How to Write a Comic Strip Like Stephan Pastis

Stephan Pastis' "Pearls Before Swine" comic strip has quickly become one of the most popular, controversial and talked about strips. If you want to make a quick splash in the comics world like Pastis, all you need is dark humor, bad puns and a refusal to follow the status quo. Heck, you don't even need to be a good artist.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Make one of your characters an egomaniacal jerk who enjoys taking advantage of others. Counter this character with one who is softhearted but also softheaded.

2. Put in an animal character who is naturally prey for meat-eating animals. Counter him with a group of predators who want to eat him, but are stupid and always fail at doing so.

3. Tell a lot of jokes that revolve around death. Also, don't be afraid to kill off a secondary character and then bring him back months later with no explanation.

4. Think of as many bad pun jokes as you can. The lamer the better, and creating multiple puns for the same famous phrase is even better. But try to separate the pun strips out over time so you don't get tired of them.

5. Break the fourth wall with your characters, having them admit that they're in a comic strip. You can even put yourself in the strip at times, having the characters make fun of your cartooning ability.

6. Criticize other comic strips, pointing out how many use the same jokes from 50 years ago and how the censorship standards are that old, too. Some cartoonists may not like it, but others may think it's pretty funny.

Tips & Warnings

• Keep your art simple, especially the animal characters. All they need is dots for eyes, big ears, big noses and cylinder-shaped bodies. Their arms and legs only need to be sticks.
• Add details to the background, like lamps and plates on tables, only when it's really necessary. If you find out something is very difficult to draw, don't draw it again.