Welcome to Big Nate's world of cartoon fantasy. It's a place where a skinny sixth-grader can escape the tedium of boring classes, lord it over his bossy older sister Ellen, talk back to his Dad, amaze his art teacher Mr. Rosa, and make sly and subversive comments about life as an II-year-old.

Meet Rusty Sienna, host of Nate's favorite TV show "Oil Painting with Rusty," Dr. Cesspool, chainsaw-wielding surgeon and hero of Nate's own comic "Adventures of Dr. Cesspool," and all the other stars of the first collection of Big Nate, the hot new comic strip appearing in newspapers nationwide.