Strange Planet: Dan Harmon turns a webcomic into a gentle Rick & Morty

Even if you aren’t already a fan of Strange Planet, Nathan Pyle’s charmingly subversive webcomic where blobby blue aliens circumlocute around common human objects and experiences, you may still recognize them when you see them. Pyle’s strips — typically four panels of low-key observational humor, rendered in soft pinks and blues — are all over social media and the internet, with multiple book collections and plenty of associated merchandise. Because each strip stands alone, they’ve attained a viral pass-around state, where they’re constantly being rediscovered and reposted in every possible forum. Pyle is now collaborating with The CommunityCreate / Rick and Morty The first trailer for the animated series created by co-creator Dan Harmon has been released.

Strange Planet the strip doesn’t really have running characters, as far as anyone but Pyle knows — the blue aliens almost all look alike, and they all talk alike, with a kind of gentle, self-effacing, philosophical acceptance about the oddities of things like coffee (“jitter liquid,” alcohol (“mild poison”), and fast food. According to the early episodes made available for reviewers, the animated series is a similar anthology. The episodes move between characters of different occupations or at different stages in their life.

The show preserves Pyle’s art style and humor, to the point where a lot of the language will be familiar to fans of his strips — but it’s unquestionably a Dan Harmon series as well, with Harmon’s signature humanistic take on failure and regret, family connections and philosophy, learning and growing. Story arcs can be divided into Rick and MortyArcs are similar to arcs but without the gross humor, frenetic tone and air of aggressive cynicism. In the same way, they’re about characters facing and overcoming anxieties and dealing with their own shortcomings. As the Strange Planet Strip offers a twisting mirror of the world. The series presents a twisting mirror of Rick and Morty — A version of this animated series was made to be viewed by a more calm and quiet audience.

Tunde Adebimpe is one of the voices in this series. Demi Adejuyigbe and Lorde Tan Chinn are also featured. The Community’s Danny Pudi, and Hannah Einbinder.

“Strange Planet” is co-created and executive produced by Emmy Award winner Dan Harmon (“Rick and Morty,” “Community”) and New York Times bestselling author Nathan W. Pyle, and produced by Apple Studios and ShadowMachine. The series is executive produced by Academy Award winner Alex Bulkley (“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”), Emmy Award winner Corey Campodonico for ShadowMachine (“BoJack Horseman,” “Tuca & Bertie”), Lauren Pomerantz (“Saturday Night Live,” “The Ellen DeGeneres Show”), Emmy Award winner Amalia Levari (“Over the Garden Wall,” “Harvey Beaks”), Steve Levy (“Rick and Morty,” “Community”) and Taylor Alexy Pyle.

Strange PlanetApple TV Plus premieres a first season consisting of 10 episodes on August 9th.