A very funny collection from the early days of Dilbert. More outrageous puns and generally bizarre situations, but I am a big fan of puns so this was a nice little treat. Worth tracking down. ( )

Shave the Whales is the fourth collection of Dilbert comic strips. Dilbert is now known as a vicious satire of the modern office environment, but the early years of the strip were more heavily focused on the personal problems of Dilbert as a nerdish engineer trying to meet women and navigate a social environment for which he was temperamentally unsuited.

This collection is drawn from that earlier era, so the biting office humor is not nearly as prevalent as it would become later. Most of the now-familiar denizen's of Diblert's workplace are noticeably absent, and as a result the Dilbert character must carry most of the comedic weight by himself with little more than an assist from Dogbert. To provide a little bit of help, Adams introduces the pathetic Ratbert to the mix, and in the handful of office oriented strips we get the first iteration of a Wally-like character, although the character isn't actually named and it isn't quite Wally.

This remains a very funny collection though, as flashes of the satire that would come to the forefront later show up, and the strips featuring Dilbert's attempts to get dates are viciously funny as well. Though not as exceptional as the strip would later become, this is a great collection nonetheless.

This review has also been posted to my blog Dreaming About Other Worlds. ( )

Dilbert, one of the funniest (because it's true) comics of all time. I would like to have the full collection of the comics. Maybe he could start by making a book of the first 5-6 years of Dilbert like the Farside or Calvin & Hobbs. ( )

Ah, we're back with the daily panels of one of my favorite strips. "Dilbert" is probably the most cynical popular strip being published, and one of the funniest. An additional bonus is how often the humor drives home with a pointed truth. Introduces Ratbert and a Wally-like character. ( )