By |

A promotional image for the book "Hi, Earth" by Elizabeth Pich and Jonathan Kunz (War and Peas). The image shows the book cover featuring a cartoon Earth wearing a cowboy hat and sweating while surrounded by flames. Cartoon animal characters surround the book: a bee with a blue balloon above, a smiling cow on the left, and a yellow dog/squirrel on the right. The background transitions from orange to yellow, with a quote at the bottom reading: "I can't remember the last time I snorted this much while reading a book." - Patile on Goodreads.
A promotional image for the book "Hi, Earth" by Elizabeth Pich and Jonathan Kunz (War and Peas). The image shows the book cover featuring a cartoon Earth wearing a cowboy hat and sweating while surrounded by flames. Cartoon animal characters surround the book: a bee with a blue balloon above, a smiling cow on the left, and a yellow dog/squirrel on the right. The background transitions from orange to yellow, with a quote at the bottom reading: "I can't remember the last time I snorted this much while reading a book." - Patile on Goodreads.

It’s Out Now!

We still can’t quite believe it’s happening, but today we’re releasing our book “Hi, Earth” into the wild. We’ve spent years drawing talking animals, suicidal icebergs and horny flowers, trying to make sense of this beautiful mess we call home.

4-Panel Comic by War and Peas. Panel 1: A melting iceberg complains, "It is so hot! This damn climate change!" Another iceberg listens in the background. Panel 2: The second iceberg, "My great-grandfather was doing something about climate change before it was en vogue." Panel 3: The first iceberg looks puzzled and asks, "Your great-grandfather?" Panel 4: Flashback to a historical scene: a mustached iceberg watches as the Titanic sails toward it under a moonlit sky. The iceberg smugly replies, "Yeees, yeees."

We never set out to create something profound. Honestly, we just wanted to draw comics that made us laugh during our own late-night anxiety spirals about the state of the planet. Somehow those drawings about Timmy the terrified teenage praying mantis and aliens who can’t decide if they want to take over the planet or not, are now bound together in actual book form.

4-Panel Comic by War and Peas. Panel 1: A UFO hovers in the night sky, beaming up a man named Jerry with a bright yellow tractor beam. Panel 2: Two people watch the abduction. One exclaims, "They're abducting Jerry!" Panel 3: As the UFO flies away, the two people remain unbothered. One says, "Thank God! I never liked him." The other replies, "Yeah, me neither." Panel 4: Onboard the alien spaceship, Jerry is seated on a throne, surrounded by decorations, gifts, and an alien celebration. An alien reassures him, "They didn't deserve you, Jerry."

In these strange times, we’ve found that laughing at colorful pictures about the apocalypse helps us cope better than spiraling into despair. We hope maybe it might do the same for you. Sometimes sharing a nervous laugh about the things that terrify us can make them feel a little more manageable.

We’re endlessly grateful to the infamous publishing house Andrews McMeel for taking a chance on our odd little collection.

4-Panel Comic by War and Peas. Panel 1: A news reporter, standing in a floating transparent water pod, says, "Since becoming a water planet, things have been difficult." Panel 2: The reporter continues, "We’ve adapted by using water pods as a mode of transport." In the background, people are seen moving around inside similar floating pods. Panel 3: Two people inside separate pods try to kiss, but their pods squish against each other with a squeak sound. Panel 4: The reporter, maintaining a serious expression, states, "It has made reproduction quite difficult," while in the background, the couple struggles with their pods.

If you pick up “Hi, Earth,” we hope it gives you a quiet chuckle, or if we’re really lucky, a full-on snort-laugh that makes the people around you uncomfortable. That’s really all we were aiming for.

Get it via Amazon, Barnes & Noble or BAM. Or order it through your local bookstore!

With humble appreciation,
Elizabeth and Jonathan

By |

Illustration of a cool, anthropomorphic book with muscular arms, wearing sunglasses and fishnet tights, flexing its biceps in front of a blurred bookstore background. The bold, hand-drawn text reads: 'Preordering Books Matters,' emphasizing the importance of preordering books to support authors and retailers.

Imagine a world where books you love magically appear in abundance, where your favorite authors are given the green light to write more, and where indie bookstores stay alive and well. That world exists – it just requires a little thing called preordering.

Here’s why that’s a great idea:

1. Shelf it up

When you preorder a book, you’re doing more than just guaranteeing that a fresh copy will land in your eager hands within a couple of days of its release. You are also whispering – no, shouting – into the capitalist void: Hey, we care about this book. Stock this book. Give this book a fighting chance.

Retailers respond to numbers. If a book gets a lot of preorders, bookstores order more copies, ensuring it doesn’t vegetate away in a dark warehouse next to unsold Ayurveda diet guides. If preorders are bad, that book might be DOA before it even gets a chance to charm (or traumatize) readers.

2. Signal to the Publisher

Strong pre-order sales send a signal to the publisher that the book might be thriving and not being avalanched by self-published werewolf romances. The publishing house can now increase the marketing budget and adjust the print run to meet the demands.

3. The self-fulfilling prophecy of lists

Let’s talk about bestseller lists. They don’t just add up what’s sold after release – it’s mostly about preorders. A book with strong preorder numbers can land on Amazon’s “Best in Category XYZ” lists or even make its way onto those prestigious bestseller lists that determine what gets splashed across airport newsstands. In short: preordering isn’t just buying a book – it’s voting for it.

Witch reading a book

Try it out now

Does that all sound like exactly the world you want to live in? Then we have a recommendation that you can pre-order right now: Our new book HI, EARTH comes out on April 1 (no joke but still a lot of jokes) and we love every single page of it.

It contains our best comics about our favorite planet and its inhabitants.

Get it via Amazon, Barnes & Noble or BAM.

Promotional image for the book 'Hi, Earth' by Elizabeth Pich and Jonathan Kunz (War and Peas). The book cover features a cartoon Earth with large, worried eyes, sitting on a wooden chair while surrounded by flames, wearing a fedora. The title is in bold, blocky letters. To the right, a quote describes the book as 'bittersweet but lighthearted,' roasting human folly while appreciating the planet. The text at the bottom announces the release date: 'Available April 1st. Wherever books are sold!'

Something Else

We get it: clicking preorder on a big retailer’s website is easy and requires no human interaction. But if you want to be a true literary champion, preorder from your local bookstore. It keeps them thriving, fosters community, and lets you pick up your book in an actual store, where you can also impulsively buy a tote bag you definitely need.

Find your local bookstore: