Tax pearls

One of my favorite discoveries upon moving to Austin had nothing to do with the city. It was finding a new (to me) comic strip in the local newspaper.

"Pearls Before Swine" offers a daily dose of absurdist, sometimes dark humor from the mouths of Rat, Zebra, Pig, Goat and a group of Crocodiles (members of the fraternity Zeeba Zeeba Eata) that cracks me up daily and in color on Sundays.

Not only do these creatures mock us human readers and the situations we get into, they also take jabs at their funny paper neighbors. I particularly liked the "true story" panels that revealed just what kind of adults the "Family Circus" kids grew up to be. Let’s just say Jeffy didn’t make his folks too proud.

Such swipes obviously don’t endear "Pearls" creator Stephan Pastis (who also occasionally inserts less-than-flattering portrayals of himself into the strip) to his many of cartooning colleagues. C’mon guys. Lighten up and learn to take a joke.

Earlier this week, the "Pearls" population lampooned the wealthy and their tax troubles, all in one fell swoop. Well, really in three panels a day, but you get the picture.

Rat, who is described on the official character page as "arrogant, self-centered, fatalistic, philosophical and quick-tempered, [and] obsessed with fame, immortality and making a quick buck," decided to take a turn as a singer dedicated to musically recounting the plight of the "rich and uptrodden."

So, without further ado, I refer you to Rat’s tax-themed version of a Dylan classic. Enjoy!