Written by: John Alison
Art by: Lissa Treiman, Sarah Stern, Caanan Grall and Jeremy Lawson
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
One of the more out of nowhere success from BOOM! Studios has been “Giant Days”, a slice of life ongoing series that focuses on the friendship of three young, college aged women. Susan, Daisy and Esther’s adventures began as a planned miniseries and has reached it’s second year of publication thanks to audience reception. With the holidays coming up rapidly, a lot of publishers will do Christmas themed issues but “Giant Days” has kind of beat everyone to the punch. While this isn’t the most original idea, the “Giant Days” holiday special puts the spotlight on this bond of friendship in a touching and meaningful way.
The basic premise of the “Giant Days” holiday special is to look at what life would be like if Esther, Daisy and Susan had never become friends. Instead of helping Daisy with her large suitcase, Esther gets called away by a group of stereotypical “mean girls” and Susan’s grumpy tendencies make her very lonely aside from her relationship with Ed (!). As the issue goes on, we see the strengths they each bring out in each other when they’re together and the weaknesses they have when apart. Included is also a short story featuring Esther spending the holiday at home.
At this point, John Alison has reached a groove with this story and these characters that makes “Giant Days” consistently one of my favorite reads. This issue gives him many more pages to play with but the story never drags on. It’s a layered plot that really challenges the norms of the series in a fun and playful sense. Watching these characters come back together in a roundabout way highlights just how close they are. While the end game is predictable, the way it plays out is a ton of fun. Honestly it’s an elseworlds style story with a little It’s a Wonderful Life thrown in for good measure. The divergences in each character’s path perfectly illustrates why they compliment each other perfectly as each one falls into their worst habits almost immediately. Alison’s dialogue is light and fun as always but he continues to find news ways to make the book’s quality even higher. The second story is enjoyable and very silly but doesn’t quite capture the same magic of the core plot.
Lissa Treiman has been an important part of why “Giant Days” has been so great month in and month out. In this issue, she brings her trademark expressive, slightly realistic art. Her character reactions are big and there is slapstick humor that could never land through just the writing. So much comedic timing relies on her visuals and it’s a blast in this holiday special, especially with Esther in the early pages. Like a great animated series, everything is amplified and there are a lot of effects used when things like loud music plays or someone gets angry. That’s where colorist Sarah Stern comes in. She brings this vibrancy to the pages and an extra sense of wonder in the effects that makes “Giant Days” feel like an animated series.
“Giant Days” gives an early dose of the holiday spirit with their holiday special and there’s no doubt that Esther, Daisy and Susan have one of the most wonderful friendships in comic books. With lots of heroes fighting each other for the worst reasons, this is the kind of thing we need to see more.
