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Friday 8 May 2020

Giant Days, Volume 12 Review (John Allison, Max Sarin)


Ed and Neen have their first fight, Daisy takes a driving test and will Ess have a fling with - gasp! - Dean Thompson?! Also Su-Pto dons the proverbial deerstalker (and Esther’s goth scarf) to hunt down the comics shop thief before returning to the fearsome Northampton for the nuptials of McGraw’s pranktacular bro Frank and a member of the hated Shaw clan. It’s all to play for in Giant Days, Volume the 12th!

Giant Days is still amazing but you already knew that - I’ve gushed about this series in so many reviews at this point that you can basically call me Ol’ Faithful!

I didn’t totally like the Ed and Nina bit because it’s a birruva forced problem. Nina gets carried away when she’s drinking. Is she an alcoholic? Nah, she’s just young and still learning the game of drink. So, storm in a pint glass? Yeah. Well, not even, really, but basically. Hmm. And Daisy as a bad driver - we see her almost hit a barrier and that’s it. Her rep as the ultimate nightmare driver was unconvincingly overstated and felt like pointless filler.

But otherwise it’s another corker of a book. Susan goes all detective noir as she tracks down the comics thief and I kinda liked the tension of wondering (and hoping against!) whether Dean and Ess would somehow become the unlikeliest of couples after Dean’s mental wellness dog Perkin brought them together in a shared secret.

The highlight though is the McGraw/Shaw wedding. Lotsa fun moments, including Daisy wondering whether she’s in love with Esther and Susan preparing to fight her way through the reception at any moment. The scene with Susan and McGraw’s dad was very touching - Susan and Graham McGraw are the bestest couple evarrr!

It’s not the usual home-run but I mean, good lord, twelve volumes (and assorted specials, a prequel and a novel) and it’s still this good? That’s beyond impressive - that’s incomparable. There’s nothing like Giant Days!

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