#997 – the dreamers

I'll be exhibiting at MoCCA Fest in NYC on April 1-2! I'll have all 4 OP Image volumes plus some minis and B9 Kingdom books! As always you can bring stuff you'd like me to sign. Hope to see you there!

68 thoughts on “#997 – the dreamers

  1. this is a hell of a come down from watching paul ryan get trashed, man

  2. NO! Marek NO! Oh my god, my heart.

  3. in a social way and a character way, i really, really, really like that Julie's response to Jackie transitioning was just "well guess i like a girl, then"

    1. I found it a little sad, personally :c Just how long is Julie going to keep pining for Jackie?

      1. it is sad, yeah, but given that the whole gag of her character is mooning over J, this is a cute route for that joke to go.

        1. Yeah, that's true. But once you're done laughing at the joke, it's kinda sad.

    2. Wait someone transitioned?

      I feel like I missed a massive storyline on accident somehow, I remember there was a third co-worker at Ollie's but the last time I remember seeing them was at that one party where Eve drunkenly said Jane was a lesbian

      Ah geez when was that strip, how long has it been? This comic is LONG, man.

      1. it's only hinted at, but Jackie, the girl in this band, has the same facial features and attitude as Jacob, Eve's former coworker who vanished to "figure some things out."
        One of my favorite things about OctoPie is all the off-screen story; stuff just happens, whether you're there to see it or not.

    3. Actually, Julie implied that she liked girls much earlier than that. http://www.octopuspie.com/2008-09-22/198-love-com

      1. Yup! And this one about Jane: http://www.octopuspie.com/2011-03-02/446-with-gre

        1. That page >_< To think that Julie had the chance to be with Jane and she opted for Jacob. Geez.

    4. Julie and Jane had a little thing going on when they all first met and were vacationing in the mountains. It seemed to me that Julie realized she could have something with Jane if she weren't so obsessed with Jacob.

  4. oh man, oh man oh man ohmanohmanohman

  5. I audibly gasped… oh Marek! Oh Hanna… guhhhh

    1. Yeah. My heart seized up at those last 3 panels. Oh, Hanna honey…. :<

    2. my heart skipped a beat when I saw it… augh, the level of empathy…!

  6. In my mind both of my hands are on the backs of Hanna's shoulders and I'm pushing her towards Marek.

    1. In my mind, I'm the reason why she's not in the last panel.

      I had been doing the exact same, took a second look at panel 7, noticed he's holding someone's hand, and IMMEDIATELY grabbed her shoulders and veered her away from them.

  7. Took me a moment to recognize Julie, but I really dig that she is still into Jackie, even after a thousand no's. Big smiles there.

  8. No matter how clean the break-up, panel 7 always stings.

  9. SO MANY UPS AND DOWNS THIS COMIC!

  10. I hate this.

    🙁

  11. Ilovejesus69@myspace

    It kind of went over my head that Jackie wasn't just a new character until I read the comments

  12. maaaaannnnn at first I didn't even notice that Marek was holding someone's hand coming in. Then I read the comments, went back and looked and my stomach sunk.

    So much has been going well and I've been waiting for the other shoe to drop. Not how I expected it would. Valerie's a better person than me. If Meredith handed me this page to color I'da said NOPE, make everything happy and great, then we'll talk.

    Such an awesome comic.

  13. If that's Marek's new girlfriend she can FUCK OFF.

    1. Lmao …maybe she's nice!!!

  14. oh, it's marek! didn't recognise him with eyes.

  15. Marek, there are better times to spring your new girlfriend on your old girlfriend. For srs.

    1. It could be one of those situations where he's been dating this girl for long enough that it would be weirder to ask her to stay home than it would to just bring her along.

      1. I dunno, I feel like if he hasn't introduced her around yet, being like "hey, I really enjoy you but the whole old friend circle thing is complicated because of my ex and I don't want to spring you on her at a party she put together" isn't unreasonable.

        1. I think it also calls for a different headspace, though. Clearly, Marek has moved on, and although it might sound harsh, he's no longer responsible for his ex's feelings. I think he knows it might be a bit awkward, but I think he's thinking in his head that Hanna is on the same page as him.

          It's a weird position. I feel for Hanna, because I've just gotten out of a relationship and if I saw my ex holding hands with a different girl, I'd Nope the Freak out of there just like Hanna would, but I also wouldn't blame him because if I were his current ladyfriend, I would be a bit miffed that he wanted to leave me behind because he didn't want to hurt his ex's feelings.

          Besides, if my ex didn't bring his girl to a gathering of mutual friends and I found out through word of mouth that (a) he was in a relationship and (b) she was left at home because of ME? It would send me mixed signals, tbh.

        2. And I think that it would be a reasonable response to say, "So you're going to be at a party thrown by the woman you dated for the majority of your adult life, and you guys are totally on good terms now and have no baggage or unresolved issues, but me being there makes it too complicated?"

          Also, in more character-based terms, I think Marek wouldn't even think to exclude his girlfriend–this is the guy who, when he went on the charity-auction date in the pink story, literally could not stop talking about how great Hannah was the whole time.

        3. I guess if you've never had a relationship before you might be confused why feelings can be complicated. XD

          "totally on good terms now and have no baggage or unresolved issues" – this does not seem entirely true.

        4. peakpointmatrix

          Let's not forget Hanna attempted dating too. Had those situations panned out, it would potentially be the reverse situation.

  16. Jacob and Julie end up as lesbians with an otherwise unchanged dynamic… a beautiful resolution. Laughing at how wasted Julie is.

  17. No I can't handle this

  18. Marek noooo…Also, just to clarify: Has anyone SEEN Olly since the fire? We were super quick to yell "INSURANCE" but did he actually make it out?

    1. He took his insurance payout and split.
      http://www.octopuspie.com/2017-02-07/982-jackie-a

  19. OH NO!!!!!!!!!!!!

  20. Wait did I miss the storyline about Jackie?

    1. No storyline–Jacob said he was going to quit and "figure some things out," and then in this story, she comes back as Jackie.

  21. They had a wonderful time, and it ended. Let it

  22. julie is such a goof
    but erm yeah, jane and mar make a better fit
    jane and julie dream RIP

  23. Oh, dang! Are you ready for a socially awkward situation caused by the emotional discomfort of seeing someone you have mutual romantic feelings for, but aren't in a relationship with because of differing life paths? 'Cause it's happenin'!

    1. Yeah…I have that situation in real life. It is not great. My heart and stomach sank when I saw it. Poor Hanna. It is not a good feeling.

  24. This whole page is heartbreaking!

  25. Yeah yeah Marek got a new girl and decided to bring her along after having a friendly meeting with Hannah, but Jesus, Julie! My heart breaks for her… how can anyone fixate that obsessively on someone who has never shown you an iota of reciprocation?

  26. Also the irony of Julie's speech makes the pain about a thousand times worse

  27. Please be a cousin please be a cousin… Also hi Julie

  28. Julie raising her glass and the beer sloshing out. Love that detail.

    This arc is just killing it color-wise as well.

  29. MAREK, NO.
    o-o

  30. I'm kinda flabbergasted at how 'Aaaaaw!' everyone is at Julie's persistence. Guys. She's not taking no for an answer. Dealing with someone else's feelings for you, that you don't return, is not a great feeling, and frankly id sympathise with some really unpleasant reactions from Jackie at this point. Julie has received some really clear messages, and she keeps throwing herself of the rocks of Jackie's disinterest. And Julie will be romanticised and Jackie will be vilified, and Jackie knows it, and it's a shit situation to put someone in. Julie, get a hold of yourself.

    1. Speaking only for myself, I'm not going "aaaawww!" so much as I am cracking up at how ridiculous Julie continues to be (though Jackie seems to be slightly less of an asshole than she used to be, so I'm feeling a little bad that she can't seem to escape Julie no matter what).

      Also, no idea if Julie's admission is causing Jane to facepalm or to breathe a sigh of relief at dodging that particular bullet.

    2. The way it looks to me, this is the first time Jackie and Julie have seen each other possibly since Julie left Olly's! Julie found out she liked girls from her moment with Jane. Now she's meeting Jackie for the first time, and so she's just throwing it out there that girls are okay too.

      And Jackie is like, "oh my GOD what do I have to DO to get AWAY from you".

    3. I'm so so with you. I've also been on the receiving end of someone romanticizing their one-way crush on me. Like, I get that it's been a romcom about us in your head, but really you've been borderline harassing me and I've been trying to be as nice as possible while also firmly saying no, and here you are, making me an actual thing in your life.

      It'd be one thing if we actually dated or hooked up and then I ice you, but if from day one it wasn't mutual, you're just a self-absorbed stalker who won't take no for an answer. It's not all about you. Especially not somebody's transition. Like seriously, seriously? Jackie went through all of that, but now it is just a side-note in Julie's life story? Fuck that shit times a thousand for Jackie. Times a thousand. Way to appropriate someone else's important milestone as a way to make it about you in your own life. Go away, attention-whore.

  31. trapdooralligators

    okay okay, this can go a few ways:
    1) hannah leaves the last panel to avoid marek and his new girlfriend.
    2) hannah leaves the last panel to say hi to marek and meets his new girlfriend.
    or
    3) hannah leaves the last panel to say hi to marek, is back to being his girlfriend, and meets his close sister/friend/exchange student type that she's never had a chance to talk to before.

    (o__o)

    ….this hits a bit too close to home to say it'll be 3, though.

    1. There's also 4) Hannah leaves the last panel to warmly greet Marek and his girlfriend, who she's known for a few weeks now and is really getting to like. Hell, maybe she was the one who set them up! Actually, no to that last part, that would be a little too weird.

  32. nooooooooo Marek. I mean I'm happy for him but nooooo:'(

  33. I apologize in advance, but it came to me and now I am compelled:

    Jackie and Julie,
    Sittin' in a tree,
    P – L – A – T – ON – IC – ALLY

  34. Hanna and I have more in common than names rn and I dont appreciate it

  35. An actual stab in the heart

  36. Weird confession. For a while i had got it into my head that Marigold and Julie were the same person. Because Marigold's first appearance in the series is really small (she appears with a bunch of throwaway characters), they had a similar look in the original black and white, and Julie's role was bigger than Marigold's until she left Olly's i just blurred the two characters together. I actually thought that Julie had left Olly's and joined the corporate world.

    So when Marigold and Jane got together i sincerely thought it was a continuation of the Julie and Jane storyline that happened at the Ski lodge.

    Archive binging it's clear i was completely off for coming to this conclusion. It's just what i picked up through occasionally skimming the series.

  37. I saw it… I saw it and immediately screamed NO MAREK NO in my office and now everyone is wondering who Marek is. He's the man who broke my heart ;~; I thought love was real when there was Marek and Hannah…

  38. oh the FEELS! I know exactly how this feels. I was happy for him because I wanted him to be happy but STILLLLL ow ow ow.

  39. I had to go back and pull this page out of the archives to make myself feel better but it just made me feel worse:
    http://www.octopuspie.com/2013-04-10/597-thats-no

    I didn't think my heart could break this much

  40. Looking back at this again I love the juxtaposition of "welcome to possibilities" as Hanna sees Marek walking through the door. A sudden opening up of possibilities, sharply pulled away in the very next panel.

  41. Guys. This has been driving me insane. There is even more precedence for Julie being into women! http://www.octopuspie.com/2011-03-02/446-with-gre

  42. Julie, FFS, let her go!

    Also, damn, this is not looking good for Hanna, tonight…

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