Pearls Before Swine Cartoonist to Celebrate in Spokane

Stephan Pastis is bringing Pearls Before Swine to Spokane as the comic strip approaches its 25th anniversary in December. The visit is part of a Northwest Passages event on Saturday, and it will be Pastis’ second appearance with the book club. He is promoting Pearls Jubilee, a collection scheduled for release this week.

Pastis first sketched Rat and Pig while studying law at the University of California Los Angeles. More than 10 years later—and after nine years working at an insurance defense firm—those early drawings became a syndicated comic. Rat remains confidently convinced of his own insight, while Pig is still the friend he wants to impress.

The anniversary collection draws from nearly 10,000 strips and includes several ranked selections, along with Pastis’ reflections, essays by other cartoonists and responses from readers. He has published more than 9,000 comics. The book’s title nods to Charles Schulz, whose work helped lead Pastis toward cartooning; he also credits Washington cartoonist Gary Larsen as an influence. Pastis began the promotional tour Tuesday at the Charles Schulz museum in Santa Rosa, California, and Spokane is the next stop identified for the tour.