Jerry?

Blame Obama

PS- LOTTA COMMENTS ALREADY THIS AM

Crocs stoopid – no eat zebra when right in front of him instead of playing with floaty thing

CROCS!!!!

Crocs don’t get physics.

One key word, Crocs: Ballast.

Love those crocs!

Until next time, Bob.

xxx

MORE CROCS!!!!!!!!!!

In the 17th century it was said, “Lighter than air travel? That’s a croc!”

I just had a thought. Somehow, I’ve always pictured the crocs talking in somewhat deep, if dumb, voices.

But … imagine if they swallowed a bunch of helium, and then started talking with their unique patterns, combined with helium intake, to make their voices extra high and squeaky. That would be memorable!

Long live the crocs, and more of them !!

Zeeba don’t jinx bob!

This is the first croc fatality in awhile.

How is Bob balancing on the balloon like that?!