Comic strip fans who follow “Pearls Before Swine” in The Denver Post are familiar with the adventures of Rat, Pig and Goat.
They are the creations of Stephan Pastis, a one-time attorney who followed his dream of quitting his job and cartooning full time.
Since its 1999 launch, the simply-drawn, three-panel strip has blossomed into a syndicated cartoon with 750 outlets. The strip is known for topical smarts and its lean, clean drawing.
Pastis is more self-deprecating: “I think I’m extraordinarily slow for a cartoonist because I don’t think I’m a very good artist,” he said.
He will appear Sept. 24 in The Denver Post auditorium for an evening with the public.
Pastis, 47, grew up in San Marino, Calif. A second-generation Greek-American, he studied political science at the University of California-Berkeley, then earned a law degree at UCLA.
He was an insurance attorney in the Bay Area for nearly a decade, though he soon tired of the work.
After several fitful stops and starts, Pastis launched “Pearls Before Swine” in 1999, which allowed him to quit his practice.
Since then, Pastis, who is married with two teenage children, has authored several collections of the strip. He also has a series of “Timmy Failure” children’s books. The fourth installment, “Timmy Failure: Sanitized for Your Protection,” is due in October.
A few days ago, Pastis took time for a phone interview, fielding 10 questions that begged to be asked.
Q: Can you talk about who influenced you?
A: When I was growing up, it was all about “Peanuts.” Charles Schulz had a huge influence on me. I basically learned how to read from his strips and comic books. In high school it was the Big Three: “Calvin and Hobbes,” “Bloom County” and “The Far Side.” And then later on it was “Dilbert” — I studied Scott Adams’ three-panel format and pretty much copied it.
Q: There’s a great story about you meeting Charles Schulz. How did that happen?
A: Basically, I stalked him. I heard he had an English muffin every day at this little cafe beside an ice rink he had built in Santa Rosa, Calif. I waited until he showed up and walked over and introduced myself. I was a nobody, just a lawyer.
But he could not have been nicer. He gave me an hour of his time, which was crazy generous. In the strip I was doing at the time, he asked me to change the pen I was using and use speech balloons. I was such an amateur at the time. I wish he was still around so I could talk with him again and ask him more specific questions.
Q: You are rather famous for working so far in advance, filing months before you need to. Does that ever present a challenge as far as topicality goes?
A: Yeah, if I want to squeeze in something I have to call the syndicate. Even then it usually takes four to five weeks to get it in. But they do it, so there is a way around that.
Q: Between the creation and honing of the idea, the drafting and the inking, how long does it typically take to produce a panel?
A: It takes me too long, about two hours if the drawing is detailed, or if I have to learn how to draw something new, like a bicycle.
One of the challenges of the three-panel format is that you have very little time to set up the joke. It’s almost like walking in on someone in a room.
Q: You are syndicated in about 750 outlets. Did you ever conceive of those numbers as you were developing as a cartoonist?
A: Oh, no. My dream was about 200. I figured if I could get to 200 I could make a living. My goal was to stop being a lawyer. And another goal was to do what I love every day. I think that’s everybody’s goal, and I think I’ve reached it.
Q: It’s no secret that print newspapers are going through a tough period. Given the long-standing relationship between comic strips and newspapers, what is your take on the future of that relationship?
A: I think after the crash of 2008, things looked really grim. But if you look at the history of these things, when television came around, radio didn’t disappear. Neither did movies. The relationship between the medium and the audience just continues in a different way.
I mean, you don’t take your laptop to the bathroom. People always are going to want and need news, and for local news about taxes and government and schools, you’re going to read your local newspaper. That’s not going to go away, though the format might change. I think we panicked a little too much. Newspapers are still the bulk of my income.
Q: Do you keep a journal of your ideas?
A: I wouldn’t call it a journal, but I do keep a notepad beside my bed and in the armrest of my car. And I use a recorder. If an idea comes, it goes on my Dictaphone. Or I ask one of my kids to jot it down: OK, write “killer porcupine with a hat.”
Q: Are you a serious consumer of political news?
A: I wouldn’t say serious, but I definitely keep my eye on stuff.
Q: Has the syndicate ever nixed one of your panels?
A: Yeah, yeah. Not very often, but it happens. Sometimes they feel the issue is too sensitive. Then time passes and it looks silly in retrospect. But I sort of know what their level (of tolerance) is.
Q: What comic strip written by someone else, living or dead, would you most like to claim as your own?
A: Oh, Gary Larson’s “The Far Side,” no question. It was the funniest there ever was. No one even came close. Larson was on a whole different level, absolutely at the top of the mountain. He hit for power and average and his consistency was unbelievable. I would love to meet him. He’s the only one of the big cartoonists I haven’t met.
William Porter: 303-954-1877, wporter@denverpost.com or twitter.com/williamporterdp
Meet the creator
Stephan Pastis will be in The Denver Post’s auditorium at 101 W. Colfax Ave. for a Q&A and book signing at 7 p.m. on Sept. 24.
The Q&A session is full, but there will be a live feed of the event in the lobby, and Pastis says he will sign books for all who purchase one that evening.