Octopus Pie

So when I opened Octopus Pie I thought to myself 'I'll just read for a little bit then do a post', but then it was four in the morning and I had read seven years worth of a web comic. Suffice to say I find Octopus Pie hilarious and crazy relatable. All of the character clearly kind of have their stereotype, (Hanna is a stoner, Eve is mad, etc.), but the author really make the characters so much more than that and uses those stereotypes to a huge advantage. Most of the time people really do fall into those kind of categories, but this comic shows that there really is more to people than just that and not every person who is a {insert label here} is exactly the same, they just have commonalities and that's why they hang out. It also shows that different categories of people can totally get along and be friends, like Hanna and Eve. Even though Eve has a kind of culture shock when she first meets Hanna because she's not the kind of person she normally hangs out with they become super good friends and both kind of accept each other's stereotype culture. The story about the laser tag war between the stoners and the nerds really drove that point home and focused on stereotypes which is so prevalent in the comic.

I think one of the things about Octopus Pie that makes it so successful is that it is so relevant to the kind of media and experiences that the average web comic reader is exposed to. It was really interesting to read all of the comics at once because certain trends ebbed and flowed and that way more apparent when I read it like that. For example in the older stories you don't really see much texting and in the newer ones the author uses texts kind of as dialogue at times. I think that her doing things like that really keeps the comic interesting and relevant because that is how we communicate a lot now. It's not just words, it's a phone buzzing in your pocket or through a text message that you rewrite a million times and then decide to never send. Not only does Octopus Pie keep up with the times it also knows exactly what nostalgia buttons to push. The Supermarket Sweeper story was an awesome nostalgia trip, but what's great about the nostalgia is that it isn't all about that because character development is still really tied into those stories. One of the stories that I think really tied in current times and nostalgia is when Hanna had little vacation. Vacation is not really a thing that happens anymore, especially for our generation, because we are working for ourselves or scraping by and feel anxious when we aren't doing something so the fact that Hanna was trying to go back to work or do anything productive on her vacation really is so relatable. Then to top it off she goes to visit the MET and due to whatever she was on she dove through a painting that made her relive the 90's. What I find really awesome about this page is that it's using techniques that are new innovations in comics, such as moving panels, while it is talking about the past. I think that the way this comic really ties the present and the past together through the medium and story is why it's so addictive and relevant. Can't wait for the next update!