Valerie's color work here is such a blast, it really gives the thing its silence and rhythm and temperature. It was one last attempt at something I'd never really seen (or enjoyed) in comics, and I think we both gave it our all.
It put tears in my eyes to revisit this, a sequence I've mostly avoided looking at since the series wrapped. It's just too direct an acknowledgment of the story, too sincere for its own good... and it's a song to boot. Agh! So it's just hard for me to look at this. But when I did, it made me cry, how about that.
As to the song choice, it's self-explanatory I think? The song slaps, the mood is eternal. Last year I went with my husband to see Cher on 4/20. It was a truly thoughtful gift from him, a throwback to the sort of fun we used to have before we left New York, before Arlene's stopped doing live band karaoke, before all the venues shut down. And it all lives in me - I can still hear it and smell it and feel it - and love continues to reproduce itself. I didn't know, but now I do. Thank you for reading.
15 thoughts on “1008-1011 – to be loved”
Olivia
I have never felt more in sync with a piece of fiction in my entire life than I have with Octopus Pie, and when this arc was coming out it had me reflecting on my own friendships and journey with loneliness imperceptibly morphing into self love and community.
ALSO: Believe has been my go-to karaoke song ever since I read this page, and I fucking kill it every time so thank you for that too
Matt
Is it just a coincidence that the Karaoke songs people sing at this party are the same songs they sang in a mash-up in the great Netflix movie Eurovision: The Story of Fire-Saga? Is it? IS IT REALLY, THOUGH???
Becky
I too cried reading this. Thanks Mer.
Parker
love this page and love the detail in the panel where she kinda flaps the jacket off
kim
These pages really connect unlike anything I've experienced with comics before. Y'all did an incredible job and I'm glad these can also bring tears to you as well. Thank you <3
David
Jackie’s little blush ? aw, she DOES have a fuck to give! I was a tiny bit embarrassed tearing up over this page too and this song, but then everything leading up to it snapped me right out of that – so great to have art that takes you out of self-limiting patterns. Not to mention, just an absolutely beautiful page.
lomo
CHILLS, every time. gosh.
Meow
I know what I'm blasting in the car this morning!
Jay R
I'm just such a fan of the panel that kicks off the chorus. I really feel the motion, like the camera was on a crane and just pulled way up suddenly on "be-LIEVE". I have come back to this page over and over again – I've never seen music so well-represented on the page. With respect to Scott Pilgrim…this is next-level.
matthew
cant even say how much this page means to me
cjmaloof
Eve's speech is so sweet and perfect. It puts words to how I feel now about all my friends from my late teens and early twenties.
"Some of you loved me before I even knew it, before I could even be convinced.
Now I know."
It's not too much, it's perfect, and I can't imagine a more beautiful way for the comic to go out than it does, pouring out the love in these last two chapters.
Valerie Halla
"believe" is one of those songs i had heard incidentally in a lot of wal-marts yet never had a moment to intentionally listen to, but i had it on loop as i was coloring this sequence. you know, the tinge of embarrassment that comes with being a little too earnest is something i treasure dearly. as i've learned to embrace it, it's formed the bedrock of my fondest memories. so, y'know, i was vibing as heck with this sequence, and hopefully it came through in the colors. i can't "believe" it took me so long to realize i could just shade eve's hair!!!
Scott
The delay trail fade in is so unbelievably hype
Kyle H.
We love you, Meredith! <3
You know, in an appropriate audience/artist context.
But yeah! You're the best! Val is the best, too!
Brian
Man, this page… I started reading Octopus Pie right out of college, in 2009. I lived my 20s with it, and it's always been a treasured part of my life – something that's helped me process my experience in so many ways – but this hits so much harder now at 34. I'm hesitant to put any more words down about it because they'll just feel embarrassing compared to how effortlessly and earnestly this page reflects on, well, life. So much of my 20s were spent the same way – bouncing from concert to concert, making friendships I had no idea would turn into the pillars of my life.
And now that we've all "grown up"… a reminder of such a wonderful time. Really, all I can say is – thank you, Meredith.