Pearls Before Swine
By Stephan Pastis | 42.8K FollowersAbout Pearls Before Swine
At its heart, "Pearls Before Swine" is the comic strip tale of two friends: an arrogant Rat who thinks he knows it all and a slow-witted Pig who doesn't know any better. Together, this pair offers caustic commentary on humanity's quest for the unattainable.
Don't miss the newest "Pearls Before Swine" collection, "Pearls Gets Put in the Pokey: A Pearls Before Swine Treasury," featuring 18 months of daily comic strips from 2021-2022, along with reflections and strip-by-strip commentary by creator, Stephan Pastis.
Meet Stephan Pastis
An unusual rat and pig take center stage in "Pearls Before Swine," a quirky daily and Sunday comic strip by erstwhile litigator Stephan Pastis. Launched in 2002, the strip appears in 850 newspapers worldwide, including The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, Atlanta Journal Constitution, Chicago Sun-Times, and Seattle Times.
Pastis never had any formal training, but he did draw cartoons for each of his school newspapers as he grew up. He holds a degree in political science from the University of California at Berkeley. Although he always wanted to be a cartoonist, Pastis realized the odds of syndication were slim, so he went to UCLA Law School and became an attorney instead. While at UCLA, he drew a popular strip called “Rosen.” It was while was hopelessly bored in a class on the European Economic Community that Pastis first drew Rat, a character that would reappear in every comic strip he created thereafter—including "Pearls Before Swine."
Cast of Characters
Pig
A gentle, sweet, and naïve soul, Pig is a living rebuttal to those people who say that swine are intelligent animals. As Rat's roommate, Pig's enthusiastic, amiable nature makes him a valuable (and in Rat's case, only) friend—even as his gullibility makes him an exasperating conversation partner. Pig likes cheese.
Rat
If beer, fame, and himself didn't exist, Rat would hate everything. Rat is cynical, selfish, vain, quick to anger, and prone to bouts of violence. Without Pig, the world would have given up on him long ago. He sometimes writes children's books.
Goat
Goat is a long-suffering philosopher—a thoughtful type who spends his days trying to comprehend the perplexities of existence and plumb the splendid mysteries of the world. His blog is not popular, as Rat enjoys reminding him.
Zebra
Zebra spends most of his waking hours helping himself and others avoid being eaten by the Crocs and other neighborhood predators. It really cuts into his TV time.
Guard Duck
Pig's loyal but violent and unstable duck. He sits in a bunker on Pig's front lawn, defending the property against mailmen, Girl Scouts, and offensive neighbors.
The Crocs
The Crocs are obsessed with eating their neighbors, especially Zebra. They make Wile E. Coyote look like Moriarty.
Wise Ass
Wise Ass is a sage donkey who offers advice to those who seek it. An older, anthropomorphic ass with glasses, he can sometimes be grumpy, even kicking people off his hill. Rat and Pig frequently visit him for counsel.
Stephan
The strip's creator deals with the shabby emptiness of his life by devising intricately fiendish puns and inflicting them upon his appalled creations. Drinking helps, too.