Artist Nathan W. Pyle on taking his viral comic ‘Strange Planet’ to streaming on Apple TV+

Even if you’re not familiar with the web comic series Strange Planet, there’s still a good chance friends of yours have DM’ed you the comics that became a New York Times bestselling book.

Creator Nathan W. Pyle‘s humanoid-like characters point out the absurdities of our own world by peeking at theirs. As an example, “Mouthstones” highlights exactly how weird going to the dentist is when you think about it.

Pyle explains before the pandemic, the comics caught the eye of Dan Harmon, the co-creator of Community, and the Emmy-winning animated series Rick and Morty. Their collaboration, an animated series based on Pyle’s planet, debuts Wednesday, August 9, on Apple TV+.

“It became pretty popular in 2019 in that that fall was when I sat down with Dan Harmon and Steve Levy, and then we sat down with ShadowMachine as well — and ShadowMachine’s made a lot of amazing things, including BoJack Horseman,” Pyle explains.

“But when we all sat down together, it was nice that the work had already proliferated on the Internet. There was a lot of knowledge: All right, here’s what Strange Planet is. Here’s how it celebrates humanity.

The cast includes Community veteran Daniel Pudi and Lori Tan Chinn, resident scene stealer on Awkwafina Is Nora From Queens, among others, which is thrilling to Pyle.

“Oh, man. See, Lori Tan Chinn is a good example, where that character that we drew for Lori is so unique and Lori’s voice is so special,” he says. “[It’s] really special when you get to design a character specifically with a voice in mind and make sure that character and the voice match. So I know we’re so proud of how it looks and sounds.”