--- title: The Nathan Pyle Strange Planet Is Comic Relief for Instagram description: Artist Nathan W. Pyle's weird, wry comics about aliens, Strange Planet, have gone viral on Instagram for their touching humor. canonical: https://time.com/5552655/nathan-pyle-strange-planet/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-03-15T18:44:17.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:58:07.879Z og:title: Nathan Pyle's Strange Planet Is Comic Relief for Instagram og:description: Here's what you need to know og:url: https://time.com/5552655/nathan-pyle-strange-planet/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Nathan Pyle's Strange Planet Is Comic Relief for Instagram twitter:description: Here's what you need to know twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Nathan W. Pyle's Strange Planet Is Comic Relief for the Instagram Age  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Mar 15, 2019 6:44 PM UTC  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Mar 15, 2019 6:44 PM UTC It can sometimes be hard to find joy on [Instagram](http://time.com/5489132/instagram-sideways-design-test/), with its [myriads of influencers](http://time.com/5551886/sephora-cancels-olivia-jade-partnership/) and carefully curated content, but following artist Nathan W. Pyle can remedy an oversaturation of Internet fatigue. Pyle, who illustrates and writes “Strange Planet,” a quirky comic series about wry and earnest extraterrestials makes the case that life on other planets may not be that much different from our own. Pyle’s aliens experience joy, heartbreak and challenges in many of the same instances that the average human Joe does. Pyle’s comics have struck a chord on the Internet, especially on Instagram, where his Strange Planet has accumulated a viral following, clocking in at a whopping 1 million followers. His otherworldly comics are so popular that Pyle has even launched [Strange Planet-themed merchandise](https://nathanwpyle.threadless.com/), ranging from shirts to beach towels. If you’re looking to bring some joy to your timeline, consider giving Pyle’s account a follow. See some of his best comics below. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5552655/nathan-pyle-strange-planet/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5552655/nathan-pyle-strange-planet/"},"headline":"Nathan W. Pyle's Strange Planet Is Comic Relief for the Instagram Age","datePublished":"2019-03-15T18:44:17.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:58:07.879Z","description":"Here's what you need to know","url":"https://time.com/5552655/nathan-pyle-strange-planet/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Tech","viral"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5552655/nathan-pyle-strange-planet/","name":"Nathan W. Pyle's Strange Planet Is Comic Relief for the Instagram Age"}}]}] ```