Kellie and Pete: Pete Duffield's Comics About Everyday Love

Warm nights

Shown near the top of the page: on a hot night, with Kellie heavily pregnant, cuddling is out of the question. Her compromise is to lie side by side holding hands like a very old married couple, and anyone who has shared a bed in a heatwave will recognise the scene.

When Kellie wants attention

Pete has rolled over to go to sleep, but Kellie is not finished: she wraps herself around him from behind and announces “Ka-pow!” with a crude joke. His weary sideways look says this is not the first time.

Too tired for bed

Both of them slumped on the sofa, scrolling their phones, agreeing they are far too tired to start getting ready for bed. It is the paradox every exhausted parent knows: too worn out to do the one thing that would fix it.

Spooning technique No. 73: the Octopus

Pete draws himself with tentacles wrapped around a sleeping, faintly smiling Kellie. The numbered “spooning technique” comics became a running series, each one a new and slightly ridiculous way to cuddle.

The massage

Kneeling over Pete with a bottle of oil, Kellie puts on a gruff voice, “My name’s Roger…”, and does a rude impression of a man climaxing as she squirts it on his back. Pete just lies there with his eyes closed.

Sleeping in odd positions

Kellie looks across in disbelief as Pete sleeps with his limbs folded at impossible angles, and she tells him he looks like the victim of a car crash. A gentle joke about how unflattering we all are when we sleep.

Sleeping arrangements with Poppy

Around two in the morning, Poppy climbs into her parents’ bed and settles sideways across it, feet planted on her dad. Many families who co-sleep with a toddler will know exactly how little of the mattress is left for the adults.

Spooning technique No. 27: the Bear Grab

Pete clamps his arms around Kellie and explains the name: if he wanted to, he could crush her. She looks unimpressed. The joke works because he is so clearly not the menacing type.

Undressing seductively

Pete attempts a slow, sultry striptease down to his pants, and Kellie, unmoved, asks why it always comes out so feminine. A joke about how hard it is to look sexy on purpose.

Out of the bath

Fresh from the bath and lounging in a loosely tied dressing gown, Pete has no idea how much he is showing until Kellie asks why it looks like it has melted. The punchline is his total obliviousness.

Kitchen dancing

Mid-conversation, the two of them break into a silent dance in the kitchen, no music required. Plenty of couples will recognise their own private version.

The old dog face

Pete talks through weekend plans, a visit to his mum’s and the electricity bill, while Kellie stares at him with her teeth and gums bared, waiting for him to notice. The couple call it “the old dog face”.

A hole in the pants

Pete stands in a pair of worn-out pants, unaware of the hole that has left him exposed, while Kellie flatly tells him to get some new ones. The drawing is blunt, and that is the whole joke.

Caught flexing

After a workout, Pete admires himself in the mirror, not realising Kellie can see him from the garden. Her reaction is drawn as a pointing finger and a big “LOL”.

Grapes and orange juice

Whenever one of them is ill, the other turns up with grapes and fresh orange juice, as if they cure everything. It is a very British ritual, and the drawing captures the comfort of being looked after more than any medical effect.

The diet starts Monday

Pete with chocolate ice cream, Kellie with a bag of salt and vinegar crisps, both agreeing the diet definitely starts on Monday. As the caption admits, Monday never quite arrives.

The eyebrow hair

Over coffee, Kellie spots a single thick white hair sprouting from Pete’s eyebrow, which he labels a five-inch alien hair. Small signs of getting older are a recurring and affectionate theme.

Home alone

With Kellie and Poppy away at Nanny’s for the week, Pete sits alone on the sofa singing “All by Myself”, the song made famous by Celine Dion’s 1996 cover of Eric Carmen’s original. The empty house feels less like freedom than he expected.

Helping through a hard time

Kellie, clearly upset, says she wishes she could curl up into a ball and climb inside him, and Pete simply holds her and tells her he has got her. It is one of the few comics in the series with no punchline at all.

Insecurity

The two of them take turns asking “Do you love me?” and answering with evidence: would he buy flowers, would she wash his clothes, if they didn’t? Pete has described them both as insecure, and the comic turns that into a running, loving argument.

My favourite person

Pete, in glasses, hugs Kellie and tells her she is his favourite person, while her expression says she knows exactly how silly he can be. The original caption calls her a silly bum, with obvious affection.

Goodbye, Betty

The family were in a serious car crash. Their Honda Civic, nicknamed Betty, was written off, but nobody was hurt. In the comic the battered car says a brave goodbye as Pete and Kellie, holding Poppy, wave her off.

Time for tea

Most evenings when Pete gets home from work, Poppy wants a pretend tea party. The comic shows him perched on a tiny chair, solemnly sipping from a toy cup while she pours.

You’re an incredible Mum

A simple tribute: Pete hugging a tired but smiling Kellie under the words “You’re an incredible Mum”. In his caption he praises how much of every day she gives to making Poppy happy.

Look at her face

Pete leans over baby Poppy, begging Kellie to come and look at her face. Kellie, who has been with the baby all day, replies from the sofa that she has seen it. The comic is a neat, funny picture of how differently parents can experience the same day.

Waking Mummy up

Every morning, Pete carries Poppy into the bedroom with a big “Where’s Mummy? There she is!” Kellie’s face suggests she would have liked ten more minutes.