15 Funniest Strange Planet Comics About Food

Jan 03, 2024

Nathan Pyle's webcomic Strange Planet offers an out-of-this-world comedic take on daily life, from jitter juice (coffee) to leafbuckets (salad.)

Nathan W. Pyle's Strange Planet comic strips have been an internet sensation since he began drawing them in 2019. Depicting small human moments from an alien perspective, Pyle's comics mix a unique use of language and an instantly recognizable visual style to portray the inherent silliness of everyday things like work, relationships, exercise, pets, and of course, food.

A TV adaptation by Dan Harmon for Apple+ was optioned in 2021, with the first season scheduled to premiere on August 9, 2023. With the release of the animated series imminent, it is the perfect time to look back at some of the funniest Strange Planet comics so far. In this case, about food. Or, as the aliens call it, "sustenance".

From not long after the comic's debut, Leafbucket - originally shared to Twitter by Nathan W Pyle - might be more amusing than LOL-worthy, but it is a great example of all the things that make a Strange Planet comic funny - especially the use of language to literally alienate the reader from familiar things, in this case a salad. The strip uses a simplistic but welcoming artistic style, particularly in the way the aliens are drawn, with smiles that are full of joy to be discovering aspects of human existence we take for granted. The best Strange Planet comics manage to produce a spark of that wonder in the reader (in addition to making them laugh.)

Sometimes, Strange Planet comics produce their comedic results from insightful observations about the absurdity of many aspects of modern human life. Other times, all it takes is a deadpan delivery paired with a simple image to do the trick. In this case, "cooking dinner" becomes "heating the sustenance", which with the addition of a simple cloud of smoke becomes "I have overheated the sustenance." Again, note the perfect contented smiles on both aliens' faces. One particularly interesting thing about Strange Planet creator Nathan Pyle is that he frequently posts about his creative process, including sharing rough drafts and in-progress versions of his work, as seen here.

There is a giddiness to this comic that can be infectious, especially for readers who remember mixing drinks at the soda machine as a kid. The reader may imagine this is the alien duo's first time ever encountering a soda fountain, or that they've done this hundreds of times and still manage to maintain the same level of excitement. Either way, it is hard not to crack a smile as one alien boldly combines sodas to create "a completely unique experience" while the other says, "describe its essence" with wide-eyed anticipation. Often, the notion of child-like wonder is cited when discussing how to find excitement and a sense of newness in the world. Here, Strange Planet substitutes "alien-like" to produce the same results.

The best Strange Planet comics tend to show its aliens having a close encounter with a situation the reader recognizes, one they have likely found themselves in at some point. This is what makes them particularly memeable. The gift of these extraterrestrial characters is their ability to plainly narrate this situation from a place of distant unfamiliarity. Further, they are able to take pleasure in moments that we may not stop to notice, or that we might even have negative reactions to. Most people have likely had this experience with cookies and milk, or with cereal and milk, or with chips and dip. Without drawing attention to its goal, Strange Planet is on a specific mission to help fans enjoy their own foibles and take joy in human moments.

Strange Planet comics about coffee (or, as another entry on this list calls it, "jitter liquid") are among the most shared, as everyone knows at least one overconsumer of caffeine, if they aren't one themselves. This comic is also an example of extrapolating on the sometimes contradictory dimensions of familiar human experiences. Diner coffee is its own particular flavor, and drinking coffee at a diner is its own particular experience. Diner coffee is a uniquely quantum drink in the sense that it can be both good and bad at the same time. The Strange Planet aliens' excitement is charming, but it is also a punchline that reflects the core artistic mission of the comic. Coffee, cats, and social awkwardness may be low-hanging fruit for a webcomic, but Strange Planet is able to put its own stamp on each of these old staples.

Some of Nathan Pyle's Strange Planet comics are more absurd than others. This one relies heavily on its language choices to get a laugh. "Plant liquid on your hot doughslice" is a particularly silly phrase, while still achieving the intended effect of provoking the reader to consider everyday substances like honey from a completely foreign perspective. What also makes this entry great is the body language of the aliens and the casual enthusiasm of their conversation. The waiter's hand-on-hip, the customer's thoughtful hand-on-chin, the waiter's description of "stealing" the honey, and the customer's declaration that: "If it's almost good enough for them, it's good enough for me" are packed with character, even outside the usual joke of a familiar situation made bizarre.

"Jitter liquid" is one of Strange Planet's most iconic rebrands. Nathan Pyle's depiction of the complete absurdity of drinking bean juice for energy is Strange Planet at its finest. There is a sheepish, innocent quality to the exchange here. At the same time, the alien and the comic's creator alike clearly revel in the decision to knowingly overconsume coffee. The way the final panel depicts the alien cringing while still sipping from a coffee mug, while a fellow alien looks on in concern, expertly inverts the usual cheeriness of the characters for a big laugh. Even the aliens' joyful attitude can't quite conquer the addictive nature of coffee.

Related: 13 Best Strange Planet Comics (According to Creator Nathan W. Pyle)

While this entry lacks Strange Planet's usual blue alien protagonists, and actually predates the launch of the webcomic, it belongs on this list because it is a concentrated example of Nathan Pyle's ability to recontextualize our names for food from a wholly outside perspective. There are in fact a series of several "Better Names For Food" done by Pyle as what would become Strange Planet took shape, collectively listed here at #8, but the first is perhaps the best. "Tongue-ticklin' bubble juice" for seltzer, "peppermeatcheese360" for pizza, and of course, "hardended tears of the Candyman" for candy corn. Perhaps even sillier than the eventual voice and style that would become inseparable from Strange Planet, this entry provides great insight into how the creator developed the project over time.

Much about food culture is bizarre, yet there are few things that seem simultaneous like a no-brainer and a complete head-scratcher as vending machines - a totally ubiquitous machine that includes a fatal flaw pretty much everyone has experienced. The smile on the face of the young alien as the larger alien (presumably its "lifegiver") explains the mechanism and then the look of dismay as the snack gets stuck are equally priceless. The summation that "the planet failed us" is one of Strange Planet's most memorable, and certainly most quotable punchlines - the kind of phrase that's sure to burrow into fans' minds and become part of their everyday language.

One of the greatest charms of Strange Planet - which a recently released trailer suggests will carry over to the television adaptation - is the ability for its characters to say out loud what is often left to subtext in human interactions. Moreover, they do so without hesitation, without fear of making a faux pas, with confidence the other being's feelings will not be hurt. In this case, the mutual distrust inherent in a drive-thru interaction is put into uproariously explicit terms. That these aliens are able to express lack of trust in one another with smiles on their faces not only highlights the strangeness of this exchange; it also more broadly lampoons the entirety of human emotional fragility.

Another example of a Strange Planet comic reckoning with the uncertain nature of salads. This time, a lifegiver trying to explain to an offspring why they must eat their salad as only these aliens can. "Life will be full of unpleasant sensations" the older alien says chipperly, to the apprehension and then dismay of the younger. As mentioned before, the comic substitutes "alien-like" for child-like wonder, and as a result, the children who appear are frequently mouthpieces for more straightforward confusion. Rarely is this confusion alleviated by their parents. Strange Planet is always particularly on-point when depicting the naturally odd dynamic in parent-child relationships. All the more so when those takes intersect with takes on food, and the nature of existence, as it is here. Interestingly, this is one of few Strange Planet comics where the aliens' habits explicitly diverge from our own - after all, most human parents don't give their kids vegetables as a lesson in suffering.

Many of the best executions of Strange Planet's formula are about the intersection of social niceties and food. Here, Pyle's comic puts its proprietary spin on wine culture. "Wow, that tastes old," one alien says. "Not even remotely fresh," says another. In the abstract, the idea of storing liquid made from old grapes in a basement for years on end certainly seems unusual. As something deeply ingrained in human culture, extending back nearly to the origins of civilization itself, most people would not think twice about these practices. Nathan Pyle's skill is to be able to bring these things to the surface, and then comment on them in the most direct, unvarnished way possible.

Several successful Strange Planet comics shine a light on the disparity between eating for health and eating for pleasure. The aliens in this comic put the conundrum as plainly as possible: better taste vs. longer life. The arithmetic on this decision can only be so simple, and so cheerful, coming from another planet. The fact that salt, the bane of every healthy eater's existence, is also being reduced to its status as "mineral" adds a significant element to the joke here. Humans are deeply attached to salt, but more broadly, the idea of putting a dangerous mineral on our food itself seems out of this world when put so plainly. This comic also touches on Strange Planet's habit of commenting on mortality, but doing so without an ounce of dread.

One of the more sitcom-y jokes Strange Planet has done, this is also one of the most likely to evoke a strong chuckle, given the strong visual component to its delivery. Another example of Pyle's take on salad, as well as on the conflict between eating healthy and eating tasty, the progression from panel to panel is one of the most humorous Strange Planet strips. The alien's look of shock at its own order, the way the waiter and the other alien at the table fade into the background, and finally the main character touching a hand to the mirror and staring into the middle distance. A counterpoint to the #3 entry, this is a perfect encapsulation of the existential crisis that everyone trying to improve their diet invariably goes through when out to dinner.

The funniest of Nathan W. Pyle's Strange Planet comics about food, this strip beautifully comments on the nature of ordering highly spicy food at a restaurant. "Many have regretted ordering this," the waiter says. This comic speaks to readers on both sides of the hot foot divide. Those who don't want to pulverize their bodies with spiciness can share this comic and say, "Yes, look how absurd this is!" while lovers of heat can share it and say "Yes, isn't it great how absurd this is?" This is what is great about Strange Planet comics as a whole - that its characters do not speak to any one view of human nature, but rather seek to undermine all viewpoints in favor of an approach that recognizes the wonder and strangeness in all ways of seeing the world.

Sources: Nathan W. Pyle via Twitter (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) Nathan W. Pyle via Instagram (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)