Skip to Content

‘Giant Days’ #2 makes getting sick entertaining

‘Giant Days’ #2 makes  getting sick entertaining

Screen-Shot-2015-04-13-at-12.59.43-PM

Giant Days #2
Written by John Allison
Art by Lissa Treiman
Colors by Whitney Cogar
Published by BOOM! Studios

Who knew that a comic about getting the flu could be so fun? Giant Days #2 follows the college adventures of housemates Daisy, Esther, and Susie as they deal with one of the worst things about living away from home: getting sick for the first time. However, writer John Allison and artist Lissa Treiman make this mundane immensely fun and entertaining while adding depth to the main characters and their flaws and foibles. Allison structures the plot nicely as each girl deals with a different variant of the flu that’s been going around, and they get their own subplot before dovetailing towards the end.

Even though Allison has a crackling, witty voice, most of the comedy comes from Lissa Treiman’s exaggerated, occasionally dream-like art. Giant Days #2 can go from Daisy, Esther, and Susie just chatting on their couches to an explosion of hearts when Daisy thinks about people spreading sickness, or a disgusting coffee/sneeze mix that erupts through the panel and onto the character. Whitney Cogar uses an expressive colors for these cut-away moments where “reality” and the character’s imagination come together. And this imaginative zone is where Giant Days goes beyond your usual slice of life comic to something crazier.

As someone who was a teenager only a couple of years ago, I remember how dramatic I and some of my peers were. Allison and Treiman capture this drama, but instead of showing it through soapy and overwrought dialogue, they use the triple threat of snark, goofiness, and physical comedy. Esther continues her Gothic existence with trippy fever dreams of ankhs and top hats that will make fans of The Sandman smile and maybe a cringe a little bit. Giant Days #2 does end up being a bit like a drug trip as the girls try to cure their various ailments, but Allison and Treiman play this for laughs with funny misunderstandings, talking animals, and a Poundland gag. (This one might be lost on anyone who hasn’t been to the U.K.)

Giant Days #2 is a surreal/realistic look into the life of three new college students and does a good job making them likable characters by pretty much making them big goofballs even if Esther tries to hide it under her ethereal Goth coolness and Susie under her intellectualization of everything, including the common cold. Despite all their drama and sometimes overblown responses to things, these are fun, friendly characters, who readers wouldn’t mind hanging out with. Giant Days #2 is definitely a comic worth picking up with John Allison’s witty writing and Lissa Treiman’s energetic art.