Fans boycott viral comic creator after learning he’s pro-life

Nathan Pyle is the author and artist responsible for the “Strange Planet” series. His comics have gone viral over the past few months for depicting aliens doing normal human activities but describing them in a way that makes you wonder why we Homo sapiens are so odd.

“Strange Planet” has more than a million followers on Instagram, so of course someone had to decide Pyle’s wit and popularity were too good to be true and go searching through his Twitter history for something incriminating. His Twitter bio also says, “I follow Jesus,” which means you know there will be some juicy heresy.

In the age of outrage, it’s not hard to be problematic. And a vaguely pro-life tweet must have been just what the strife-seeker was looking for. On Monday, a Twitter user shared a 2017 tweet from Pyle in which he expresses gratefulness for the life of his girlfriend at the time.

Followers on the Internet were quick to characterize him as a raging sexist, a right-wing bigot who is trying to control women’s bodies. Not once did he express any of those sentiments. Pyle only said he was happy his girlfriend, who was presumably adopted rather than aborted, was alive.

Furious onlookers have swarmed the comments of his comics to express their hatred, telling him they’re unfollowing. But despite a vocal minority, Pyle doesn’t appear to have lost any actual fans. In fact, over the past day, his personal Instagram account has gotten more followers.

Americans are equally divided on the issue of abortion, as many Americans identify as pro-life as pro-choice (47% each). So why should an artist’s embrace of a view held by half of Americans send him to the blacklist?

When his tweet was dug up, Pyle became a convenient target for the rage of a restless mob hell-bent on stigmatizing half the population for wanting to save babies.

People love to bond over humor, but some of them would rather bond over hate.