I’m back at work now and ready to give you my full attention, hopefully uninterrupted until the story’s conclusion, some 30 pages or so into the future.
I’m quite happy with how this page turned out.
I know this scene seems confusing, don’t worry it will be explained super soon.
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October 6th, 2009 at 1:51 am
YAY They’re back! Thanks Rene!
October 6th, 2009 at 1:52 am
Omg!
I love the action and the movement of this strips!
And Maria’s face is that last panel is adorable
October 6th, 2009 at 1:56 am
how in the world did we get from luigi’s mansion to this page? ha! maybe he’s running as luigi? or a time lapse. 30 more pages – i confess my surprise – i thought this comic would go on and on forever – but even jerry springer had his day. glad to have the comics back, 2 points!
October 6th, 2009 at 1:58 am
Wait, how did he get out of jail? I’m so confused.
October 6th, 2009 at 2:01 am
Glad you’re back, but I have no idea whats going on in this page. O.o
October 6th, 2009 at 2:04 am
Awesome use of panels and eye movement to pace the story… glad you are back!!!
October 6th, 2009 at 2:06 am
the time skip doesn’t surprise me at all. kinka Rene’s style at this point. but there only being 30 strips left is kinda sad. kinda really sad
October 6th, 2009 at 2:06 am
we’ve gone all the way back to #240 (before all the flashbacks) it looks like. Anders is outta jail and on his way to his #1 baby momma, who appears to be in no small amount of misery.
Great work as always
October 6th, 2009 at 2:08 am
I trust Rene will answer all of our questions in time.
October 6th, 2009 at 2:12 am
I really love you for not wanting to draw A?M forever, and end f*cking everything up. im so excited to see how the story ends!
October 6th, 2009 at 2:13 am
Such a great strip! the top three panels are simply brilliant:D
Glad to see you back, sad to hear theres not long left:(
Like a few people above, i do believe we are back to the present time frame. Poor Maria, for all the bad, I do hope Anders makes it.
October 6th, 2009 at 2:14 am
ten weeks left? OMG.
October 6th, 2009 at 2:20 am
Welcome back!
Wonderful dynamic page. Run Anders! Get there on time!
October 6th, 2009 at 2:20 am
WOO! It’s back!
WOO! Questions answered super soon!
October 6th, 2009 at 2:22 am
I think he seduced the jail guard to get out, she seemed to be mentally undressing him.
October 6th, 2009 at 2:35 am
If people are correct about this being the present time frame, it looks like Maria has dyed her hair while she was in labor.
http://anderslovesmaria.reneengstrom.com/2009/01/14/220-ow/
October 6th, 2009 at 2:50 am
sweet lord, the convulsing withdrawals can finally end
October 6th, 2009 at 2:56 am
sweet
October 6th, 2009 at 3:23 am
@Alli – I totally thought that, too – Her hair is magically lighter! Maria is like the horse of a different color in the Wizard of Oz, I guess.
October 6th, 2009 at 3:28 am
Top 3 panels rock.
October 6th, 2009 at 3:37 am
WELCOME BACK!!
I just wanted to mention somethng about the changes in the *last* update that got posted. Is it me, or did anyone else get the feeling that it went from sweet and innocent (in the last panel, with Maria asleep and Anders still playing the game) to a little creepy (with Anders watching her asleep)?
Maybe it was just that after checking for an update so often, the change jarred me. I dunno *shrug*.
I love the new update, though – I think we’re gonna be flashing back and forth faster now, as their whole ralationship flashes through Ander’s mind on the way to meet the biggest change in his life!
Go, Anders, Go!!
October 6th, 2009 at 3:38 am
Is it 30 strips left on the Anders loves Maria comic forever. Or, just for this story, and then you’ll write another part of the Anders loves Maria story as part of the entire comic?
/not daft, just not big on ambiguity. Sometimes comics have mini-stories within them, and A<3M is full of mini-stories.
October 6th, 2009 at 4:05 am
The first three panels are present, but the last one with Maria might be a flashback… I think we’re about to find out what happened to her first baby…
October 6th, 2009 at 4:10 am
No, I’m wrong. Thats present Maria. I’m an idiot.
October 6th, 2009 at 4:20 am
Honestly, I wasn’t really expecting an update on time so good job!
October 6th, 2009 at 4:37 am
It almost seems like this is young Anders running to the aid of young Maria who is probably having a miscarriage.
October 6th, 2009 at 4:41 am
love the art, especially Maria’s face … like a kokeshi doll, so simple but so expressive!
October 6th, 2009 at 4:43 am
Very inventive. Love it.
October 6th, 2009 at 5:02 am
I started reading this through QC.
I continued reading to see if the title ever comes true.
And then I kept reading through the interim to read the comments and see if anyone felt the same way.
I’m glad to have all that back again.
October 6th, 2009 at 5:06 am
Glad to see your back! Hope you enjoyed your well-deserved break.
Excited to see what’s the come!
October 6th, 2009 at 5:21 am
@ Alli and Isabelle – I think it is safe to say that the style of the art has changed so much (not to mention gotten so much more beautiful if that’s possible) since the last time we visited the… present. With style in art comes interpretation of colors. Since the colors were harsher, more defined in the older style, her hair seemed so much darker. Now the style is soft and muted, creating a much more delicate brown.
October 6th, 2009 at 5:22 am
ALSO how do we know for sure when this is taking place? Perhaps a miscarriage a few months into her schooling… just a theory.
October 6th, 2009 at 5:27 am
YAY!!!!!!! I’m so glad you’re back! Love the comic and can’t wait to read the rest.
October 6th, 2009 at 5:31 am
So pretty! I love the vibrant yellow of the building in the top three panels, and the way you’ve illustrated Anders’ motion is so neat. <3!
October 6th, 2009 at 5:58 am
Welcome back, and hope all is well.
I’m conflicted between wanting to know the present (currently?) and the past (how those two hooked up, specifically, what happened after that Luigi’s mansion game night?).
Blast.
October 6th, 2009 at 7:11 am
yes! <3
October 6th, 2009 at 7:40 am
Thank you so much for posting! You’re wonderful.
October 6th, 2009 at 8:04 am
What’s the matter with you people? This is not present day, it’s still the flashback of course! And when Rene talked about the story’s conclusion in 30 pages, she was obviously refering to the end of the flashback sequence. If she had suddenly decided to end the comic, I think she would make a bigger deal out of it instead of just mentioning it in passing.
October 6th, 2009 at 8:11 am
I am in-love with the colors!! That bright splash of yellow is just what I needed to wake me up. Looking at the gray background of the Luigi strip did not prepare my eyes for this! Awesome Rene! I love it!
October 6th, 2009 at 8:22 am
@A Swede: I think she mentioned in a post before that the comic will end by this year or so. I don’t remember exactly when she said that, though.
October 6th, 2009 at 8:24 am
A Swede – Rene has talked about the whole story ending for a long time now. I think it was last year she wrote in the forum that she had the whole story “sketched out” and the end was planned.
October 6th, 2009 at 8:32 am
“I’m back at work now and ready to give you my full attention, hopefully uninterrupted until the story’s conclusion, some 30 pages or so into the future.”
the or this? seems this would more indicate the arc, while the would seem to indicate the whole. Then again gramar really was never my strong point.
If you are indeed ending the whole story I hope at some point we will be lucky enough to see your creative work in another comic. Guess maybe I identify a little with Anders, but your charactive seem very life like in how they handle things.
The whole comic seem’s very well done and I’m sure there is more than hundreds (probably over thousands) of others who agree even if they don’t post anything.
October 6th, 2009 at 8:36 am
A Swede: http://forum.reneengstrom.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=46
October 6th, 2009 at 9:04 am
Christ almighty but you do some gorgeous work!
October 6th, 2009 at 10:00 am
@ A Swede-
You need to start reading her Twitter. She’s been speaking for awhile about finishing the comic extremely soon. She was on hiatus this time because she wanted to finish laying out all of the rest of the comics until the end of the story without having any sudden ideas interrupt the end she has envisioned.
Also, considering Maria’s hair in this comic, I’d say this comic is back to present time. Her hair is long in the flashbacks, and pigtailed/short in present time.
October 6th, 2009 at 10:07 am
Looks more like flashback Maria’s had a miscarriage.
October 6th, 2009 at 10:26 am
I think I might have to start from page 1 again, I’m totally lost
October 6th, 2009 at 11:08 am
Is it BABYTIME!?!? Woooohoooo!!!!
October 6th, 2009 at 11:32 am
I know this was several dozen panels ago, and maybe someone has pointed this out before… But Maria’s foster father (whom I guess would be Tina’s bio father) looks A LOT like Bjorn. Which is pretty interesting considering Bjorn was her first love.
Check out the smirk on Tina’s dad’s face in this pic, and the mischievious grin on Bjorn’s face in the next to see what I mean.
http://anderslovesmaria.reneengstrom.com/2009/02/13/223-games/
http://anderslovesmaria.reneengstrom.com/2008/04/17/144-expecting-you/
October 6th, 2009 at 11:48 am
I’m not ever 100% sure that’s Maria, is how lost I am!! And who said anything about babies? Sheesh, she’s just in a room with curtains at the window! :-O
October 6th, 2009 at 1:46 pm
Issac I think that is how all guys from that part of the world look. Except for Johan. He and Maria are different.
October 6th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
Welcome back, Rene!
October 6th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
Nobody mentions adoption, maybe Maria had the baby and she and Bjorn decided to give it up for adoption because she got with Anders? If that happened she could be in labour just not present day.
I agree that it would be weird if it was present day as her hair is a completely different colour.
October 6th, 2009 at 4:55 pm
Wow! I really what you did with the panels of Anders running! Really suggests the motion well.
October 6th, 2009 at 5:28 pm
On further inspection, she appears to be wearing her painting shirt?
They both still look quite young. Consider my previous comment retracted(Story wise, i mean. Im still glad/sad)
October 6th, 2009 at 6:51 pm
Thank goodness………..i was so getting lonely.*sigh*
October 6th, 2009 at 6:51 pm
got to be present day, anders’s hair isn’t douchy and maria’s hair is not long
October 6th, 2009 at 7:13 pm
Woah, miscarriage? Man, I don’t know about you guys, but from what I’ve heard, regular old complication-free labour is pretty intense. Dunno about the timeline, but let’s not get all sensationalist here! Ha.
Also meant to comment on the last page, I loved the new lighting/shading. Nice capture of the television-screen glow.
Thanks for the update, looking forward to the next one when all of (well, some of) our questions will be answered!
October 6th, 2009 at 7:33 pm
Yay, welcome back!
October 6th, 2009 at 8:06 pm
YAAAAAY!!! Welcome back
October 6th, 2009 at 9:01 pm
Love it rene! Like the colors!
October 6th, 2009 at 9:02 pm
thank goodness you’re back! it’s beautiful!
October 6th, 2009 at 10:42 pm
Doesn’t really look like present Maria…
I -DO- know I can’t wait to see more!!
She goes from black hair to brown hair?
longish loose hair to shorter hair in pigtails?
http://anderslovesmaria.reneengstrom.com/2009/01/14/220-ow/
I dunno
October 7th, 2009 at 12:38 am
mind- blown.
so, maria was pregnant when she met anders.
also, i suspect that the top is present day:anders running/hair
and bottom is past: artsy school maria.
also someone may have said that
i do not know, honestly
October 7th, 2009 at 1:01 am
is it back to M-W-F??
also, unsure of how much time is actually passed, but is the baby she’s having in the present actually ander’s or is it possibly the same pregnancy as in the ‘past’: in other words, is it really bjorn’s the whole time?
October 7th, 2009 at 1:32 am
Loving the reflection! Totally Stockholm
October 7th, 2009 at 4:20 am
I noticed people keep saying that this comic is a flashback, but both Anders and Maria have the same hair styles and look as they do in the “present.” Unless the majorly matured in 8-9 months I think this is present time. Also Anders in this strip appears to be wearing the same jacket has he had in jail http://anderslovesmaria.reneengstrom.com/2009/05/20/235-i-could-buy-you/
Just a thought!
October 7th, 2009 at 5:05 am
…Did she change the hair color? It looks dark again.
October 7th, 2009 at 5:06 am
Just read her Twitter. Yes she did! lol
October 7th, 2009 at 5:20 am
Yeah, it’s beautiful! Love those top panels.
For y’all with the hair fixation, Maria’s hair doesn’t look that different than it did here:
http://anderslovesmaria.reneengstrom.com/2008/06/20/167-for-your-sake/
October 7th, 2009 at 6:00 am
wow. I’m in shock. 30 pages left. I’m hoping maybe by the end of next year, if absolutely nothing happens to Rene, I’ll maybe be able to see the end of this story. If I’m lucky.
October 7th, 2009 at 8:27 am
ps: this is a beautiful piece of space. you are gifted
October 7th, 2009 at 11:31 am
Apparently her face has changed shape too since the flash backs
http://anderslovesmaria.reneengstrom.com/2009/06/29/251-for-you-today/
October 7th, 2009 at 11:42 am
(As in, she has grown up, not as in, rene’s art sucks, which it does not, because rene is lush).
October 7th, 2009 at 12:17 pm
Yay update! The stillness of the first panel = classic
can’t believe it’s ending soon but can’t wait to see how the story plays out either. I’m torn.
October 7th, 2009 at 6:27 pm
God, those first three panels need to be in a textbook as an example of comics’ ability to communicate time using space. Brilliant.
October 8th, 2009 at 3:02 am
Woo-hoo-hoo it is back! Wonder what is up with Maria.
October 8th, 2009 at 5:11 am
pixpix: I think Rene changed Maria’s hair color when she realized she made a mistake. Anyway, beautiful comic!
October 8th, 2009 at 6:38 pm
Rene, this is perfect. I re-read the whole comic twice during your leave. Last Saturday I started reading it backwards. So when you posted this, it made perfect sense. Though i am used to your style of story telling for Flashbacks… I’ll be interested to see how it is handled in print. Has someone made a story line yet? If so, share the link.
October 8th, 2009 at 7:05 pm
Go Anders GO!
October 8th, 2009 at 9:46 pm
phew! and yay! i think i checked my rss feed everyday in hope, and now its back
looking forward to the conclusion, bring it on 