John Allison does it again. He instantly grabs the reader’s attention in Giant Days #21 with smart, funny dialogue between his dynamic trio – Daisy, Esther, and Susan. These women are not only witty, but completely relatable when you take into consideration their idiosyncrasies that make them fantastic to follow page after page.
Lissa Treiman starts this BOOM! Studios caper off right by illustrating one of our main characters, hidden in the shadows of a dark room. Susan looks out a window, holding a cigarette that leaves a trail of smoke – perhaps further adding to this issue’s plot as you wonder what mystery she’s trying to solve. The trio walks home from art class, and while brashly describing each other’s sketches, they come home to a vandalized living room. They immediately notice their TV is missing, and that’s just the beginning. As they go throughout the house, they find what’s been taken can’t simply be replaced, and the ensuing tale is well-crafted to this one primary realization.
Max Sarin, Liz Fleming, and Whitney Cogar provide fun illustrations with exaggerated facial expressions and wonderful pops of color throughout this comic book. Frightened, wide eyes and angry, sharp-toothed shouts help to intensify the emotions of our characters, while providing perfect comedy relief for the reader. Along with magnifying their personalities, these illustrations also enhance the story being told.
Allison has created characters, unique in their own right, but the camaraderie they share brings them together regardless of the situation. Despite the constant sarcastic remarks to each other, these mocks turn into an opportunity to provide humor during an emotionally difficult time. This plays out with Daisy’s love of Enya and Esther’s response to the burglar’s possible return. Allison’s storytelling is entertaining as he combines comedy with touches of sincerity throughout these pages, and you’ll even find a hilarious reference to a TV show.
These three women are strong characters, and despite moments of fear or anger taking control of their actions, they overcome them and provide an unavoidable likeability from the fearlessness they do show or learn. This issue of Giant Days keeps in line with other issues, #19 and 2016 Holiday Special #1, meaning it’s funny, charismatic, and definitely worth the time to breeze through. Did I mention these three have an uncanny ability to speak their mind and absolutely frame your heart with openings to jokes like, “How much can you bench?”
Giant Days #21 is now available for print and digital release.
