Pearls Before Swine - A Quiet Commentary

What's the role of a humor strip in the face of tragedy? For many, it's simply to carry on. Regardless of what's happening in the real world, Dagwood will still be building huge sandwiches, Beetle Bailey will be hiding from Sarge, and Garfield will be dreading Mondays.

Sometimes events happen that affect an artist so deeply, they can't pretend it's business as usual. But how -- within the confines of a humor strip -- can a serious, heartfelt emotion such as grief be expressed?

Stephen Pastis successfully did just that with today's installment of Pearls Before Swine. (click on image to enlarge)

Those names in the stars are the children who died at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Nothing else needs be said.