Nathan W. Pyle

Nathan W. Pyle (born 1982) is an American cartoonist and writer living in New York City. He is the creator of the popular webcomic Strange Planet, which depicts a planet of blue beings discussing banal human experiences in humorously technical language. He has had multiple books reach The New York Times Best Seller list.

Background and first books Pyle was born in 1982. He grew up in Kettering, Ohio, and graduated from Dayton Christian High School. He studied theology in college and taught high school theology for two years before moving to New York in 2008 to pursue creative work.

He worked in television production This book made The New York Times Best Seller's Travel list. Pyle also published the book 99 Stories I Could Tell: A Doodlebook To Help You Create in 2018. The beings are big eyed, bright blue creatures, often called aliens, though Pyle does not use the term 'alien', saying that the comics take place on their home planet and the readers are the visitors. Pyle says that he was inspired to create the series after he and his wife, preparing to host guests, began hiding their possessions to make their small apartment appear as clean as possible. Pyle says that the comic looks at the wonderful complexity humans have created. and by May had over 2 million followers. As of December 2020 it had 6 million followers.

Hasbro has produced a card game based on the comic called Sweet Existence, with illustrations by Pyle. In June 2021, it was announced that Apple TV+ had given the production a series order to an animated television adaptation of the comics. The series was released on August 9, 2023. The series was produced by ShadowMachine with Dan Harmon and Pyle as executive producers.

Political views In April 2019, a Twitter post by Pyle from 2017 resurfaced regarding the pro-life rally March For Life. According to some reporters, Pyle's tweet expressed support for, or defended, March For Life. The tweet caused many pro-choice fans to turn against Strange Planet and its creator, in a controversy described by at least one outlet as an example of the Milkshake Duck phenomenon.

Pyle released a statement shortly afterwards which did not mention abortion, but said that he and his wife "have private beliefs as they pertain to our Christian faith. We believe separation of church and state is crucial to our nation flourishing." He also stated they voted for the Democratic Party, and were "troubled by what the Republican Party has become and [did] not want to be associated with it."

Reception

Readership figures As of October 2025, Instagram reported that his personal account had 559.000 followers and the account for Strange Planet had 6.2 million followers. He also has significant follower numbers on Facebook and X.

Reviews In an article on The Verge, writer Dami Lee said, "It's clear why Strange Planet resonates with people... everybody can project themselves onto them. They navigate universal situations, shedding light on human behavior that no one understands the reason behind... Scientists couldn't engineer a more shareable webcomic if they tried."

At an on-stage interview, Jonathan Kunz, co-creator of War and Peas, disclosed that he is friends with Pyle and said, "He has an amazing mind, it's beautiful. The way he thinks about the world and writes jokes is just incredible."