That's not entirely true, of course. I'm sure Lincoln Peirce would like you to like "Big Nate," especially if you are over 60 and prone to filling out things and putting them in the mail, because the only way a syndicated strip can survive is by scoring well in comic "surveys," which are dominated by people over 60 who are prone to filling out the forms and sending them in.
That said, a primary market for "Big Nate" is the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of those people who vote in comic surveys. I have often defended "Garfield" as a strip that, stupid and repetitive as it may be for adult readers, is a good gateway strip to get little kids into the paper. "Big Nate" is what comes next, when they're ready for something a little more complex than spider-smashing and hating Mondays.
"Big Nate" is not just about middle-school kids but is intended to be enjoyed by them. I don't doubt that there are any number of cartoonists who do strips about kids and hope the kids will enjoy them, too, but a lot of strips in which kids play a central role portray them in the same way a lot of strips in which women were central were full of gags about overdrawn checking accounts and dented fenders: Cheap, easy gags at their expense. Even solid, thoughtful strips like "Stone Soup" generally feature the kids as antagonists -- however affectionately portrayed -- to the main characters.
And, of course, "Calvin and Hobbes" and "Peanuts" portrayed children as little tiny genius philosophers. Far be it from me to knock either of those strips.
But Nate is a kid being a kid, and, if the things he does often irritate his elders, there is no symbolism being pithily revealed as he sits on the bench outside the principal's office. He simply screwed up, and it's funny in the way that one kid would tell a story about another, not in the way an adult would recount it.
Peirce's "Big Nate" collections are marketed towards kids, he has begun writing "Big Nate" books specifically targeted to kids, and his book tours include schools as well as bookstores. "Big Nate" even has an online game at a popular kids' site.
For those of us who wring our hands over the future of cartooning, it's nice to know somebody is actually doing something to pass the form along to a new generation. Plus, despite being well out of the intended target audience, I like the strip. And I would say so in a survey.
And I would say that even if, as I was doing some fact-checking, I hadn't just discovered that I am quoted at some length in Lincoln Peirce's Wikipedia entry. Which is a lot cooler than knowing how to pronounce his last name because 30 years ago your then-wife worked at a college where the new president was noted for having written about Charles Sanders Peirce.
However, with that in mind, permit me to go on record, as quite possibly the only person in the world who is aware of the existence of both men, as saying that Lincoln is a lot funnier than Charles.
(I think that should be added to their Wikipedia entries.)
Lovely to be a freelancer who works regularly!
Posted by: vppeterson | 11/12/2010 at 10:29 AM
One of the main things gamers get out of online games is the long-term satisfaction, often including friends and companionship, from playing with the same group of people over a long period of time.
Posted by: bingo | 12/26/2012 at 08:55 AM