Image Description: the book cover of Giant Days – Volume 2 by John Allison. The background is orange with white text for the title and credits. The title “Giant Days” takes up to roughly 50% of the cover (in a vertical direction), the rest of the cover is an image of Susan (one of the main characters) wearing a blue flannel shirt and blue denim jeans. She’s sitting on top of a speaker, wearing blue headphones, and presumably listening to music. Susan’s right hand is upright in a salute and she’s holding a lit cigarette.
Title: Giant Days – Volume 2
Creators: John Allison (Author), Lissa Treiman (Illustrator), Max Sarin (Illustrator), and Whitney Cogar (Colorist).
Social Media Goodreads
Publisher: BOOM! Box
Price and Format: Paperback from my local library
Stars: 5 stars out of 5
About The Creative:
John Allison: John Allison is the author and artist of the British webcomics Scary Go Round and Bad Machinery.
Lissa Treiman: Lady, story artist, yarn-hoarder, nap-taker. Currently workin’ for the Mouse (Disney).
Max Sarin: Freelance illustrator and comic artist goofing around and enjoying life.
Whitney Cogar: Whitney Cogar is a freelance illustrator based in Savannah, Georgia. She specializes in sequential art such as comics and storyboards. She is a colourist for the 2017 Steven Universe comic series and has also done storyboards and art assets for the film “The Conspirator” as well as art assets for the film “X-Men: First Class”.
About The Book
Continuing their first semester at university, fast friends Susan, Esther, and Daisy want to find their footing in life. But in the face of hand-wringing boys, holiday balls, hometown rivals, and the willful, unwanted intrusion of “academia,” they may be lucky just to make it to spring alive.
Yarr, thar be spoilers ahead, ye have been warned.
General Observations
~Contemporary: I enjoy the adventures of the everyday university student. A graphic novel doesn’t have to have “End of World” stakes for it to be interesting. I like the two separate but connected friendship groups of Susan, Esther, and Daisy in juxtaposition with the shenanigans occurring alongside McGraw and Ed. There’s no real plot, in fact, the plot thread appears to be all over the place, however, the characters are humorous and engaging enough that I don’t mind a lack there of plot. These are young people at University in the UK, they’re trying to figure out who they are and what they want, and that takes time.
~Character Development – Daisy: Daisy is so eager to be a “grown-up” and taken seriously, it’s painfully earnest, and painfully familiar. While I was never home-schooled, I must confess that I do relate to Daisy’s particular brand of socially awkward and unusual interests, I’m sure she’ll figure it all out in the end.
~Romantic Development – Susan and McGraw: This development was easily predicted, but I still enjoyed watching it all unfold, they’re adorable together.
~Strong Themes of Friendship: The element that I enjoy the most is the friendship between Susan, Esther and Daisy. I enjoy reading about how they support each other during hometown emergencies and make sure not to take each other too seriously as well. There’s also no putting down other women outside the friendship group either. I know that sounds like a low bar but you’d be surprised at how many female-orientated media fails at this.
All in all, a combination of youthful adventures with humour mixed in, the series is definitely improving as it progresses, and I’m happy to recommend for people interested in Slice of Life university escapades.
Available For Purchase: Amazon | Book Depository | Kobo Books
Ambiguous Pieces 