Big Nate Comics in Order

Coming from writer and illustrator Lincoln Peirce, Big Nate is an ongoing American comic strip syndicated since January 7, 1991. It emerged from a comic strip by Peirce that was based on the little neighborhood in New Hampshire where he grew up. Instead of focusing on one character, it had a large cast of characters, including two brothers. After some feedbacks from comics editor Sarah Gillepsie, Peirce made some modifications, creating Nate and renaming his comic strip “Big Nate.”

Big Nate tells us about the colorful life of Nate Wright. This spunky eleven-year-old holds the school record for detentions and is in little chance of losing that distinction, but that doesn’t stop him from dreaming big! He’s a self-described genius, a sixth-grade renaissance man, and a full-fledged believer in his future as a cartoonist. Equipped with a No. 2 pencil and the unshakable belief that he is No. 1, Nate fights a daily battle against overzealous teachers, undercooked cafeteria food, and all-around conventionality.

For many years, Big Nate wasn’t the huge success it is today, although it was selling reasonably well. Its popularity exploded when Big Nate joined Potropica, a website created by Jeff Kinney, the author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, and when the first Big Nate book was released.

Since then, Big Nate has become a franchise, with more children’s books, activity books, an animated television series (launched on the Paramount+ streaming service in 2022) and a stage musical adaptation (in 2013).

Today, we are taking a closer look at the Big Nate comic collection, which spans strips from 1991 to the present. 

Big Nate Comics Collection

Today, the Big Nate comic strips appear in more than 300 newspapers and can also be read at GoComics. You can also collect a lot of the previous stories thanks to a collection of over 40 books that reprint them. Here’s an overview of the different collections: 

• The Complete Big Nate — E-Book collection that reprints every daily and Sunday cartoon ever syndicated, each volume containing one year’s worth of strips. This is one of the best collections put out there for fans, as it shows many cartoons that have never been reprinted in books. 
• Big Nate Main Comic Strip Collection Series — The main collection of books for Big Nate, published by Andrews McMeel Publishing, except for the first volume from Topper Books and a little break in the middle of four volumes from HarperCollins.
  • Andrews McMeel Publishing has also released several box sets.
• Big Nate Treasury Collection — A collection reprinting two volumes from the main collection into one book!
• Big Nate Special Compilations — Greatest hits, thematic collections, and more! 

The Main Collection

• Add More Babes: Awesome Big Nate Comics
  Collects strips from 1991.
• Big Nate: Dibs on this Chair
  Collects strips from June 13, 1997 to December 31, 1997 (excluding Sunday strips).
• Big Nate: Pray for a Fire Drill
  Collects strips from January 1, 1997 to June 7, 1997 (excluding Sunday strips).
• Big Nate: Makes a Splash
  Collects Sunday strips from 1997.

There is a gap in the Big Nate collection books here! Comics Strip from 1998-2004 have not been as well-collected as the rest. Some collections cover in part this period, with books focused on Sunday trips or covering a specific themes. The best way to read this period is to go for the e-book collection.

• Big Nate: All Work and No Play (A Collection of Big Nate Sundays)
  Collects Sunday strips from 1998 to 2000.
• Big Nate: I Can’t Take It!
  Collects Sunday strips from 2000 to 2004.
• Big Nate: Great Minds Think Alike
  Collects strips from 2002–2006 and only ten Sunday strips from 2008–2009.
• Big Nate And Friends
  Collects strips about Nate’s many friends from 1997 to 2007.

• Big Nate: I Smell a Pop Quiz!
  Collects strips from 2005 to August 26, 2006.
• Big Nate: From the Top
  Collects strips from August 28, 2006 to April 1, 2007.
• Big Nate: Out Loud
  Collects strips from April 2, 2007 to November 4, 2007.

Big Nate COMIX! Series! The following four books were released by HarperCollins, in a different format, with the name of the arc on the top, not always in full color.

• Big Nate: What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
  Collects strips from November 5, 2007 to June 8, 2008.
• Big Nate: Here Goes Nothing
  Collects strips from June 9, 2008 to January 9, 2009.
• Big Nate: Genius Mode
  Collects strips from January 11, 2009 to August 9, 2009.
• Big Nate: Mr. Popularity
  Collects strips from August 10, 2009 to March 7, 2010.

• Big Nate: The Crowd Goes Wild
  Collects strips from March 8, 2010 to October 9, 2010.
• Big Nate: Say Good-Bye To Dork City
  Collects strips from October 10, 2010 to May 14, 2011.
• Big Nate: Welcome To My World
  Collects strips from May 15, 2011 to October 30, 2011.
• Big Nate: Thunka, Thunka, Thunka
  Collects strips from October 31, 2011 to April 21, 2012.
• Big Nate: Revenge of the Cream Puffs
  Collects strips from April 22, 2012 to October 13, 2012.
• Big Nate: What’s a Little Noogie Between Friends?
  Collects strips from October 14, 2012 to April 13, 2013.
• Big Nate: A Good Old Fashioned Wedgie
  Collects strips from April 21, 2013 to October 5, 2013, and the May 25, 2014 strip used as the book’s title strip.
• Big Nate: Silent But Deadly
  Collects strips from October 6, 2013, to March 29, 2014.
• Big Nate Goes Bananas
  Collects strips from March 30, 2014 to September 13, 2014, excluding the May 25, 2014 strip used as the title strip for Big Nate: A Good Old Fashioned Wedgie.
• Big Nate: Payback Time!
  Collects strips from September 22, 2014 to March 14, 2015.
• Big Nate: Hug It Out!
  Collects strips from March 15, 2015 to September 13, 2015.
• Big Nate: Blow the Roof Off!
  Collects strips from September 14, 2015 to February 28, 2016.
• Big Nate: The Gerbil Ate My Homework
  Collects strips from February 29, 2016 to September 4, 2016.
• Big Nate: In Your Face
  Collects strips from September 5, 2016 to February 25, 2017.
• Big Nate: Aloha!
  Collects strips from February 26, 2017 to September 2, 2017.
• Big Nate: Beware of Low Flying Corn Muffins
  Collects strips from September 3, 2017 to September 9, 2018. (excluding rerun hiatus from December 31, 2017 to July 15, 22, and 29, 2018, and including repeat of August 27, 2017 strip)
• Big Nate: Release the Hounds!
  Collects strips from September 10, 2018 to February 23, 2019.
• Big Nate: Nailed It!
  Collects strips from February 24, 2019 to August 11, 2019.

• Big Nate: Move It or Lose It!
  Collects strips from August 12, 2019 to February 15, 2020.
• Big Nate: This Means War!
  Collects strips from February 17, 2020 to August 16, 2020, and August 23, 2020.
• Big Nate: Remain Calm!
  Collects strips from September 6, 2020 to February 14, 21, and 28, March 22 to 27, and April 19 to May 1, 2021.
• Big Nate: Attack of the Cheez Funk Breath [2025]
  Collects strips from February 15, 2021 to August 28, 2021. (excluding strips already in Big Nate: Remain Calm! but including a repeat of April 26 to May 1, 2021 strips)
• Big Nate: No Harm Done! [2025]
  Collects strips from August 29, 2021 to 2022.
• Big Nate: Code Red! [2026]
  Collects strips from 2022.

Big Nate Treasury Collection (Two books in One)

The following is a short list of Big Nate books that bring together two previous volumes in one!

• Big Nate Stays Classy
  A treasury collection containing the entirety of Big Nate: From the Top and Big Nate: Out Loud in one book.
• Big Nate: Top Dog
  A treasury collection containing the entirety of Big Nate: And Friends and Big Nate: Makes the Grade in one book.
• Big Nate: Very Funny!
  A treasury collection containing the entirety of Big Nate: Welcome to My World and Big Nate: Thunka, Thunka, Thunka in one book.
• Big Nate: No Worries! [2025]
  A treasury collection containing the entirety of Big Nate: Revenge of the Cream Puffs and Big Nate: What’s a Little Noogie Between Friends? in one book.

Big Nate: Other collections

There are still more Big Nate books with thematic books or the Epic Nate Book released for the 25th Anniversary of Big Nate!

• The Epic Big Nate
  A 25th anniversary special for the series, not only containing cartoons throughout the 25-year history of the comic strip, but also an exclusive Q&A with Diary of a Wimpy Kid author Jeff Kinney, behind-the-scenes looks at Big Nate: the Musical and its world record largest comic strip, and excerpts of Lincoln Peirce’s sketchbook from childhood to the present day.
• Big Nate’s Greatest Hits
  Collects every Big Nate strip published in 1997, including the strips from the three 2001 Big Nate books.
• Big Nate And Friends
  Collects strips about Nate’s many friends from 1997 to 2007 (also listed below!)
• Big Nate Makes the Grade
  Collects strips that are school-related.
• Big Nate: Game On!
  Collects strips that are sports-related (basketball, baseball, and soccer).

Want to Read More Comic Strips?
Check out the Peanuts Collection!