Hey,

you found this page, so you probably know us already. Elizabeth and Jonathan here, the duo behind War and Peas. Our mission for over ten years has been to make comics that make people laugh.

A Trip Down Memory Lane

Our journey started at a small art school when we met and discovered that working together gave us the unique feeling of being understood. First, we created small editions of comic magazines, which we stapled during all-nighters in our damp comic dungeon. We set out to sell at art fairs and self-organized release parties. We traveled across Europe under strenuous conditions just to sell a few issues, slowly realizing that we would not be able to make much money doing this. The indie comic scene was small and struggling and we had a hard time finding our place.

Nevertheless, there was a strange drive to keep going. If one of us was feeling down, the other would spark that flame again and so we carried on the funny fire.

Art vs. Money

At one point, we started garnering some internet fandom. Since we started out early, we are proud to say we were part of the Golden Era of Webcomics. The artists who suddenly got a lot of attention and reached an audience of millions every day with their silly stories. It was exhilarating and we decided to try to make a living out of our craft.

Time dredged on… we witnessed great a many social media platform come and go. Facebook slowly became less important. Instagram rose from a niche photo app to the most important platform of the internet. And Twitter, well, that’s being blown to smithereens as we speak. And somehow we always thought that it would have to pay off at some point. That miraculously the CEOs of these companies would show up at our door in appreciation that without us creators their platform would be irrelevant.

Sadly, that’s not what happened. Artists were asked to pay to promote their posts so that followers could actually see them. Then, you had to pay monthly for verification badges to get a minimum of technical support. And it doesn’t stop there: Algorithms are being manipulated to favor video content, as its easier to sell to advertisers, making it even harder for non-video artists like ourselves to get our comics out there. Those who have brought people to these platforms and delighted them for years are cast aside and have to fight for their financial survival.

All this has often put doubt in our minds, but we have always carried the fire and will continue to do so.

First Things First

This is where Patreon comes into play. Patreon has a subscription-based model, meaning we gain a reliable income and are protected from the whim of social media platforms. It allows us to fulfil our mission: making comics that make people laugh – just as we always have. Patreon allows us to do this, and that’s why its our first-priority platform. If you choose to join us, you’ll be delighted to find all sorts of extra content. Whether it’s early and exclusive comics, downloadable art, peeks into our sketchbook or videos about how our day is going. And we follow a Patreon-first approach, so if there’s something exciting going on in War and Peas World, you hear it here first!

Thank you so much.

Forever yours,

Elizabeth and Jonathan