Giant Days #23

Now that the girls, in their second year of college, are living off-campus, the stories by John Allison, Max Sarin, and Liz Fleming are less about college hijinks and more about trying to grow up. As shown here by that terror of adulthood, the dinner party.

Susan’s sick and refuses to take care of herself, Esther’s waiting to hear about a job at the local comic shop, and Daisy’s spending more time with her girlfriend. So to cheer everyone up, they decide to invite people in for their cooking (which they don’t really do well). Guests include Susan’s ex-boyfriend and his current, more perfect girlfriend; his roommate (who had a crush on Esther); and their other roommate, who’s made the house a pigsty.

The dialogue remains my favorite part of this series, with these distinctive personalities talking about nothing much together. I’m remind of the classic Spaced, albeit with fewer geek references, but the same strong friendship among roommates and bizarrely interesting discussions.

Although this issue is enjoyable on its own, with the situation established and worked through, there are hints that some of the incidents will have more effect in the series to come. I look forward to following along.

Cover by Lissa Treiman