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Invitation

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Tess invites the whole gang on a fully paid week at the Silvershore Islands, and when Mike and Lucy turn her down, she stuffs them both into a car trunk until they reconsider. Daisy, meanwhile, has plans of her own entirely.

Invitation
Chapter41 of 127 (list of chapters)
PublishedDecember 7, 2007 (2007-12-07)
Page count20
Major charactersTess, Lucy, Mike, Lily, Abbey, Daisy
Minor charactersPaulo, David, Sue, Molly, Janet, Alec McCain, Amaya, Yashy, Blur, Chirpy
LocationsTess's house, David's house, Paulo's house, Daisy's house, Mike's house, Abbey's house, Lucy's house, Airport
Collected inVolume One, Omnibus 1
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Synopsis

Tess writes to the whole gang: her parents are paying for a weeklong vacation to the Silvershore Islands as her senior-year gift.[1] The letter warns that anyone who can't come had "better have a damn good reason!"[1] Abbey declines, saying he can't miss his appointment.[2] Mike turns the trip down too, figuring Sandy would find it strange if he flew somewhere with a bunch of girls instead of visiting her.[3] Lucy calls Tess to decline as well, and minutes later a hand shoots through her own front door and yanks her bodily outside.[4]

Lucy and Mike wake up tied together in the trunk of a car.[5] The kidnapper turns out to be Tess herself, who winks and shuts the lid, while Lily's attempted rescue only gets her recruited to the scheme.[5] Out in a grass field, Tess explains this was the only way to get them talking, and her prisoners answer in unison, "YOU KIDNAPPED US FOR THAT?!?!"[6]

 
Tess handles RSVPs a little differently than most hosts.

Lily needles Lucy about being free all summer until a badly timed blush gives her real reason away.[7] Mike gets an offer he can't refuse, a flight out to Rickter to visit Sandy instead, and joyfully borrows Tess's phone to call her.[8] Lucy is less gracious once her ropes come off, punching Tess in the face and twisting her arm with an audible SNAP.[9]

Then Mike turns around from his call shaking and teary-eyed, wailing that Sandy is going to Europe on business and won't be around all summer.[10] Tess grabs him by the head and shakes him — "BE SELFISH!! IDIOT!!" — until he relents and agrees to ask his mom.[11] Lucy saves face by deciding that Tess simply can't get over her and might as well be humored.[11]

Five days later, Daisy drags Abbey to the airfield to see everyone off.[12] The trip will cover his birthday, so the whole gang surprises him with a pushcart full of presents,[13] and Mike assures the bashful newcomer he's one of them now.[14] Then Daisy reveals she isn't coming either. She made a promise to be there for Abbey, and she's keeping it.[15] Once the plane is a speck in the sky, Daisy asks Abbey to a movie, and the two run off hand in hand.[16]

Critical moments

  • Tess's letter invites the whole group on a fully paid week at the Silvershore Islands, with a warning that anyone declining had better have a good reason.[1]
  • Abbey turns the trip down to keep his mysterious appointment, telling Janet he wants to stick to the plan they set up, "no excuses."[2]
  • The kidnapper who snatched Mike and Lucy is revealed as Tess, who closes the trunk on them with a wink and a "Watch your head ♥".[5]
  • Mid-phone-call in the field, Mike learns Sandy will spend the whole summer in Europe on business, killing the visit he'd turned the trip down for.[10]
  • Tess shakes the sulking Mike by the head, yelling "BE SELFISH!! IDIOT!!", and he agrees to come. Lucy caves right after, on the theory that Tess just can't get over her.[11]
  • At the airfield, the group surprises Abbey with an early birthday and a cart of presents, and Mike declares him one of them.[13][14]
  • Daisy reveals she's staying behind: "I made a promise to be there for you, remember? Well, I'm keeping it! ♥" Once the plane leaves, she asks Abbey to a movie, and they head off hand in hand.[15][16]
 
Who needs a tropical island, anyway?

Character dynamics

  • Abbey and Daisy: Back in Moving On, Daisy promised to be there for Abbey "every step of the way" while he tried counseling over the break.[17] This chapter is where she makes good on it at real personal cost, passing up a free island vacation to spend the week with him instead. By the final page she has asked him to a movie and the two are running off grinning, hand in hand, the closest the pair have ever looked to a couple.[15][16]
  • Abbey and the friend group: Abbey arrives at the airfield a self-conscious newcomer who hasn't "even known you guys for very long". The surprise birthday settles that for good. Mike declares him one of them, and even Paulo's gag gift is its own sort of affection.[13][14]
  • Mike and Sandy: Mike planned his whole summer around finally visiting Sandy in Rickter, and turned down a tropical vacation for her sake.[3] Her Europe trip puts that visit off indefinitely, and he doesn't get to make it for a long while yet.[18]
  • Lucy and Tess: Lucy spends the chapter kicking, punching, and arm-snapping Tess, who absorbs all of it and keeps the invitation open anyway.[9] Her persistence wins a yes, though strictly on Lucy's face-saving terms rather than out of any real warmth.[11]
  • Lucy and Mike: Nothing shifts between the two of them directly, since Mike stays happily oblivious from the trunk to the tarmac. What changes is who knows. Lily and Tess both work out exactly why Lucy won't go anywhere without him.[7]

Trivia & observations

  • This chapter opens the Summer Vacation arc, and Veronica calls it a turning point in her process. For the first time she planned the story ahead, made character reference sheets, and canned or rewrote ideas along the way.[1]
  • It's also the end of the grid-comic era. Per Veronica, "say goodbye to the grid-comic format! Proper panels are here to stay!"[1]
  • The destination was originally Acapulco. Oliver's commentary explains the omnibus renamed it the Silvershore Islands to stay consistent with fictional place names to come.[10]
  • Abbey was heavily redesigned just before this arc. Veronica has said she "really hated his original design" and rebuilt him to fit in with the cast.[19]
  • Sandy's "Europe on business" excuse is meant to raise eyebrows. Veronica's commentary asks "What is she DOING?", with Oliver adding "We shall see!"[10]

Related chapters

  • Moving On: The chapter just before this one sets up both of the tarmac threads. Abbey's mysterious "appointment" is the counselor plan he made there, and Daisy's promise to be there for him is made almost word for word.[17]
  • Arrival: The trip itself begins here. Sue's abduction of McCain also pays off with him seated, and complaining, on the plane.[20]
  • New Beginnings: The week this chapter carves out for Abbey and Daisy plays out here, appointment included. Lucy calls it "Abbey's appointment with the shrink".[21]
  • Feline Festivities: Tess's last big hosted event, and the precedent for Lucy hitting her. That time it was a karate chop, for trying to make Lucy sing.[22]
  • Rising Temperature: Introduces Abbey's family, Janet and Molly included, and contains the fight Molly frets about here — the boy she yelled at was Mike.[23] Molly debuted mid-fight on that page, making her cookie-cart scene in this chapter only her second appearance.[19]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Chapter 41: Invitation, page 1
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Chapter 41: Invitation, page 2
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Chapter 41: Invitation, page 4
  4. ↑ Chapter 41: Invitation, page 5
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Chapter 41: Invitation, page 6
  6. ↑ Chapter 41: Invitation, page 7
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Chapter 41: Invitation, page 8
  8. ↑ Chapter 41: Invitation, page 9
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Chapter 41: Invitation, page 12
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 Chapter 41: Invitation, page 13
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Chapter 41: Invitation, page 14
  12. ↑ Chapter 41: Invitation, page 15
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Chapter 41: Invitation, page 16
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Chapter 41: Invitation, page 17
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Chapter 41: Invitation, page 18
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Chapter 41: Invitation, page 20
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Chapter 40: Moving On, page 6
  18. ↑ Chapter 71: Just Beautiful, page 10
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Chapter 41: Invitation, page 3
  20. ↑ Chapter 42: Arrival, page 3
  21. ↑ Chapter 46: New Beginnings, page 1
  22. ↑ Chapter 28: Feline Festivities, page 9
  23. ↑ Chapter 38: Rising Temperature, page 9
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