Non-Stop Laughs Await In Giant Days #32

The rock-solid friendship of Daisy, Susan, and Esther could be shaken to its very core due to…a housing crisis? The students are making plans for where to live next year and their paths are starting to diverge for the first time. So many questions arise as to where each of them could be going as they figure out their places in the world, all the while the laughs pile up left and right.

One of the many things that makes Giant Days one of my absolute favorite comics is how intricate the storytelling is. Writer John Allison and artist Max Sarin work together to use every square inch of this book. No panel is wasted and every bit of dialogue is used to either set up a gag, pull the story along, or produce a punchline.
The humor is turned up to eleven in this issue. It’s amazing how each joke works to set up the overall plot, like the creative team is building an elaborate contraption using every panel. It isn’t until you get close to the end of the comic that you realize where this path is leading and what it means for the characters. This doesn’t lessen the connection to Daisy, Susan, and Esther. Instead, it solidifies it by making them more relatable and real.

There are so many gags to love in Giant Days #32. Some of my favorites include Ingrid’s anger skateboarding (appearing mad with her arms crossed on a half-pipe) and the landlord dealing with the news that the girls are moving. They’re both pitch perfect jokes that are laugh-out-loud funny. They also hit so quick that you’re almost blindsided by them which makes them even funnier.
Of course, Sarin’s artwork works wonderfully with this humor. It comes through in the facial expressions of every single character. They’re on the verge of being cartoony, but are still reserved and realistic. It’s a great blend. Everyone is so expressive, like they’re turning their emotions up to new heights.
Esther has a dream sequence that is out of this world. Sarin does a tremendous job with it, adding wavy panel borders to give it that unreal effect. There’s one panel in particular, involving spiders, that turns the dream into a nightmare that is pretty terrifying too. It’s softened by the dialogue, so even if you’re freaked out by arachnids, you’ll have a smile on your face.

I’m running out of great things to say about Giant Days. There are only so many ways I can tell you how much I love this comic and how you should be reading it every month. It’s such a fun book that never fails to deliver with stellar artwork, terrific characters, and non-stop laughs. This is what I wish every sitcom was like. It also moves at such a fast pace that my only problem with it is that I want a new issue every single week.
Giant Days #32 is currently available at your local comic shop and digitally through ComiXology and Amazon Kindle.