Daisy, Esther, and Susan are back for another wild and entertaining story, as BOOM! Studios brings its fans Giant Days 2016 Holiday Special #1. Creator and writer John Allison brings these lovable characters back, but in a completely different way. They’re not friends in this special edition, and the life they’re leading in this bizarre, altered universe doesn’t seem like a good thing.
This comic book brings up missed opportunities for them to meet during their first days of college, and it’s all downhill afterwards. Let’s just say that the friends they make are either part of the Heather clan or somewhat nonexistent. Allison crafts his characters to seemingly have the same good-natured spunk; however, these bad influencers draw them into awful situations, ultimately leading them to negative confrontations between the three.
From screaming about loud music to stealing Christmas trees, these friends have a rough start during their freshman year, and they don’t have each other to lean on for support. Esther, in particular, finds herself leaning for all of the wrong reasons. Her new “friends” do not look after her when clearly too inebriated, and push her well beyond her sober limits by surrounding her with more parties, drugs, theft, and vandalism.
Along these dangerously awkward situations, the three of them somehow find each other, and a kindhearted bearded man, to form friendship and a plot for revenge. It’s not to say Allison’s characters have never been jaded, but these three need it to form their alliance and destroy the rest of the world. Well, not the world, but a clan of Jawbreaker wannabes – just in time for the holidays.
The illustrations for this wintery tale are created by Lissa Treiman and Sarah Stern, with the cover page perfectly depicting the events in this entertaining story. Treiman’s wonderful artwork speckles the cover with blues and whites, highlighting a winter wonderland as Daisy, Esther, and Susan are falling among the snowfall unable to reach each other, literally fingertips apart. The imagery throughout is fantastic; each panel is filled to the brim with great colors that stand out. Purple skies with red or pink jackets, pink walls and curtains against blue-green pillows; it’s these color combinations that help make this story a fun read.
In addition to another great Giant Days story, Allison, along with artists Caanan Grall and Jeremy Lawson, shares an extra story at the back-end of this issue. It’s safe to say that Esther doesn’t have the best of times through either storyline; although, her sense of doing what’s right seems to stand out in both. In this particular story, she is left with the ultimate responsibility of picking up dinner and a simple task turns complicated and odd in the blink of an eye. Well, she did oversleep.
Giant Days 2016 Holiday Special #1 will be available in print and digital form on Wednesday, October 26.
