At this point it seems appropriate to get to know the cast a little better starting with the trio.Īllison possesses above all else a fantastic wit and is a master of wordplay. When BOOM! Studios picked up Giant Days and handed the artwork over to Treiman, John Allison had plenty of time to flesh out the rest of the cast. Also, it’s when Treiman started working that the cast of Giant Days, especially its primary trio of Esther, Susan and Daisy, became a true ensemble.Īlthough the three girls were first introduced in the original miniseries, everything heavily revolved around Esther de Groot, which is not surprising given that she had just spun off from Allison’s webcomics (note* One does not need to have read the original webcomics to enjoy Giant Days).

It is no surprise that Treiman’s best sequences are dance scenes, brawls, and team huddles. As cliché as it might sound, the reading experience does feel more like watching an animated show than reading a comic (especially given similarities to the current Disney style). Giant Days now had a rhythm ebb and flow that it previously didn’t in Allison’s original miniseries. Treiman put her talents as a storyboard artist to great effect for the first six issues. Much to Allison’s surprise and relief, Giant Days was an overnight hit and his first work to breach a wider audience beyond the realm of webcomics.įortunately for him and all, BOOM! managed to team Allison up with two phenomenal artists Southern California-based Lissa Treiman (on issues 1-6) - who was and still is an accomplished storyboard artist with Disney and Max Sarin (Issues 7–37, 40–47, 49–54 ), a Finnish cartoonist only beginning to dabble in comics at Glyndwr University in Wales and later at Kanneljärven Opisto in her home country. Finally, he pitched his revised version to Shannon Watters (editor at BOOM! Studios and co-creator of the hit YA comic series, Lumberjanes ) who saw its potential. Despite these setbacks, churning ideas and a growing attachment to his characters sent Allison back to the drawing board.

The other project, Giant Days which followed supporting cast member Esther de Groot making her way through her freshman year at college with little more intended than a character study - which was sidelined by disinterest and a crisis of confidence on Allison’s part. An obvious direction Allison went with was two spin-offs the first, Bad Machinery - which went on to great acclaim, even making the Young Adult Library Services Association’s annual “Great Graphic Novels For Teens” list in 2016.

In 2009 John Allison had completed his longest webcomic ( Scary Go Round ) and was thinking of where to go next.

Giant Days, Vol. 2 by John Allison