Wecomics, Octopus Pie (5 points)

 For this week’s reading, I read a bit of Octopus Pie. In terms of every media we’ve read so far this semester I think I’m most familiar with webcomics, so reading a story like this was very fun. Being so intertwined in the age of digital comics and fast story-telling, I thought Octopus Pie was a nice relatable story compared to all the high action fantasy stories I’m used to seeing in webcomics. The small stories between tackling day to day roommate life, friends, relationships, and minimum wage jobs were interesting despite most of these particular themes being quite common in the medium. The art style and story really reminded me of Scott Pilgrim and the Owl House, which share similar themes and also help to prove the idea that perhaps stories like these really are elevated in this style. The cartoonish expressions and over-exaggerated actions give a little excitement to these day to day dilemmas despite a lot of other comics media also dealing with real-life situations. There’s something a little fun about the small differences and mannerisms in which they’re drawn that gives each character a specific relatable feel to them (whether it’s an always tired expression or a 100 miles blank stare) that I feel isn’t as easily communicated in realistic comics where every character is depicted as being realistic as possible. With this style as well I can see how the artist managed to capture all the dramatic bits of Eve’s woes and really give her a unique feeling even though in the end she’s just another struggling girl trying to make it in the world.

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