Sandwich and Soda (C.5), made in 1964 as part of the X + X (Ten Works by Ten Painters) portfolio holds a specific technical distinction in Lichtenstein's print catalogue: it was the first of his works to be printed on a surface other than paper. The substrate was plastic — a material drawn from the very consumer culture that provided his subject matter — and it gave the work a physical character unlike any of his other early prints.

The image presented a still life of familiar American diner objects: a glass of soda, a sandwich, two straws in their paper wrapper. These were the subjects of the lunch counter, not the fine art studio, and Lichtenstein arranged them with a structural care that was entirely at odds with their mundane status. The curved rim of the glass echoed the curved plate beneath the sandwich; the lines of the straws mirrored the horizontal planes of the bread; the implied fizz of the drink corresponded to the texture of the food. The condensation drip on the glass and the slight crinkle of the straw wrapper brought a note of implied motion and tactility into a work otherwise defined by evenness and mechanical regularity.

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