#856 – plastic palm tree

28 thoughts on “#856 – plastic palm tree

  1. omg, Eve, what are you doing. She goes.

    Man, Jane and Mar are so… relatable. They are chill, but also worried, and I really like the occasional lack of words. They feel natural to see and read.

    And the colors, of course, are beautiful as always. Man! I WISH I COULD BUY THIS COMIC, I WOULD OWN LIKE, 700 COPIES

  2. Some beautiful colouring in this strip.

    Looks like some deep thoughts going on in that last panel.

    1. Val keeps doing a great job with the colours. It was a good day when she started working on OP ^^

  3. This strip alone captures the essence of OP. One of my favorites.

    1. In all seriousness, what is that essence to you?

      1. Not the OP, but at a guess: breathtakingly complex emotions expressed in a single expression or a handful of words, punctuated by hilarious wackiness going completely unremarked.

  4. Zoom forward 20 years where Jane and Marigold both have LUNG CANCER!? Smoking is the real killer, not emotionally intense relationships.

  5. I love these strips with no dialogue. You're just watching the characters feel feelings and are left to wonder what they're thinking.

  6. Someone said this before but when did Eve become Hanna and Hanna become Eve?

  7. Marigold taking a smoke. That's a big deal, right? Didn't she say she was quitting a little while ago? (I've recently just binged the archive).

    1. Yeah, she was trying to… Whether Jane remembers that or not, I don't know. Mar is being pulled away from her path but then again that may not necessarily be a bad thing.

      1. it's bad for her lungs at the very least, but I don't think that's on her mind right now

  8. Forget Hanna, forget Will, Marigold has returned to her OTP, with Philip Morris.

    Context: http://www.octopuspie.com/2015-02-17/752-753-that

  9. I love Eve's casual athleticism

  10. How Camus-like.

  11. Eve is zen in this one.
    I love everything about this comic.

  12. Plastic palm tree.

    God, Meredith… you say so much with your art. It never ceases to amaze me how densely layered with meaning this comic gets.

    Thank you for doing what you do and for doing it so damn well.

  13. Uggghhhh I'm not sure how to interpret Marigold smoking again, and it makes me anxious.

    On one hand, it could be that she's going back to her old self. Jane is a hindrance to the progression in her life, and encouraging old habits that Marigold wanted to leave behind. Soon her old insecurities about herself and relationships will rise.

    But it could mean that she's finally content. She no longer feels a need to "better" herself or "grow up." She's happy with where she's at, and now she can start enjoying life again.

    Sigh. I dunno. ;__;

    1. Aw, I don't see this as some kind of self-destructive backsliding. I think Marigold's just having a cigarette after a tough conversation. I kind of like this bc I'm pretty sure the last time we saw her smoking was after her horrendous post-breakup hook up with Will. Back then she was standing out in the street, miserable and drunk and hating her life, and now she's in a totally different place.

  14. To me- Eve swinging on the sports bars is the cutest thing in the world.

    😀

  15. i love eve so much :')

  16. exuberantspaghetti

    I am mesmerized by the grace and love, expressed entirely through gesture, of Mar offering Jane the last cigarette, Jane understanding the question from 20 yds. away, her "go ahead, please!" wave, and Eve's ambient gymnastics in the background, reminiscent of her love fairy form as well as her good/bad spirits (angels?).

    Such a light touch. And such a powerful visceral reaction.

  17. Down in front of Casey's old brown wooden stoop
    On a summer's evening we formed a merry group
    Boys and girls together we would sing and waltz
    While Jay played the organ on the sidewalks of New York

    East Side, West Side, all around the town
    The tots sang "ring-a-rosie," "London Bridge is falling down"
    Boys and girls together, me and Mamie O'Rourke
    Tripped the light fantastic on the sidewalks of New York

    That's where Johnny Casey, little Jimmy Crowe
    Jakey Krause, the baker, who always had the dough
    Pretty Nellie Shannon with a dude as light as cork
    She first picked up the waltz step on the sidewalks of New York

    Things have changed since those times, some are up in "G"
    Others they are wand'rers but they all feel just like me
    They'd part with all they've got, could they once more walk
    With their best girl and have a twirl on the sidewalks of New York

  18. Wow, simply great.
    And, Meredith, you're even improving constantly.
    So simple, so clever, so cynical, so moving.
    Thank you for giving me first class enjoyment for years. For free!

    From Italy (Sardinia) with love.
    Best wishes for the wedding and everything else. Sorry for bad english.

  19. Those last two panels look the beginning of a Film Noir: Marigold arc and I love the idea of that.

  20. Actually trudging up my old IntenseDebate account for this but I had to post just how absolutely floored I am by your page layouts. I'm in the middle of making a comic and you've been an incredible inspiration for how to show emotional beats through atypical panel placement.

    God damn I love it.

  21. Wooo, lookit Eve go! She's so adorable! ?

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