Big Nate by Lincoln Peirce for November 14, 2013

Mr. Peirce, I’ve a question for you. I’ve noticed that most strips have a gag that they use often, with small variations, like one of the characters in “Pearls Before Swine” calling Stephan Pastis (the cartoonist) an idiot. Most cartoonists (that I know of) have something similar to this, which I assume they use when they need to make a strip and don’t have a brilliant idea gnawing their drawing hand. But, unless you count Nate trying to convince Francis that dogs are better than cats (which I don’t), I haven’t noticed a fallback joke in “Big Nate”. So my question is where do all your original ideas come from? Are you a humor mastermind who can just create funny ideas out of nowhere? Do you take ideas from your life? Do you take suggestions (Enslave the Mollusk!)? Something else? I’m curious.

Can it be tuned with small snacks?

I feel bad for Nate

Will the stomach do the “controversial” lyrics? Tune in tomorrow….

The breakfast was oatmeal and raisins, huh? No wonder the stomach wants to sing Louie Louie

Nate, at least you caught Jenny’s attention!

Way to respond Lincoln Peirce!

It makes me sad to think of the negative comments that you receive here, but I suppose you can see that people wouldn’t be coming here unless they liked your work.

Thank you for what you do. And it is nice to see Jenny smile at Nate.

So much for math today. lol

Given Nate’s inability to discern what constitutes an oldie, I’m impressed his friend even knows the song “Louie Louie.” (I hope not from reruns of “Animal House.”)

I’m enjoying this series of strips. When I turned 13, I hit my growth spurt along with all the chemical reactions that come with puberty. Believe me, a growling stomach in the classroom would have been the least of my embarrassments!

One thing that kicked in – big time – when I was coming of age was an appetite. Is Nate entering puberty? Are we going to hear his voice deepen, see his shoulders broaden and Mrs. Godfrey start to mellow with age?

Unlike Harry Potter, For Better Or Worse and other long-running works of fiction, Nate Wright, his family, his friends and his teachers never seem to age. I’ve seen this in many other strips – notably “Fox Trot”.

Archie comics is experimenting with the gang from Riverdale where Archie, Reggie, Betty, Veronica, Jughead are now growing up in a masterstroke of storytelling – two story arcs, one where Archie weds Betty, the other where he weds Veronica – employs a “Sliding Doors” style of storytelling. I read this series with great fascination, as it adds a new dimension to the Archie canon.

My question to you, Mr. Peirce (hope I spelled it correctly this time!) – why do cartoonists (like yourself) never allow your characters to age? I asked Dan DeCarlo many years ago (of Archie comics fame) the same thing, and he answered succinctly, “Preservation of innocence!”. I asked Mark Evanier (who works closely with Sergio Aragonés’ GROO), he answered somewhat jokingly, “Job security!”. What’s your take on the agelessness of your characters?

At least Jenny’s liking this.

One thing I love about this strip is that Lincoln actually interacts with the public. Same as Wiley Miller and Guy Gilchrest!

better than Justin Beiber. :D

That is one talented stomach.

jenny’s smiling at nate!

OMG LOL

What’s not to like? Jenny’s giving him the most positive attention he’s ever gotten from her without even obnoxiously prodding her!!Now, let’s segue into “We will rock you/we are the champions” & REALLY bring down the house!! Snickers! SNICKERS!! And B.B.BATS!! Leftover from Halloween night!

better then any pop star because they all sound like diarrhea

is this the first tme jenny smiles at nate and dosent yell at him

Am I the only one that sees “coming soon…” on this specific strip?