Supporting the National Year of Reading 2026
A Q&A with James Lancett!
In your own words, what is Galaxy Runners about?
Galaxy Runners is about twins Kas and Fig, who run a space delivery service alongside their volcanic security expert Mags and their wildly reckless robot co-pilot, Skipper! When a package they are transporting turns out to contain an adorable alien called Jello, everything changes. Because Jello’s poop happens to be the most valuable substance in the universe: light-speed fuel. Everyone wants to get their hands on Jello, especially the greedy super corporation Warp Co. and the Galaxy Runners quickly find themselves in the middle of an intergalactic chase that could change the universe forever.
The universe you’ve created is packed with brilliant ingredients: a plucky delivery business, a greedy mega-corp in Warp Co., a risk-taking robot co-pilot and a “volcanic” security expert. Where did the world come from, and how did it take shape?
I am a big kid inside and I basically poured everything into the story that I would have thought was awesome as 8-year-old (and still do now). I was inspired by all of the cartoons and video games I loved as a kid and all the movies I love as a big beardy kid. The world of Galaxy Runners came from all those influences that have been percolating away in me for years. When it came to writing the book I just let myself be led by what I thought was funny, exciting and cool. The result was a sci-fi story with lots of spaceships, robots, adorable aliens, cool baddies, a crew that is constantly making jokes, heartfelt moments and lots of action.
Kas, Fig, Skipper and Mags each have such distinct personalities. Did any of them surprise you as you wrote and drew them, or end up somewhere you didn’t expect?
In animation we plan everything before we start. I took the same approach with Galaxy Runners and made a detailed outline of the whole story before I started writing the actual chapters. I thought I knew exactly where the characters were going but as the story developed they all surprised me in some way… Kas’ struggles with what it means to be a captain, Fig’s affection for Jello, Mag’s super sarcasm and Skipper’s taste for dad jokes!
How did Jello come to be, and what was the trick to designing a character who can become almost anything?
My main goal when designing Jello was to make him as adorable as possible. In the story he causes a lot of trouble for Kas and the crew, he needed to be super-cute so they didn’t flush him out of the airlock! I really wanted to make him feel really gooey and squishy, so I tried out a lot of different ways of drawing him to find a design that felt just right. He is so much fun to illustrate as you can squash and stretch him as much as you want to find a shape that adds that extra layer of comedy to the scene.
This book blends highly illustrated text with comic-strip panels. How did you decide when a moment should be told in prose and when it should burst into comic panels, and did your animation background shape how you think about pacing and action on the page?
I wrote the whole book as prose first and worked with the editor to refine the narrative. Once we were happy with the full text I then went through and picked parts that I thought would work as comics. Sometimes these were moments of action, or suspense and sometimes they were emotional moments where I thought a comic could enhance the drama of scene. I always knew I wanted to start the book with a comic as a kind of cold open to the story where we join the characters mid action, but beyond that I just picked parts that felt like a comic would plus the story. My experience working as a story-boarder on animated shows really helped with telling these moments in a visual way. I always tried to make the action as clear as possible yet still dynamic. I used lots of framing and compositional techniques used in animation and film to give the comics a cinematic feel.
Tell us about your process. Does the writing come first, the drawing first, or do they happen together?
Hmm. At first it was a bit of writing and a bit of drawing. To start I wrote a synopsis and character descriptions for the main crew. I find it a really helpful way of getting to know the characters and how they relate to one another. I also designed the characters at this stage as it helped the crew feel more real to me. I then outlined and wrote the book without doing any more drawings until we had finished the second and final pass of the text. While I was writing the text I was imagining the story playing out in my head and I was mentally highlighting bits that I thought would make cool illustrations. This made roughing out the artwork for the book a very enjoyable and speedy process as I had already done a lot of the thinking.
How did writing a book compare to your work in illustration and animation? What was the biggest surprise, and the hardest part?
The biggest surprise was how long and how much work it took to make the comic sections. When storyboarding on a show you always know that as long as a panel is clear and tells the story then it doesn’t really matter how nice the drawing is. It will be turned in beautiful final animation down the line anyway. That was not the case when making the comics for Galaxy Runners! I wanted every frame of the comic to look like a full illustration and there was no team of animators to make it look gorgeous! As such, I had to work a lot of long hours to get the comics ready for the deadline. Luckily it was all worth it when I saw the book in print :)
What was your favourite part of making Galaxy Runners?
Ooo it’s hard to pick, I’ve enjoyed it all! I know this may sound crazy but my favourite part was probably writing the first draft of the manuscript. I am dyslexic and I really struggled with reading and writing when I was younger (and still do). I never thought I would write a book, so reaching the end of that first draft and being proud of what I had written felt absolutely epic!
The story is full of perilous escapes and quick space-bucks, but at its heart it’s about siblings and a found family looking out for one another and for Jello. Is there a theme or feeling you most want to land with readers?
Mostly I want readers to have a blast! I want them to feel like they have been on an awesome adventure with characters that have made them laugh, squeal and feel! Kas is the hero of the book, but she makes mistakes and owns up to them as part of the story. She fails and with the help of her crew she picks herself up and they make things right in the end. They forge their own path and do things in their own chaotic way. If that speaks to even one reader then that’s amazing.
It’s a fast, funny adventure for readers aged 7 and up. What do you hope kids take away when they finish it, and is there anything you’re especially excited for them to discover?
I think I am most excited for kids to discover Hunter. He is a super-powered teenager with awesome space armour sent by the greed Warp Co. to chase down the Galaxy Runners and steal back Jello. He has a cool spaceship, crazy dark powers and he just looks awesome! He has some really cool moments throughout the story but his big reveal during the climax of the book is so much fun.
For the budding illustrators, animators and storytellers reading this: any advice for making your own characters and worlds?
I think my biggest advice for any budding storyteller would be to find their fun in their own creation. If you as the creator think the world you are creating is awesome, and if you love your characters then that will shine through to the reader. It can take a long time to tell a story, develop characters and build a world. You need to be the energy that drives it forward and that’s a lot easier when you enjoy what you’re creating. This way, any inevitable hurdles and roadblocks that come up along the creative path can be seen as puzzles to solve rather than dead ends.
You are currently working on Book 2. Is there a story teaser you are allowed to share?
Oooo, let’s just say when the Galaxy Runners enter the super dangerous Rift at the edge of the galaxy they learn what it means to be a crew when you are very far from home!
Galaxy Runners: Jello Breaks the Universe
Join the Galaxy Runners on a funny, action-packed adventure across the universe in this exciting black-and-white highly illustrated debut from illustrator and animator, James Lancett!
Twins Kas and Fig run their plucky business with the help of Skipper, their risk-taking robot co-pilot, and Mags, their volcanic hired security. One day, the crew agree to transport a mysterious parcel. They soon discover it contains Jello – an adorable, gooey alien being … with unexpected, universe-breaking powers! Now they’re carrying the most wanted lifeform in the galaxy – and the clock is ticking.
