Oh right, before Meryl-as-a-car disappears completely. Yeah I thought tits on a car was funny, but more broadly I was speaking to the kind of identity you take on when you're a "car person" in Brooklyn.
I don't wanna overplay Mar's naivete, she was obviously very willing to be a part of this group, and that's a nice bit of growth within their relationship. But it's definitely a moment of realization from Mar when Jane shows her contempt. I think a single panel for the hug at the end would've sufficed - it might've even given it the spontaneity I was going for but didn't really achieve.
I did have a vague idea for a (minicomic?) story about Jane's history with Meryl and Clarity. It would've been a big dumb exploitation spy/espionage story, very different from OP in general. I never quite worked it out the way I wanted, and I'm sorry.
8 thoughts on “#886 – liability coverage”
Izzy
Re: Jane/Clarity/Meryl spy story, I, for one, really wanna read that story.
jack
Replying to add that, I would also LOVE to see this story.
There's a page or two near the end where Eve and Will trade "stories" which sounded a little bit like possible alternative OP chapters, and while I totally understand letting OP rest as a "finished" work, I love that Meredith's world-building is so rich that we can still imagine a thousand possible bonus side-stories for every character.
Mike
It's funny to see the things you think are wrong, like the hug being two panels – I've always remembered this moment, and specifically how their hug lingers and grows more intimate as the world goes on unnoticed around them. I think it's a wonderful moment and you executed it amazingly.
C E
I loved the double panels of hug! It made it unambiguous that they were taking time to just…rest. And it's so important to how Jane and Mar know each other, that element of turning inward and being at rest and at peace even when at a party, that gets really cemented. There's an element of adhesion to this – this really felt like the moment when it they were "stuck" together. It's not a single action, ripe for interruption, but a span of time for just the two of them.
Kae
It's a forgiveness hug! It needs two panels. It's not just "Everything's cool, whatever." There's a second feeling that is so familiar to me after a tense conflict. There's the initial "yeah I guess I still like you, asshole" that turns into "Oh hell I've been a dumbass too, I'm so sorry."
Jay
I never until now noticed Meryl holding up the oil can, and god does that make me laugh more than it really has a reason to
TRA
I Just thought I'd mention this-
I don't mind that I didn't see the Jane + Meryl + Clarity mini-comic.
I like this chapter just the way it is.
😀
Leah CL
Not only do I like the two-panel hug – I have always loved the tiny subtle note that all the background people are neutral in the first panel, smiling in the second. :')