Strange Planet, by Nathan W Pyle
After months and months of reading nothing but email (it’s a work story, I won’t bore you), I finally found my way back to books. In this case, via a gateway book called Strange Planet. It’s a 150-page cartoon strip that delightfully imagines our world through the eyes of a community of adorable alien visitors. The aliens don’t know the correct human English names for things, of course. And really, why would we expect them to? Instead, the aliens use descriptive names that seem sensible:
- Tiny trash = confetti
- Star damage = sunburn
- Death cylinder = flower vase
Perhaps the alien words are actually more sensible than ours …
By way of example, this is one of my favourites:
It’s worthwhile to follow Nathan on twitter @nathanwpyle or on instagram at nathanwpyle.
Fully disclosing that he is a christian and therefore holds some traditional christian views that may not be in alignment with your personal values. However, his comic is not used as a platform to espouse these views, it’s just a sweet look at everyday life. There is some pressure online to boycott him, which I think is frankly kind of silly, and you’d be missing out on a feel-good part of the internet, of which there are fewer and fewer these days.
Rating: Buy it! Or at least give the guy a follow.
I love his cartoons! (And I agree that the boycott seems misguided.)