A Review of Giant Days by Allison, Treiman, & Sarin
/Written by Ross Webster
Giant Days Vol. 5, p.107
By: John Allison (writer), Lissa Treiman & Max Sarin (artists)
Published by: BOOM! Studios
$9.99-$12.99 per volume
Giant Days Vol. 1, p.6
The premise of Giant Days is a deceptively simple one. Three girls - Susan Ptolemy, Daisy Wooton and Esther de Groot - meet at the University of Sheffield in the U.K. simply due to their adjoining dorm rooms. Together, they traverse the challenges of college life and impending adulthood through their wits, will and most importantly, their friendship. Easily a plot that one will find in hundreds of movies, TV sitcoms, and yes, even comics. However, Giant Days stands out from the rest thanks to combination of the stellar writing of John Allison and the dynamically fluid and eye-catching artwork of Lisa Treiman and Max Sarin.
Giant Days: Early Registration, p.18
Giant Days’ origins are humble. In 2009 John Allison had completed his longest webcomic (Scary Go Round) and was thinking of where to go next. An obvious direction Allison went with was two spin-offs; the first, Bad Machinery - which went on to great acclaim, even making the Young Adult Library Services Association’s annual “Great Graphic Novels For Teens” list in 2016.[1] The other project, Giant Days which followed supporting cast member Esther de Groot making her way through her freshman year at college with little more intended than a character study - which was sidelined by disinterest and a crisis of confidence on Allison’s part. Despite these setbacks, churning ideas and a growing attachment to his characters sent Allison back to the drawing board. Finally, he pitched his revised version to Shannon Watters (editor at BOOM! Studios and co-creator of the hit YA comic series, Lumberjanes) who saw its potential. Much to Allison’s surprise and relief, Giant Days was an overnight hit and his first work to breach a wider audience beyond the realm of webcomics.
Giant Days: Early Registration, p. 79
John Allison was one of the earliest creators of webcomics beginning with Bobbins which ran from 1998 to 2002 and during his seven-year run on Scary Go Round (2002-2009). Like many early webcomics creators, his style gradually evolved from stiff vector art to one that felt more natural and freer flowing. However, while Allison’s own art is excellent, it is difficult to imagine Giant Days making the impact it did if he remained the soul creator. It would have been too easy for readers unfamiliar with Allison’s previous work (or perhaps more accurately, the publishers second guessing the tastes and tolerance of their readership) to dismiss his rough unpolished style and fail to notice his brilliant writing and unforgettable characters. In order to reach the mainstream, Giant Days needed to pop.
Giant Days Vol. 2, p. 47
Fortunately for him and all, BOOM! managed to team Allison up with two phenomenal artists; Southern California-based Lissa Treiman (on issues 1-6) - who was and still is an accomplished storyboard artist with Disney; and Max Sarin (Issues 7–37, 40–47, 49–54 ), a Finnish cartoonist only beginning to dabble in comics at Glyndwr University in Wales and later at Kanneljärven Opisto in her home country.[2] Treiman put her talents as a storyboard artist to great effect for the first six issues.[3] Giant Days now had a rhythm ebb and flow that it previously didn’t in Allison’s original miniseries. As cliché as it might sound, the reading experience does feel more like watching an animated show than reading a comic (especially given similarities to the current Disney style). It is no surprise that Treiman’s best sequences are dance scenes, brawls, and team huddles. Also, it’s when Treiman started working that the cast of Giant Days, especially its primary trio of Esther, Susan and Daisy, became a true ensemble.
Although the three girls were first introduced in the original miniseries, everything heavily revolved around Esther de Groot, which is not surprising given that she had just spun off from Allison’s webcomics (note* One does not need to have read the original webcomics to enjoy Giant Days). When BOOM! Studios picked up Giant Days and handed the artwork over to Treiman, John Allison had plenty of time to flesh out the rest of the cast. At this point it seems appropriate to get to know the cast a little better starting with the trio.
Giant Days Vol. 1, p.23
Esther de Groot, a goth girl, metalhead and English major from the Yorkshire town of Tackleford with a penchant for creating drama for herself and anyone within a one-mile radius.
Giant Days Vol. 1, p.41
Susan Ptolemy, a medical student from Northampton who’s cynical, grounded, and tough demeanor belies a more sensitive side and a deep fear of commitment - save for her smoking habit.
Giant Days Vol. 1, p. 74
Daisy Wooten, a sweet-natured naïve biracial home-schooled orphan raised by her grandmother, discovering the outside world and her nascent homosexuality - all while studying archeology.
Also, under Treiman Giant Days’ two most prominent male characters became more fleshed out.
Giant Days Vol. 1, p.24
Ed Gemmell, a shy nerdy kid trying to discover himself while harboring an unrequited crush on Esther.
Giant Days Vol. 1, p.87
Graham McGraw, the stoic mustachioed mature former childhood friend, sometimes rival of Susan’s from Northampton who still harbors romantic feelings for her.
Giant Days Vol. 5, p. 104
After issue six, Treiman ceased to do the primary art for Giant Days (though she would do the issue cover art until issue 24), while Max Sarin took over. As previously mentioned, she had no previous professional cartooning experience, but with Allison’s encouragement hit the ground running and brought a fresh new dynamic to the series.
Giant Days Vol. 8, p. 13
Giant Days Vol. 6, p. 34
Giant Days Vol. 6, p. 82
While Treiman’s style focused on the external, Sarin’s emphasized the internal beginning at the surface level with some of the greatest facial expressions ever produced in the medium. But even beyond facial expressions Sarin’s art gave the series a boost in emotional gravity.
Giant Days Vol. 3, p.15
Giant Days Vol. 9, p.57
It goes without saying that the threshold between one’s teens and full-fledged adulthood are a cocktail of new experiences and sensations; earning your college marks, determining your future career, falling in and out of love, making life-long friends, finding the first place to live on your own, and having whatever assumptions you had about yourself and the world shattered by reality for good or for ill. Giant Days covers all this ground and then some. As mentioned before this is hardly untrodden ground, but Max Sarin’s fantastical, surreal, and absurd manifestations of college life’s pageantry - be it a young man’s first sexual encounter gone unexpectedly wrong, the hideous physical manifestation of a wicked hangover after a night of drunken revelry or the stages of grief after a breakup. All are very much in synch with Allison’s tone and sensibilities[4]
Giant Days Vol. 4, p. 37
Giant Days Vol. 6, p. 60
Of course, there is enough hilarity in Giant Days to balance out the drama, from the triumph of gaining your first shared home, only to find yourself scurrying away from it within seconds like rats after a rent misunderstanding. Blowing up at a smug berating assistant professor with the righteous fury of a thousand suns, to trying to keep it all together at your ex’s dinner party (and clearly failing). As the reader is mesmerized by either Treiman or Sarin’s art they then discover the final gold nugget, John Allison’s writing.
Giant Days Vol. 3, p. 90
Giant Days Vol. 3, p. 91
Allison possesses above all else a fantastic wit and is a master of wordplay. Even more impressive is his ability to carry that wit and wordplay into the more drama-laden scenes of Giant Days without once breaking tone; a feat rarely achieved in any medium of art including comics. To say that Allison’s characters therefore “feel more real” is a disservice. Even in the most surreal and absurd seeming scenarios, Giant Days’ characters are as real as anyone you have ever known or will know, from our three heroines right down to one-scene eccentrics serving no purpose other than comic relief. Everyone switches evenly from wonderful to awful and insufferable to inseparable. Anyone who decides to invest their time and money into the wonderful synthesis of Allison’s writing and Treiman and Sarin’s artwork will not only discover a great comic series, but will make new friends. And much like Esther, Daisy, and Susan’s cultivated sisterhood and the friendships made with Ed, Graham, (and too many others for one review to cover) it will carry you through both good times and bad. And even after college, no matter how much post-graduate life pans out for you (or not) you will be richer and stronger for those bonds.
I first became aware of John Allison in the spring of 2006 in the pages of Scott Pilgrim and the Infinite Saddness. After having consumed the third volume of the troubled indie rock, martial arts and video game infused love-life of everyone’s favorite Canadian slacker, I skimmed the bonus content of the book. There I stumbled upon a guest comic whom Scott Pilgrim’s creator, Bryan Lee O’Malley, introduced as the creator of the “delightfully English webcomic, Scary Go Round.” Being then and now an avid consumer of British pop culture, namely Edgar Wright’s Spaced at the time, I decided to go searching online. Scary Go Round had me hooked from the start with its forays into magical realism, horror and sci-fi yet still retaining a comedic and slice-of-life tonality. since then, I’ve avidly followed his subsequent works.[5] In time that single guest comic became a “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon”-esque gateway to many other webcomics and creators whom I’ve also come to cherish.[6]
When Giant Days broke out right after its debut at BOOM! studios, I was surprised and elated that finally John Allison was being recognized outside of webcomics, a medium while growing in scope and sophistication is only just coming out of its often marginal and sometimes maligned status. As mentioned throughout this review it was equally thrilling to see Allison work with a team of new artists and see how each could complement each other’s work. Although Giant Days has run its course, concluding in 2019, Allison has since gone on to create new published titles, and it looks like his name has enough clout that mainstream publishers are confident to publish him as solo creator and artist. However, given Max Sarin’s covers for both new titles, I doubt we have seen the last of further collaborations.[7]
Giant Days Vol. 9, p. 101
Available from BOOM! Studios, Giant Days is available in 59 single issues counting three specials or 14 trade paper-back volumes - and all are available digitally or in print. There are also three hardcover “Not on the Test” editions (though it seems these have ceased continuation).[8] The only drawback I can possibly think of for Giant Days is the inevitable transatlantic hurtle between British and American dialect and comedic sensibilities, but for most readers this barrier is easily overcome. Of all of John Allison’s stellar creations, Giant Days is his most accessible and therefore the best starting off point. And whether one chooses to explore further into his worlds, or if they are content to remain with and cherish Esther, Daisy, and Susan’s Giant Days, they will be with you forever and you won’t regret a moment.
[1] Printed volumes of Bad Machinery are published by Oni Press.
[2] During her time working with Giant Days, was mentored by Allison, Sr. Oni Press editor Jasmine Amiri, and cartoonist, Dan Berry [also host of the podcast “Make It and tell Everybody”).
[3] Prior to working on Giant Days, Treiman had previously worked on storyboards for major Disney projects including Tangled, Wreck-It Ralph and Big Hero 6.
[4] Unlike Allison’s other works, which often veer into the supernatural, magical realism, horror and science fiction, Giant Days is mostly grounded in reality.
[5] Bad Machinery, Bobbins, Giant Days, Destroy History, Steeple, and most recently Wicked Things
[6] Included in this pantheon are Questionable Content by Jeph Jacques, Anders Loves Maria by Rene Engstrom, Octopus Pie by Meredith Gran, Chloe Noonan: Monster Hunter by Marc Ellerby, EmiTown by Emily Lenox, Wasted Talent by Angela Melick, The Fox Sister by Cristina Strain & Jayd Aït-Kaci, Stand Still Stay Silent by Minna Sundberg and Check, Please! by Ngozi Ukazu.
[7] Steeple from Dark Horse Comics, and Wicked Things from BOOM! Studios (Max Sarin does all artwork for Wicked Things)..
[8] There is also a YA novel adaptation of Giant Days by author Non Prat published by Amulet Books.