Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for April 21, 2013

Fisherman Rick takes his supply of anchovies very seriously; he’s a master baiter.

I didn’t see that one coming — and now, how do I unsee it?

what? is the punchline in Latin or something?

Berate ’im.

OW.

I think rat should say ‘im not ’em. Unless he’s speaking of puns instead of Steph.

In “my opinion” Get Fuzzy isn’t at all enjoyable. The other two are…still…very much so.

The crocs MADE this strip, why have they gotten away?

heard that anchovies on pizza is a good, is it true?

I love the crocs, but I love everything about PBS. If we had only crocs, we would soon tire of them.

Pig; Make it up to Rick. Have the girl from down the block, Sheila, date ’em.

1)Today’s kartune makes Zebra want to stay on that island!2)Please see my comment on today’s “Nancy” cartoon. Thanx!

Afraid Pastis is reaching too far for puns of questionable quality now. Get Fuzzy used to be the best. Now it too has gone on long after it should have been retired. It is not shameful to run out of ideas.

Is anyone going to see Pastis today?

Pastis made a morning headache just get that much worse. Ouch.

All this is no doubt said with baited breath.

Lord have mercy.

@neckback

you beat me by 26 minutes !! DANG !!

I’ve had many a chuckle over the word play, especially when the word play is a pun. But Stephan lowered the bar on this installment. There is no punchline, no pun, and the setup doesn’t work. “Verbatim” rhymes. That’s the extent of the joke? How does a cur fit into the scene? “Cur hate ’em” rhymes. Again is that all? Not the usual Pastis sharp wit.

Bring back the crocs!

Get Fuzzy wasn’t amusing right from the start. Strips that use dogs or cats, like that one or “Mutts” often gain an instant following because of the cuteness factor but don’t often survive without humor or wit.

Sad sad man..

I’m giving Mr. Pastis a pizza my mind!

Have a beer and hydrate ’em.

Here there are tortured puns, on Get Fuzzy there is tortured malaprop-based humor. But at least the Pearl puns aren’t nearly daily occurrences.

Well, I was THRILLED when “Pearls” came to the SF Chronicle a few years ago. I still have the “Godfather” (gonna make a Hoffa they can’t re-fuse") strip pinned up in my home office. Still laugh at it. This may or may not be an indication of whether or not I am qualified to even HAVE an opinion … let alone make a comment.

That being said, my only criticism of Mr. Patis’ strip this Sunday was his grammar. Should hava been “My buddy, Herb, and I…” not me and my buddy. Rookie mistake, Patis!

Was upset to see I missed your San Jose visit by one day! You rule … love strip bad grammar and all. Rat is my favorite.

I think the nay-sayers missed it. I believe today’s joke is the long set up. If so, it’s sort of a nod to the fans.

That said, about Pastis I still say, “Berate ’im.”

Not getting any better.