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

4-panel-comic by War and Peas about a man's surprising fascination with a sexy worm costume
Panel 1: In a Halloween costume store, a man in a green sweater browses the racks. Looking at the costume display wall, he comments: "These female Halloween costumes are getting out of hand."
Panel 2: The man examines the selection of costumes on display, including "Sexy Ghost," "Sexy Nurse," and other sexy variants. He reacts with an uncomfortable "Haha... Geez."
Panel 3: His attention is caught by a particular costume package labeled "Sexy Worm." He contemplates it, saying "Then again..."
Panel 4: In a dreamy pink thought bubble, we see his fantasy of being embraced by multiple large, segmented pink worms while wearing the sexy worm costume himself, a blissful expression on his face.

4-panel-comic by War and Peas about Officer McSexy's overzealous arrest of a child in a Halloween costume

Panel 1: In a nighttime scene on Halloween, Officer McSexy hides behind a bush in a blue uniform holding a walkie-talkie while on patrol. He says: "Captain, I have a visual on our killer." Another speech bubble responds: "Who?" A sound effect "krrrk" indicates radio communication.

Panel 2: Officer McSexy exclaims: "The guy from the docuseries!" and runs after a kid wearing a Ghost Face mask from the Scream movies, who is casually a plastic pumpkin collecting candy.

Panel 3: In a dramatic action scene with an orange and yellow background, Officer McSexy has tackled the small masked child to the ground. He shouts: "You're under arrest, you SICKO!" Some evidence items are scattered on the ground.

Panel 4: Inside an office, the police captain sits at his desk while the two concerned parents and their child, now in a wheelchair and covered in casts and bandages. The captain says: "We would fire him, but he has a great ass."

WAPSTOBER

Wapstober – various characters by War and Peas

Today WAPSTOBER starts! That means from today until next Sunday, there will be a new comic every day! Let’s start with this one:

Human Costume

4-panel comic by War and Peas. Panel 1: A large, gray mountain-like figure with a briefcase, red hat, green tie, and a small cloud beside him says, "Guess my Halloween costume!" Panel 2: The mountain continues, "I'm so stressed!" while the cloud adds, "Don't talk to me before I had my coffee!" Panel 3: The mountain says, "Let's destroy the planet and raise the stocks or something!" Panel 4: Finally, the mountain, looking tired, says, "Jeez, I'm exhausted already."

Panel 1: Two praying mantises are walking on a grassy field. One mantis named Timmy, wearing a backward cap and carrying a backpack, says, "Hey, Sally? Are you a praying mantis, too?"
Panel 2: The second mantis, identified as Sally, with flower-like hair and also carrying a backpack, responds, "Yeah. Why?" The background shows a warm, orange sky.
Panel 3: Timmy, looking at Sally with a wide smile, says, "Because you look drop-dead gorgeous!" The background has a red circular pattern.
Panel 4: The scene shifts to a park bench where the first mantis is sitting next to a ladybug with glasses. The mantis, looking downcast, says, "She said, she respects me too much to rip off my head and eat it." The ladybug replies with a simple, "Bummer."

We know constant plugs are annoying but please try taking a different perspective here: Although literally millions of people read our comics weekly, it’s still difficult for us as creators to make a living. We don’t get any money directly from Instagram or any other platform we post on.

If we wouldn’t have a Patreon page, we’d have to flip burgers and couldn’t make comics at all.

So if you read this or the plug of any other artist, please be kind. Thank you!
PS: Patreon Link