Lincoln Peirce (pronounced "purse", born October 23, 1963) is an American

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...

and

animator An animator is an artist who creates images, known as frames, which give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, and video games. Animat ...

, best known as the creator of the successful ''

Big Nate ''Big Nate'' (stylized as ''big NATE'' in the List of Big Nate collections, comic collections and ''BiG NATE'' in the Big Nate#Book series, books) is an American comic strip written and illustrated by Lincoln Peirce, syndicated since January ...

'' comic strip and as the author/illustrator of a series of ''Big Nate'' novels for young readers. He has also written a number of

animated short Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...

s that have appeared on

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

and

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

. Peirce is the creator of the

animated series An animated series, or a cartoon series, is a set of Animation, animated films with a common title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same main heroes, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series ...

based on his aforementioned book and comic strip series. The series premiered on the

Paramount+ Paramount+ (formerly known as CBS All Access in the United States and 10 All Access in Australia) is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, stream ...

streaming service.

Early life

Peirce was born on October 23, 1963, in the city of

Ames, Iowa Ames () is a city in Story County, Iowa, United States, located approximately north of Des Moines, Iowa, Des Moines in central Iowa. It is the home of Iowa State University (ISU). According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Ames ha ...

, of French descent. His family moved east in 1964, and Peirce grew up in

Durham, New Hampshire Durham is a New England town, town in Strafford County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 15,490 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, up from 14,638 at the 2010 census.United States Census BureauU.S. Census website 2010 ...

. He developed a fascination with comic strips at a young age and often cites

Charles Schulz Charles Monroe "Sparky" Schulz ( ; November 26, 1922 – February 12, 2000) was an American cartoonist, the creator of the comic strip ''Peanuts'' which features his two best-known characters, Charlie Brown and Snoopy. He is widely regarded as ...

's ''

Peanuts ''Peanuts'' (briefly subtitled ''featuring Good ol' Charlie Brown'') is a print syndication, syndicated daily strip, daily and Sunday strip, Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz. The strip's original run ext ...

'' as his greatest inspiration. At

Colby College Colby College is a private liberal arts college in Waterville, Maine, United States. Founded in 1813 as the Maine Literary and Theological Institution, it was renamed Waterville College in 1821. The donations of Christian philanthropist Gardner ...

Waterville, Maine Waterville is a city in Kennebec County, Maine, United States, on the west bank of the Kennebec River. A college town, the city is home to Colby College, a New England Small College Athletic Conference, NESCAC college, and Thomas College. As ...

, he studied art and art history. During his four years at Colby, he produced a weekly comic strip called ''Third Floor,'' featuring an ensemble cast of student and faculty characters. From 1985 to 1987, he studied at

Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn in New York City, United States. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls nearly 14,000 students on a campus in the Midwood and Flatbush sections of Brooklyn as of fall ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, where he earned an MFA in studio art. He attended the

Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture The Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture is an artists residency located in Madison, Maine, just outside of Skowhegan. Every year, the program accepts online applications from emerging artists from November through January, and selects 65 ...

, and then worked for three years at Xavier High School in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, where he was an art teacher and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

coach.

Career

Peirce is the creator of the comic strip ''Big Nate''. The strip debuted in 1991 in 135 newspapers, and currently has a client list of over 400 newspapers worldwide. ''Big Nate'' is also available online at gocomics.com, where in 2019 it was the site's second most-viewed feature, ranking behind only '' Calvin & Hobbes''. The popular children's website poptropica.com has included ''Big Nate'' since 2009. In 2010, Peirce wrote the first of eight ''Big Nate'' novels for young readers. Published by

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

, each book in the series was a ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' bestseller. In 2011,

Andrews McMeel Publishing Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC (formerly Andrews, McMeel and Parker (1975–1986) and Andrews and McMeel (1986–1997)) is a company that publishes books, calendars, and related toys. It is a part of Andrews McMeel Universal, which comprises A ...

began a series of ''Big Nate'' compilations. The series consists of 22 books to date and every one of them has been on the

New York Times bestseller list ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. John Bear, ''The #1 New York Times Best Seller: intriguing facts about the 484 books that have been #1 New York Times ...

. Under the AMP! Comics for Kids imprint, 20 collections have been released. ''Epic Big Nate'', a coffee table book celebrating the strip's first 25 years, was published in 2016. ''Big Nate'' books appear in 33 different languages and have sold over 20 million copies. He is good friends with book author Jeff Kinney. Peirce has also written for television, contributing to

's shorts program and

's ''

Random! Cartoons ''Random! Cartoons'' is an American animated anthology series that aired on Nicktoons. Much like '' Oh Yeah! Cartoons'', it was created by Fred Seibert and produced by Frederator Studios and Nickelodeon Animation Studio. It premiered on December ...

''. He created two ''Uncle Gus'' stories ("For the Love of Monkeys" and "Not So Fast") for

, and later wrote a series of 2-minute shorts called ''The Brothers Pistov'' for the short-lived series ''Sunday Pants''. At

, Peirce wrote and storyboarded "Super John Doe Junior," about the son of a beloved crime-fighter who has inherited none of his father's super powers.

''Big Nate''

''Big Nate'' debuted in newspapers on January 6, 1991. The strip's main character is Nate Wright, an irrepressible sixth grader with a native and inflated sense of his own greatness, with a powerful resentment for his social studies teacher, Ms. Godfrey. Some characters include Nate's friends, Teddy Ortiz, and Francis Pope. Teddy has a sense of humor recognized by characters in the book and has musical interests playing the keyboard for Nate's band, Enslave the Mollusk. Francis on the other hand, plays the electric guitar for the band. About the series' original intentions, Peirce has said that ''Big Nate'', which featured only six characters when it started, originated as a "domestic humor" strip, and that he intended to focus on Nate's family life. Soon, however, Peirce realized that "the gags I enjoyed writing most were the school jokes. Nate's life in middle school was where all the funny stuff was happening." Nate's school, P.S. 38, became the narrative center of the strip, and Peirce has added dozens of characters to the cast of classmates and teachers during the strip's run. Peirce describes ''Big Nate'' as a "modest success" for its first 19 years of existence. The beginning of the novel series introduced ''Big Nate'' to a generation of young readers and enhanced the comic strip's profile. In May 2013 ''Big Nate: the Musical'' had its world premiere at

Adventure Theatre Adventure Theatre (AT) is the longest running children's theatre in the Washington, D.C. area. Located in Glen Echo Park in Glen Echo, Maryland, it has been holding performances since 1951, and educating children in creative drama since 1978. H ...

MTC in

Glen Echo, Maryland Glen Echo is a town in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, that was chartered in 1904. The population was 279 at the 2020 census. History Glen Echo derives its name from the name of the lots developed by Edward and Edwin Baltzley, * * ...

. The music was written by Christopher Youstra, with lyrics by Christopher Youstra and Jason Loewith. On February 19, 2020, a ''Big Nate'' animated series was announced to be greenlit, with Peirce serving as a consultant, beginning with the 26-episode Season 1. Originally planned to premiere on

, and developed by Mitch Watson, the series instead debuted on February 17, 2022, on the

streaming service. The series eventually premiered on Nickelodeon on September 5, 2022.

''Max & the Midknights''

After completing the ''Big Nate'' novel series in 2016, Peirce began work on ''Max & the Midknights'', a comedic adventure story set in the Middle Ages. It is the first in a projected three-book series published by

Crown Books Crown Books was a bookseller headquartered in Prince George's County, Maryland, with a Largo post office address. It was founded in the Washington, D.C., metro area by Robert Haft in 1977. Crown Books (retail) is of no relation to Crown Boo ...

for Young Readers. ''Max & the Midknights'' was published on January 8, 2019, and went on to spend sixteen weeks on the ''New York Times'' Best Seller list, peaking at #2. The second book in the series, ''Max & the Midknights: Battle of the Bodkins'' was released on December 1, 2020. The third and final book in the series, ''Max & the Midknights: The Tower of Time'', was released on March 1, 2022. Similarly to ''Big Nate'', on November 16, 2021, '' Max & the Midknights'' has been greenlit for an animated series on

. The first two episodes were released on the Nicktoons YouTube channel on June 9 and July 8, 2024. The series premiered on Nickelodeon on October 30, 2024.

Bibliography

* '' Big Nate: In a Class by Himself'' (2010) * '' Big Nate: Strikes Again'' (2010) * '' Big Nate: On a Roll'' (2011) * '' Big Nate Goes for Broke'' (2012) * '' Big Nate: Flips Out'' (2013) * '' Big Nate: In the Zone'' (2014) * '' Big Nate: Lives It Up'' (2015) * '' Big Nate: Blasts Off'' (2016)

Filmography

References

External links

Big Nate Book Series Website

Big Nate on GoComics.com

Animated Magazine Big Nate Animated Series Announcement

Harper Collins: Lincoln Peirce

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Peirce, Lincoln 1963 births Living people 20th-century American artists 20th-century American male artists 21st-century American artists 21st-century American male artists 21st-century American novelists American children's writers American comic strip cartoonists American male novelists American people of French descent Animators from Iowa Brooklyn College alumni Colby College alumni Novelists from Iowa Artists from Ames, Iowa Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture alumni