Baby metal grown up.
Creative Staff:
Story: John Allison
Art: Max Sarin
Colors: Whitney Cogar
Lettering: Jim Campbell
What They Say:
Esther’s old school friend “Big Lindsay” comes to visit with her baby, but watching the kid and being nice to the insatiable party girl begins to wear on everyone.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
All is good in the neighborhood where Daisy and Ester want to go and swim. This peace abruptly ends when Ester’s friend Lindsay comes to town. Known as a destructive partying force, Lindsay goes big with her alcohol, her dancing, and raging. Ester knows she can’t hang around that influence, but will her past get the best of her?
John Alison answers these questions quite quickly. We get treated to the usual horror expression of one’s face when the past comes to haunt them, with this time being Ester. As the issue comes along, we quickly see that Ester can’t hang with the constant partying…and so can’t Lindsay as she opts for bowling with Ed instead of hardcore metal music. This development leads towards us discovering that Lindsay is a mom, who now has to handle responsibilities of being a parent. While she tried to escape it for a weekend, not only do the feelings of being a parent tug at her, the past is clearly shaping up to be a lot better remember then actually relieved. These feelings lead towards a resolution that feels satisfying and well delivered. While the premise seems, and is, simple, Alsion’s work behind the scenes with characters makes this issue of Giant Days come out.
Again, Giant Days comes up strong with its multiple character development. Many issues of comics tend to keep towards one character and yet Giant Days handles three characters in one issue. We get to look into Daisy’s homeschooling life, breaking the stereotypes of homeschooled students while bringing other aspects of her life which play out later in the issue. Meanwhile, we get a peek into Ester’s life and her perception versus reality of Lindsay which then plays out with Lindsay’s character development as well. All of these parts easily moving together in a string of panels that cohesively tells a story a good story about growing up. The only thing that seemed to stand out was Susan’s development. It comes off somewhat abrupt and non-integral to the story, even though it is integral to the arc. It’s one of the few times where the development of both could use better intertwining to make the issue more cohesive and fluid. Speaking of development, this issue does take care of Lindsay’s development as a character even if is a bit standard.
Lindsay’s development in the series is quite standard but still feels unique. In the beginning, we see the metal aspect, but as the issue goes on we find out that her metal look is in appearance only. She actually comes off a bit more soft, but also mature as a person. Her contrast from beginning to end in this issue is striking, but it makes sense. Many adults will vouch for kids changing how you live. Many more who are teenagers and young adults will talk about the responsibility of taking care of a kid that young. Kudos to Alison for providing the proper gravitas in the context of Giant Days for Lindsay’s decision and making it read without a hint of judgment on Lindsay. It’s the type of handling that often gets mangled when done, and rarely applauded when handled right given the context.
Lastly, a note about the illustration. Max Sari and Whitney Cogar do excellent work illustrating and coloring Giant Days. Lively characters, popping colors, it gives a style to Giant Days that’s accessible while being fun and enjoyable to everyone regardless of whether they read comics, manga, or graphic novels. The lettering from Jim Campbell comes of legible and quite adequately placed though it rarely deviates from the norm except for sound effects. At those points, they are handled well and make the issue truly shine.
In Summary:
This issue proves why Giant Days became a continuing series. It is a well written, funny series about women learning to come to grips with maturing by dealing with issues all adults must go through. Seeing how Lindsay and Ester had to come to grips of being an adult, learning that the past sometimes comes off more glorious than it actually was, is something that all adults must learn (even though 90s kids will beg to differ). It’s what makes us learn to keep going, prioritize and even become a better person warning the kids about the mistakes they could make if they don’t follow your advice. The way Alison handles all of these cogs in an issue is amazing, but at the same time, not, as it’s what we expect when coming to the issue. All we can say is more days should come to Giant Days, and hopefully, Susan’s paper arc will wrap up in due time.
Grade: A-
Age Rating: 15+
Released By: BOOM! Studios
Release Date:January 6th, 2016
MSRP: $3.99
