11-03-26 | Greetings my friends. Glad to see you could make the party! We’re here today to celebrate the 100th episode of The Pip & Jane Adventures! It seems like only yesterday when I switched gears and abandoned serialized comics for comic strips. So where do Pip & Jane come from? How did it all start?
Pip & Jane were actually born way back in 2019, when I was still focussing on publishing physical comic books. Even before publishing my first sci-fi compilation in 2020 I realised I had to diversify in order to make my plucky little publishing house a success. Little did I now that the Covid pandemic would squash my ambitions to a pulp, but that is another story for another day.
Early on I tried to pitch booklets of papercraft toys bundled with a mini-comic. Every package would include loads of cut-out characters, plus a few houses and objects to play around with. Castles in the case of a fantasy themed package. Space stations in the case of a sci-fi themed package. The only aspect that would connect these bundles were the two main characters: Pip & Jane.
Pip & Jane were depicted as two kids who find themselves caught up with different genres and time periods in each mini-comic. They could be superheroes, cowboys or monster hunters. As long as it made for a good story and papercraft set. Their names go back even further. I’ve been using them since 2016 for quite a few unrealised projects starring comedic duos.
Let’s talk about Doctor Who. Most of you will have heard of this seminal British science fiction series about a quirky time traveller. If you’re a fan of the classic series you’re bound to be familiar with writers Pip & Jane Baker. They wrote two serials starring the sixth Doctor Who, Colin Baker, and the debut of the seventh, Sylvester McCoy. Hardly the most popular serials, by the way. But I like them.
Pip & Jane were never intended to be a tribute to, well … Pip & Jane. I simply borrowed their names because they have such a nice ring to them. Seeing their names appear on screen makes me happy. There is a musicality of their names which I admire. Pip & Jane Baker! Ahhh! That is how their names came to be featured in my unrealised audio plays, my unproduced papercraft series and finally: comics.
When I launched Peter Pan Comics in 2023 I had high hopes for the serialized adventure comics I was experimenting with. And although I’m very happy with yarns like Cosplay Girl and Bolt-Man & Volt-Girl, I have to be honest with myself and admit most of them didn’t really work. The one exception was The Exterminator, the humorous fowl mouthed intergalactic bug-hunter Saxma. A really fun series.
Despite working on the website two full days a week I still lacked the time to add some finesse to the serials, so I felt forced to switch gears. Why not produce shorter serials and add more humour to them, following Exterminator’s lead? Tried it. Didn’t work. Perhaps switch to stand alone comic strips? They were pretty popular on social media. Hardly my passion, but it might do the trick.
But if I was to switch to gag strips I wasn’t going to abandon my passion for genre entertainment entirely. That passion is why I started Peter Pan Comics in the first place. And so the gag strip would have to be a spoof of my favourite genres, most notably horror, sci-fi and fantasy. The concept reminded me of the failed toy project from 2016. It was time to dust off old Pip & Jane.
But who would illustrate the series? For me, there was only one candidate. Ticiana Luna had already drawn Cosplay Girl for me and helped out when the Bolt-Man artists were no longer available. She works fast, is easy to talk to and above all has a dynamic style which always puts a smile on my face. She puts the finishing touches on my script even when I didn’t realise they needed it. A great artist.
We started out with a couple of monster comics, western stories and sci fi spoofs. Soon after we were producing satires of fantasy literature, spy movies, superheroes and many more. Every now and again I miss the mark and deliver a strip that isn’t remotely funny but the week after that we hit the jackpot. Just the way I like it. Pip & Jane are a great ongoing experiment, with no end in sight.
Ticiana and me have recently worked together on our first videogame, The Secret of Dragonwelt, which I urge you all to play. And once again I find myself tempted to switch lanes and focus on gaming instead of comics. One thing I know for sure is that it will take a lot for me to abandon Pip & Jane. Creating the first 100 instalments was such a joy that I hope we reach the 200th episode soon!
I might even experiment with longer and/or more socially critical Pip & Jane adventures. Time will tell. I’d like to thank Pip & Jane for bringing so much joy to my life. A big thanks to Pip & Jane Baker, who are no longer with us. An even bigger thanks to Ticiana Luna, for being such a great collaborator. But the biggest thanks is for you! Without your support Pip & Jane would have been long gone.
Here’s to a hundred more Pip & Jane stories! Or five hundred! Nay, a thousand!
