ErikaMoen
patreon
COMIC: Coffee to Go (2001-ish?)
🕑 Added 2023-05-30 23:24:00 +0000 UTCMy senior year of high school, I took a comics class taught by Lin Lucas. His teaching was profoundly impactful on little teenage-me and it makes my heart so happy to still cross paths with him to this day in the not-so-tiny world of comics, now as peers and friends.
The following is the first long-form comic I made as my final project in his class. It's a compilation of the many real conversations my best friend, Liz, and I were having around that time, a lot of the lines repeated verbatim. It's taking place somewhere between 2001-2002, making us about 17-18-years-old and seniors in high school.
What a mix of feelings this two-decades-old comic brings up in my little heart! Every background character was one of my internet friends (The original entire Pants Press crew gets a cameo! Oh! Speaking of which, Bill Mudron drew the cover all those years ago!), many details were nods at my then-current interests (Private Helicopter lyrics! Nightmare Before Christmas poster! [Before NMBC had any merchandise!]), and the cafe we're in is the one we frequented near our school, the Rosebud on Capital Hill- which Google informs me is now closed.
This was composed of our real conversations, those are really our voices at that time. Elizabeth and I are still friends, although we're separated by the width of the country and the natural divergences life takes between your senior year of high school and the dawn of middle age. We'll always share the bond we forged during our teenage years, though, no matter how we continue to grow and change. We're embedded in each other's hearts, her influence lives in my bones.
Obviously, I'm cringing at a number of things- My naiveté, my self-importance, my obliviousness of our privilege- but I'm also so grateful to Teenage Erika for recording this snippet of our lives. Our friendship, our worries, our jokes, and our hopes when we were right at the edge of our dependence on our parents, at the edge of starting our Real Lives.
For the bits I censored out, I don't actually think I wrote anything offensive. But. Why risk it?
Question for you:
Was this legible? I'm considering re-lettering it for Patreon-posterity, should I bother?
Comments
The Ferret
I'm so late to reading this goddamn! But for serious, this was beautifully readable and fun. It really does feel like a snapshot in your life in the best possible way. I'm glad you two are still friends, this seems like a great friendship. It reminds me of my own friendships at that time of my life. such arrogance and unbridled confidence along with such insecurities. It really is a specific time.
Danielle Corsetto
I somehow missed this?? I'm so glad you put it in your round-up!! Do not re-letter this for Patreon, it's totally legible, there's just a bit of re-reading in some places. Like any young person's comic. :)
