Skip School, Fly to Space

Gr 5–8—In this third collection of "Pearls Before Swine" comics, the familiar cast of Pig, Goat, Rat, Zebra, and the Crocs returns for adventures with the Cool Fence, the Fantastic Four trio, and Kiko the Lonely Cactus. Despite the appealing character design that could easily draw the attention of a younger audience, much of the humor is directed toward older readers. Two examples of such instances are the Crocs' unending attempts to make a meal of Zebra, which includes starting an "assassin log" and the Rat's efforts to humiliate Pig, such as when Pig's talked into wearing a surgical mask so as not to spread the "stupid bug." Beyond this content, the comics in this collection vary in humor from witty social commentary, such as Pig's "Internet Happy Place" fashioned from a cardboard box, to the downright ridiculous, seen in the Fantastic Four trio, made up of Stapler Head, Doorstoppo, and Paper Jam Boy.