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It’s that time of the year again, where everybody says things like, “it’s that time of the year again.” Let’s take a look at the best comics of the past 12 months and review the year!

Well, we all witnessed an interesting year. There was good, there was bad, and there was downright ugly. While humanity seems hellbent on collectively speedrunning toward extinction, we see ourselves as the fiddlers on the Titanic. We’ll play our tune as long as we can, ever hopeful that a mighty whale might just surface, right in the nick of time, to save us all and carry us to a better future. Until then, it’s a great time for jokes! It was a great year for comics! May we continue to laugh, as long as we can!

4-panel comic by War and Peas Panel 1: A woman conducts a job interview. She asks the candidate, “So last question: Where do you see yourself in five years?” Panel 2: The candidate imagines a post-apocalyptic world with fire, wrecked cars, and ruined buildings. He’s dressed like a survivalist and holding a rifle. Panel 3: Still in his imagined future, he’s crouched in a desert landscape, aiming a sniper rifle. Panel 4: His crosshairs are locked on a killer robot attacking a terrified woman.

6-panel comic by War and Peas. Panel 1: A dog character, wearing glasses, a shirt, and tie, stands at a podium labeled with a microphone. He says, “Research has shown that dogs are the most loyal creatures.” Panel 2: Continuing his talk, the dog lecturer says, “That’s why the love language of unconditional affection is called…” Panel 3: With enthusiastic eyes and a slight smile, he confidently declares, “…Doggy Style!” Panel 4: A giraffe character pops in from behind the curtain whispering something to the dog. Panel 5: The dog is now standing silently behind the podium as the spotlight stays on him. He seems awkward and regretful. Panel 6: The dog walks off the stage slowly, tail drooping. He tosses his speech notes behind him. A sign in the background reads: “Science of Love – Dr. Doggy.”

Funny 4-Panel-Comic by War and Peas Panel 1: Slutty witch approaches a table, holding a package while saying "We got this mysterious package." The vampire and the black cat Lord Nibbles sis at the table having coffee. Panel 2: The witch places the package on the round wooden table. The vampire says, "How strange." Panel 3: The witch opens the package and exclaims in confusion "Huh? There's nothing inside." She continues "It's just an empty cardbox." Panel 4: Lord Nibbles, the cat puts the newspaper down and declares "Oh, that's mine!"

It’s also a good time to celebrate the glimmers of hope! And we cling to them with the intensity of a baby monkey clinging to its mother as she performs death-defying acrobatics through the rainforest canopy.
India has already hit its targets from the Paris agreement (five years early!) Germany’s electricity mix is now 64% renewable and the Greek island of Tilos has gone completely waste-free, recycling 100% of its trash. The Finnish capital Helsinki instituted a new speed limit that resulted in exactly zero fatal traffic accidents for an entire year! And AI, despite eleven billion podcasts predicting otherwise, has destroyed far fewer jobs than feared, which feels like the universe throwing us a bone.

4-panel comic by War and Peas. Panel 1: A witch in a black dress and hat sits at a bar, smiling flirtatiously. She says, “Wanna come to my place? I have the body of a 19-year-old.” Panel 2: A blonde man, excited, responds, “Sounds good to me. Let’s go.” Panel 3: Jumpcut: The witch and the man stand at the top of a staircase leading into a dark basement. The witch looks down, saying, “Must be here somewhere.” Panel 4: The witch, now on all fours, triumphantly finds two literal bodies in a pile of junk and exclaims, “Ha, there you go! Even two 19-year-olds!”

A black and white cartoon showing witches with different modes of transportation under a crescent moon. One young witch stands on the ground looking up disapprovingly, while three other witches fly through the sky - one on a scooter/moped, one on a hoverboard, and one on what appears to be a Roomba vacuum. The caption reads: 'Kids these days... Don't even know how to drive the stick anymore.'

6-panel comic by War and Peas: Panel 1: The Grim Reaper stands at a door, holding a clipboard. He rings the door bell. Panel 2: An orange cat opens the door and says, "Ah, yes. Right this way." Panel 3: The Grim Reaper stands over a dead body without a head, checking notes. "Says here, he died of a stroke." Then, surprised, asks, "Where is his head?" Panel 4: The cat responds, "You expect me to starve?" Panel 5: The Grim Reaper, shocked, exclaims, "He died an hour ago!" Panel 6: The cat, now screaming, repeats, "Like I said, you expect me to starve?"

And as if that weren’t enough good news, we can announce that we will be able to continue making comics in 2026. This is a blessing for us, because it remains, against all economic logic, the best job in the world.

This year has been great for us, even if our work-life balance looks like something an HR department would use as a cautionary tale. The highlight reel includes: our trip to Slovenia, the exhibition at the Erika-Fuchs-Haus, and performing with Marc-Uwe Kling and Bernd Kissel in front of 1,700 actual human beings who paid money to be there. We remain full of gratitude for every speech bubble we get to draw, every love letter we slip into mailboxes, and every heart-pounding thrill of clicking “publish” on a new comic strip and launching it to you.

Which is why we’re saying thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Thank you to our loyal readers, newsletter subscribers, and Patreon supporters. To everyone who smiles or laugh-snorts inappropriately in public when reading a new story. And especially to those brave souls who share our comics in their work group chats, without worrying about the consequences.

5-panel-comic by War and Peas Panel 1: Lord Nibbles, a black cat with wide eyes, holds a phone to their ear. Speech bubble: “You have to come home!” Background is solid red. Panel 2: A witch sits on a chaise, holding a phone to her ear, saying, “I told you not to call me at work.” An old man kneels in front of her, licking her feet with audible “Slurp” sound effects. Panel 3: Lord Nibbles, still on the phone, asks, “Remember the carpet you bought with the Ouija-Board design?” The witch replies, “Yes, so cute!” Background is split red and pink. Panel 4: Lord Nibbles’ eyes widen as he says, “Well, the Roomba summoned three demons with it!” The witch, unfazed, responds, “And?” Panel 5: The living room is filled with three demons sitting at a table. Lord Nibbles, still on the phone, says, “You have to lend me some money.” The demons appear engaged in a poker game.

4-panel-comic by War and Peas Panel 1: Santa Claus stands on the roof of a decorated house and asks the Grim Reaper, who is on the ground, "Hey! You're coming to this house, too?" Panel 2: The Grim Reaper responds, "Yeah." Panel 3: Santa Claus, still on the roof, says, "What a shame. They're getting a lot of presents." Panel 4: The Grim Reaper, holding a scroll, says, "Let me guess. One of them is a chainsaw."

Panel 1: The Grim Reaper sits at a desk, hands clasped. A sign on the desk says “DADDY DEATH.” Death: “Every Friday, from 10 to 12, I have office hours.” Panel 2: A ghost soul appears with a question. Ghost: “I wanted to see how my cat is doing.” Panel 3: Death checks his computer. Death: “Ah, Mr. Franklin. You died alone in your apartment, three days ago?” Ghost: “Yes.” Panel 4: Death: “Okay, let’s check in on Mr. Fluffles.” Panel 5: Death (looking at screen): “What?” Ghost floats in suspense. Panel 6: Death (grim): “Let’s just say, he’s not hungry.”

Four-panel comic by War and Peas. Panel 1: A woman sits in a boat crossing a river with the Grim Reaper and Charon. The Grim Reaper asks, “Do you want to see the Top Ten of How you almost died?” Panel 2: The Grim Reaper continues, “Remember that one guy you almost went home with?” Panel 3: The woman, wide-eyed: “Oh my GOD! Was he a serial killer? A cannibal?” Panel 4: The Grim Reaper calmly replies: “No. His bathroom floor was very slippery.”

If you want to double-down on ensuring we can continue this silly endeavor, you can support us via Patreon, where we offer various perks that we promise are worth it, or at least more useful than most things you impulse-bought last year.

Sincerely yours,
Elizabeth and Jonathan

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War and Peas writing

It’s the exact middle of the year and we’re taking this as an opportunity to take a look at how the year has gone so far.

That’s why we’ve developed a quotient that weights the feedback on the various platforms and gives each comic a score. The most important metric is, of course, the likes, but we also look at the comments on Instagram, for example, which can provide information about the social relevance of the respective strip.

Such considerations play no role in the creation of the comics. Strategies to develop viral hits always backfire and have an inhibiting effect on our creativity. This makes this ranking all the more interesting for us!

Here is the top 10 of 2024 (so far):

10. Crystals

four panel comic by War and Peas. 1. Panel: A man walks after the witch character through her apartment filles with crystals. He says, "Wow, you do have many crystals!" 2. Panel: She answers, "They're for protection mostly." 3. Panel: THey stand in front of a giant crystal that has the shape of male genitals. The man says, "What does this one protect you from?" 4. Panel: She says, "Frustration."

9. Ginger Lemon

4 panel comic by War and Peas: 1. Panel: A little girl summoned a demon. The demon goes, "Feed me fresh souls!" 2. Panel: The girl answers "I only have tea." 3. Panel: "It's ginger lemon." 4. Panel: The demon goes, "Tea is fine, too!"

8. Happy End

4 panel comic by War and Peas: 1. A masseuse massages a client and asks, "Would you like a happy ending?" 2. The client replies with a smile, "Yes, please." 3. The masseuse claps her hands and says, "Alright". 4. The client lies sobbing in the masseuse's lap. She reads out a book, "... and they lived happily ever after."

7. Pond Orgy

4 Panel Comic by War and Peas. 1. Panel: A princess holding a frog in her hand and giving it a kiss. 2. Panel: In a big "Poof" a princ appears. 3. Panel: Several princes are standing together. "Welcome to the club" says one to the newly transformed prince. The prince answers, "Huh?". 4. Panel: We see the princess in the background kissing another frog. A new prince has appeared in a poof of clouds to the left of her. The princes in the foreground are observing this and he says to the other, "She wants to have a big pond orgy."

6. Imagine

4 panel comic by War and Peas. 1. Panel: The black cat Lord Nibbles says to the witch, "Imagine a world without hunger, without suffering." 2. Panel: "Now imagine, YOU can make the dream a reality!" 3. "YOU have the power!" 4. "By opening a small can of tuna, you can make a difference today!"

5. True Story

4 panel comic by War and Peas 1. Panel: Little Red Riding Hood is sitting in front of a documentary camera. Someone off-camera asks, "So, you were the one who found the wolf at your grandmother's?" 2. Panel: The big bad wolf is also sitting in front of a camera sharing his side of the story. He says, "Listen, I have a thing for older broads, ok?" 3. Panel: Someone off-camera asks, "So, when you say you ATE grandma-" The big bad wolf interrupts them, "Listen, I know how to please a woman." 4. Panel: Back to Little Red Riding Hood. She crying and says, "Years of therapy... TURN OFF THE CAMERA!" 

4. Alpha Species

4 panel comic by War and Peas. 1. Panel: Two aliens look through the window of a house. One of them goes, "This must be the alpha species of the planet." 2. Panel: They present an alien gift to an orange cat who sits on the top of a couch and say "We come in peace." 3. Panel: The alien gift sits next to the cat who looks at the it. 4. Panel: The cat pushes the gift off the couch.

3. Princess

4 Panel Comic by War and Peas. 1.Panel: a knight kneels before a tower. He exclaims up to the window "Princess, I'm here to rescue you". 2.Panel: The princess answers "From What? I have HBO max, ramen, and an extensive collection of vibrators." 3. Panel: She pauses and looks back into her room in the tower. 4. panel: The princess calls down "Actually you could get me some batteries."

2. The Muse

4 panel comic (Yonkoma) by War and Peas. 1. Panel: A writer sits by her desk. She says, "Everyday, I sit here trying to think of a great idea." 2. "Waiting to be kissed by the muse." 3. A moose suddenly appears at the window and shouts "I'm ready!" 4. The writer is annoyed and goes, "Goddammit, Frank! I SAID MUSE!"

1. Ancient Aliens

4 panel comic by War and Peas: 1. two pharaohs from ancient egypt are standing in front of a pyramid whose construction is nearing completion. One says to the other, "You've outdone yourself this time, Babuthep." 2. he continues, "You'll be remembered for this throughout history!" 3. "It's a testament to human ingenuity." 4. time jump to the present day. At an alien conference, someone speaks to an audience, "It was aliens!"