Comics That Made Us Go Awww
Cidu Bill on Feb 8th 2010
Morris M. Keesan: And I’m such a cynic that all the way to the last panel I was waiting for a horrible pun
Filed in Awww, Bill Bickel, Pearls Before Swine, comic strips, comics, humor | 21 responses so far
Tom Feb 8th 2010 at 01:11 pm 1
It’s all very sweet … until you realize he just likened his late father-in-law to an oafish pig.
Pirk Feb 8th 2010 at 01:26 pm 2
I was waiting for a horrible pun too!
yellojkt Feb 8th 2010 at 01:38 pm 3
I had to read it three times to make sure he wasn’t making a horrible pun.
Jesse Feb 8th 2010 at 01:42 pm 4
I love Pig.
AMC Feb 8th 2010 at 01:50 pm 5
Was his father-in-law’s last name “Astley”?
Rumpelstiltskin Feb 8th 2010 at 02:00 pm 6
Background here: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091213/news/912131117
paperboy Feb 8th 2010 at 02:22 pm 7
Yes, because of his punning tendency, the last panel was a sweet surprise.
Pinny Feb 8th 2010 at 04:14 pm 8
Re: Tom (#1)
He compared him to an oafish pig’s HUG — not to the oafish pig itself.
Charlene Feb 8th 2010 at 05:07 pm 9
That’s really sweet.
elizabeth Feb 8th 2010 at 05:53 pm 10
btw… I don’t think Pig is written as oafish… it’s just that he’s simple & naive & doesn’t always know how to communicate in ways that others would deem socially correct. Sometimes, though, he does just the right thing, as in this hug
Jim Feb 8th 2010 at 06:05 pm 11
What Elizabeth said.
turquoise cow Feb 8th 2010 at 06:41 pm 12
Yeah, Pig might not be particularly brilliant (sometimes he’s unbelievably stupid) but he’s definitely one of the nicest characters on the comics page these days. This was sweet and understated, not at all sappy. Major props to Pastis for daring to be something other than silly.
Kit Feb 8th 2010 at 07:08 pm 13
Just so he doesn’t go “Funky” on us . . .
David N Feb 8th 2010 at 09:11 pm 14
I thought it was sweet, too. Though I was cynical like yellojkt and reread it to make sure I didn’t miss the bad pun.
Then I thought, wait a darn minute - who could EVER miss one of Pastis’ bad puns?
Nicole Feb 9th 2010 at 07:54 am 15
I thought this was a very sweet comic, and it was nice to see that side of Steve.
Pig is not offish in the least, he has an enormous heart and love for everyone around him. He is certainly naive in a way that even surpasses the naievite of Opus in Bloom County. I aways feel the need to protect Pig from the world.
Rainey Feb 9th 2010 at 11:48 am 16
Who would have ever thought that Pig was based on an actual person in Steve Pastis’s life?
Elyrest Feb 9th 2010 at 12:02 pm 17
Rainey - I don’t think the comic is saying that Pig is based on Stephan Pastis’s father-in law. I think it is saying that he wonders where all the love has gone that his f-i-l, Rick Daniels, had for everyone. When Pig hugs him he feels the love and feels the presence of Rick. Very sweet. And Nicole is right - Pig is not oafish at all. Innocent and naive, yes.
paperboy Feb 9th 2010 at 01:50 pm 18
Pig is the Sponge Bob of print comics.
PepperjackCandy Feb 9th 2010 at 01:57 pm 19
I didn’t think he was saying that he based Pig on his fil, but that he (perhaps intentionally, perhaps unconsciously) gave similarly loving qualities to the character of Pig that he admired in his fil.
Keera Feb 9th 2010 at 02:27 pm 20
What Elizabeth @10 said and what Rainey @16 said, and also what Morris said when he sent this in. Finally: Awwww.
shamare Feb 11th 2010 at 06:13 pm 21
I think he is using Pig to show that his father-in-law’s love will just keep passing on to others, through the people that knew him.