The November Crisis

The November Crisis was a brief period in the Big Nate Comment section that was in many ways very similar to a cold war, with 2 opposing sides both wanting the same thing but with different ideas on how to get there.

The crisis began in early November when a user by the name of MartySays posted a poll in the Big Nate comment board (please note that all polls posted by MartySays have been deleted and therefore cannot be provided). Despite the poll being on topic many people were wary as they feared the break out of another poll war. Over the next few days MartySays (also known as EllenSays) began to post a poll each day. It was during these early days that sides began to form over the question of what to do about the polls and how to respond. The side known as the Narwhals suggested the solution of allowing the polls as long as they were on topic, and supported on topic speech of any kind in the comments, and proposed that any on topic poll should be responded too while any off topic poll/comment should be ignored and flagged as to not provide trolls with the attention they wanted. On the other side were the Anti-Polls. This faction was dedicated to the idea that the problem could be fixed through censorship, and polls of any kind needed to be responded to with requests that it be removed immediately, and many on topic polls were flagged until removed by this group.

By mid-November the crisis was at a head, both groups seemed ready but unwanting for war as the situation escalated and tension flared over the clashing ideologies. It was against this back drop that the first spam began. Most notably was the member known as "boosted" (suspected to be an alternate account of MartySays, though no solid proof can be cited) began to spam replies to MartySays' polls. It seemed war was inevitable.

The war bells began to toll and the soldiers once again prepared to take up arms against their fellow Big Nate fans in yet another poll war, but it was then that history turned as it often does at critical moments. On the 22nd of November the user MartySays was banned from GoComics, an action that both sides, the Narwhals and the Anti-Polls, agreed was necessary in order to prevent a war. And with that the crisis ended, and total war was avoided, but only just.