Starting with a joke about the annoyance of teaching parents technology, the main story in the latest issue of Giant Days is centred around a cricket match, in which Graham McGraw’s teammates end up mysteriously ill and Susan enlists some friends to replace the missing team-members. After a quick explanation of the rules of cricket, in such simple terms that even I was able to understand, the game begins.
Writer John Allison ensures the game itself has a fairly humorous tone overall and expresses the idea of hard-working underdogs against a well-polished team of people who are practically professionals. Whitney Cogar’s colouring remains fairly bright in tone throughout these scenes emphasising the idea of a fun summer activity. This thread of humour is continued through Daisy’s infatuation with a skilled player in the other team which also allows the game to become more interesting – as a result of her admiration Daisy’s sporting ability is compromised which further hinders the teams progress. A large amount of the gameplay is shown through expressive and over-exaggerated actions, all of which add to a sense of drama as the game continues. The movement and gesture artist Max Sarin gives the characters is particularly noteworthy, as the driving force of the narrative the action of the sport should remain a key element.
The cricket match allows readers to gain an insight into the Giant Days group dynamic and view each of the characters personalities as contrasted to each other. Working together to achieve a similar goal always tends to have an interesting effect on characters and this issue doesn’t disappointed. There’s a whole host of stereotypical sporting moments with Giant Days‘ own brand of fun; inspirational speeches, trash-talking the opposition and inconvenient injury- all used to impact upon the stakes of the game.
The tone the comic ends with is almost the complete opposite than the one used throughout. This stark contrast is emphasised by a subtler approach to the gesture – making it the moment more poignant as it is approached from a more “realistic” standpoint due to its lack of exaggeration. As well as this the colours are slightly less vibrant than in previous scenes making it appear more grounded and less energetic overall.
This issue of Giant Days promises entertainment with a heart-clenching twist at the end which brings a very different tone to the issue overall. It’s a gratifying issue to read as the series itself draws to its eventual close.
John Allison (W), Max Sarin (A), Whitney Cogar (C), Jim Campbell (L) • BOOM! Studios/BOOM! Box, $4.99
Review by Holly Raidl
