Giant Days, Vol. 7

Giant Days (Single Issues) #25-28

by John Allison, Max Sarin (Illustrator), John Allison

Esther, Susan, and Daisy continue to face the rigors of young adulthood in this Eisner-nominated series.

Fast friends Susan, Daisy, and Esther continue their second year at Sheffield University, and these are formative times, indeed. Education and looking ahead to the future isn’t all that college holds in-store for these ladies--grocery store protests, family reunions, and even an MMORPG wedding are all on this semester’s docket.  

John Allison (Bad Machinery, Scary Go Round) and illustrators Max Sarin and Liz Fleming, take us to Sophomore year’s second semester in Giant Days Volume 7, which collects Issues #25-28 of the Eisner Nominated series.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Young Adult, Contemporary, Graphic Novels Comics, Fiction, Humor

112 pages, Paperback

First published March 27, 2018

About the author

John Allison is the author and artist of the British webcomics Scary Go Round and Bad Machinery.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See other authors with similar names.

Reviews

[Chelsea (chelseadolling reads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Petition for more McGraw all da time. Thanks

[Sam Quixote · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve just emerged from the longest dry spell of reading any quality books I’d rate four stars or above in years - it’s been over a MONTH! So thank goodness that a new Giant Days arc drops just when I think I’ve got anhedonia. Seven - SEVEN! - books in and this title is still first class all the way. HOW ARE YOU DOING THIS, YOU MAD GENIUS JOHN ALLISON!!!?! Seriously, no other comics series I’ve read has been this consistently good.

In Volume 7, Susan goes back to Northampton at Christmastime to play matchmaker to her estranged parents, McGraw and Ed Gemmell are aghast to discover their insufferable housemate Dean Thompson has found love, Esther dabbles in protesting, and Daisy has her first relationship fight with Ingrid.

Every issue is a gem. I loved meeting Susan’s whole family and how she tried rallying all of her older sisters (she’s the youngest) to bring Big Geoff and her mum back together. I like how John Allison can be so funny but also throw in moments of stark pathos. Susan’s mum talks about how the estrangement happened - “Forty years of tiny crimes rattling round an empty house” - and it rings so true without seeming awkwardly placed amidst the comedy. And Big Geoff is always wunnerful!

Artist Max Sarin continues to draw everything perfectly. She takes us into Dean Thompson’s fantasy online game during his whirlwind romance story for an imaginative change of pace. Then she gives us a panel that stuck out to me for being so weirdly funny for some reason: McGraw eavesdropping on Dean’s chat with his lady friend with Allison quipping “She passed the Turing test”! The warped dreamtime panels when the girls set out to uncover the mystery of their locked garage was delightfully trippy too.

Usually I can’t stand the kind of smug, self-satisfied idiots who protest but Allison turned Esther into one for an issue and still made me love her - that’s how bonkers talented this writer is!

I think the day I stop enjoying Giant Days is the day I give up comics for good. If you’re stuck amidst mediocrity to read, find these beautiful books of brilliance to briefly brighten up your brain! Like the other six Giant Days volumes, Volume 7 is a home-run. I can’t recommend this title more - it’s the full package!

[Bookishrealm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Update: I think I completely forgot what was in this volume. Readers get to see more of Susan’s background particularly pertaining to her family. There is also something going on between McGraw and Susan and I’m hoping (fingers seriously crossed) it means that they’re getting back together. Daisy is also in a relationship with Ingrid and this volume explores the issues that the two have. While I like that Daisy is some what happy I think that she’s eventually going to lose herself in Ingrid. They feel like polar opposites and I don’t exactly like them together. Esther is kind of doing her own thing in this volume. There’s a focus on her learning more about civic engagement. It’s interesting to see Esther explore a little more outside of her comfort zone. Overall, this was another great volume and I’m looking forward to continuing my read. Art is BEAUTIFUL.

This book was just as good as the other volumes. I'm thinking about doing a re-read soon because I just love the stories behind these three ladies. If you haven't picked up this series you definitely need to get to it soon

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Volume 7 of John Allison’s Giant Days is the tale of three roommates Susan, Esther, and Daisy, in their second year at uni, Sheffield. Susan goes home for Christmas to deal with all of her sisters and to try and reunite her parents. Esther becomes a supermarket protestor, and Daisy fights with Ingrid. Is that all?! Just try it and see what I mean when I say it is about not much and is still great.

Allison is consistently funny with the dialogue, one of the best ever, and Sarin’s drawing is great as usual. So goofy and sweet and fun, this series. I love this series and can’t wait for the next volume.

[destiny ♡ howling libraries · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vol 1: ★★★★☆
Vol. 2: ★★★★★
Vol. 3: ★★★★★
Vol. 4: ★★★★★
Vol. 5: ★★★★★
Vol. 6: ★★★★★
Vol. 7: ★★★★★
Vol. 8: ★★★★★
Vol. 9: ★★★★★
Vol. 10: ★★★★★

I'm so happy that we got more McGraw in this volume than we've been getting lately. 😭 I need more McGraw in this series. Also, how precious, Susan and Esther supporting Daisy in finding her own time to come out to Granny. ♥ And the chinchillas! Ahhh. I loved it all.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great volume in one of my favourite comic book series! The girls keep being so much fun and I'm loving where the story is going. Also, I think my favourite couple might get back together and I cannot wait for it to happen, I really liked them before and so I just want to see them together again. As always, I highly recommend this series.

[Vera-Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75/5⭐️

I had only one laugh out loud moment in this volume but I still really enjoyed it. This is a series that I really never get tired of I’m always so excited to read them and I can’t wait for the next one. But now I have to wait till August to read the next one.

Reread: 4.5/5 Stars
I actually liked this one more than last time. I didn't laugh, but I think the plot was really good and the characters were funny.

[Ioanna ms✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

this volume did not give me what I wanted, which is more Susan and McGraw, and I'm frustrated😟 Still, the Christmas issue was once again delightful 😊

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still a fabulous series! Not sure how Allison manages to keep coming up with these silly shenanigans.

I have given this 4 stars because I’m not ‘feeling’ the relationship between Daisy and Ingrid. Looking forward to see if Susan and McGraw rekindle their romance, and I bloody love Esther. Why couldn’t I have been her growing up?

[rachel, x · Rating 4 out of 5]

#1) Giant Days, Vol. 1 ★★★★★
#2) Giant Days, Vol. 2 ★★★★★
#3) Giant Days, Vol. 3 ★★★★★
#4) Giant Days, Vol. 4 ★★★★★
#5) Giant Days, Vol. 5 ★★★★★
#6) Giant Days, Vol. 6 ★★★★★
#8) Giant Days, Vol. 8 ★★★★☆
#9) Giant Days, Vol. 9 ★★★★★
#10) Giant Days, Vol. 10 ★★★★☆
#11) Giant Days, Vol. 11 ★★★★☆
#12) Giant Days, Vol. 12 ★★★★★
#13) Giant Days, Vol. 13 ★★★★☆
#14) Giant Days, Vol. 14 ★★★★☆

▷ Representation: Daisy (mc) is a lesbian.

Blog • Trigger Warning Database • StoryGraph

[Melissa Chung · Rating 5 out of 5]

This graphic novel series never disappoints. 5 stars!!

Like all of my reviews this is a continuation in a series so I can’t say much. It is the best young adult/adult sitcom I’ve ever witnessed. I wish it was a real t.v. show. Daisy, Susan and Esther are so funny. I just absolutely love them together. They are friendship goals. The men in their lives Ed and McGraw help with their comedy and the situations they find themselves in gives me life. I’ve read every volume with a smile on my face and always a second away from a chuckle. I wish I could be friends with these gals.

If you haven’t picked up these graphic novels... seriously do they are a must.

[Carmen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don't mind me. I can't be objetive with these girls. I've just fallen for the Three of Them. The mess they are, how they grow up in each volume. Their University shennanigans, their friends, their families, everything is utter perfection. It is nostalgia of college years- how I wish my friends back then had been a bit like them- and current trendy problems, Irony and reality and a bit of mischief.One of life simple pleasures:)

[Dannii Elle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume centred around the trio's Christmas break and snowy January school return. I loved that it provided a further exploration of their families and lives outside of university, which meant that the cast of characters was widened leaving more scope for the further directions this series could take.

[Ashley Daviau · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is by far my favourite volume out of the series yet! Mind you, I’m probably going to say this about every single volume in this series if it continues being this great. I just love these characters so much and they really bring me back to my college days and all the uncertainty you constantly feel. And I just love McGraw so DAMN MUCH, I was ecstatic to see more of him in this volume! I also really enjoyed the comedy in this one, it actually made me laugh out loud multiple times which is a rare thing for me when I’m reading!

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fantastic volume of Giant Days. This is fast becoming the comicbook I look forward to reading the most each month. It's always hilarious and Max Sarin's artwork gets better with every issue. Highly recommended.

[Austra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Šis sējumiņš bija viss tas, kā dēļ man šī sērija iepatikās. Šoreiz ģimenes drāma jeb Ziemassvētki, baisi dzīvokļa biedri un viņu mīlas dzīve, nu un visi pārējie kreņķīši, kas cilvēkiem gadās tā ap tiem 20.

[Kayla Charisse · Rating 5 out of 5]

I. Love. This. Series. So. Much.

[Lucía Cafeína · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vaya maravilla que es Giant Days, oro puro 💕
Divertida, sarcástica, tierna y emocionante. Si es que lo tiene todo.

[kasia · Rating 5 out of 5]

4,5

Kocham i na pewno będę kupować dalsze tomy po angielsku (to jest ostatni tom wydany w Polsce)

[Anete · Rating 4 out of 5]

Burvīgi, sirdi sildoši meiteņu piedzīvojumi.

[Paz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finished my 7-volume-long-reread! Now I finally get to start reading the second half of this series, all new adventures for me!
Okay, with whats happening right now in the world, reading one volume a day has kept me sane, really, if you guys havent picked Giant Days yet, please dooo, I promise you'll get more than a few laughs.
This volume offers:
Christmas break! Family fights and the self-realization of one's ignorance and lack of self-awareness plus... RPG weddings and CHEATING?
The girls are really showing their different personalities lately, they're living their own little adventures, but their friendship keeps on being the heart of this series.
That being said, I do feel like there was a shift in the series now that the girls are living together and it's their second year at Uni. (I miss first year.) It strangely feels more episodic now, and the cast of characters, the OG 5, are barely together in one scene these days, which kind of sucks, because I m not really a fan of a couple of new characters.
Still, I can't wait to keep reading, many issues to go!

Original review:
3.5 stars.
SUSAN PTOLEMY, what the funk are you doing?!!!

Okay, maaaaybe this is my least favorite volume, but I still quite liked it. I was never bored, but the issues here weren't as good as I was hoping, except the one about Dean's wedding, I laughed a lot with that one.
NOW, I'm seriously considering buying the single issues on Comixology, because I need more of this series!

[Anna (Bananas) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really want to give the series in general 5 stars. This volume came the closet to 5 so far.
We get to meet Susan’s family, which was a blast. Esther has to deal with some academic competition. Emilia is annoyingly perfect as always but also endears herself for once. Things are finally rekindling between McGraw and Susan, thank God. Daisy has her share of challenges in Ingrid, who continues to be a bit of a nightmare, but man is she fun.
The only storyline I didn’t care for was Dean’s. If could go away I wouldn’t miss him at all.
The various plot lines though are basically frameworks within which we can enjoy these characters. Giant Days is all about the characters and they’re so much fun. I always laugh reading these comics. There’s also a sense of relatability and reality, even when the situations are wild. You know these girls. You might have been one of these girls in college.

[Lost in Book Land · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am still loving the Giant Days series and intend to read volume eight probably after I finish my current read and then the current volume of Saga I am reading. So it is on the list and fairly high up on the list!

SPOILERS AHEAD

In this volume we see our favorite characters encounter even more college life situations and shenanigans. Since this is volume seven I really have to stay vague so I do not give away too much of the plot lines that are going on this far into the series. However, if you did want to jump into the series I think you could almost start wherever you want and still understand what is going on. But I would recommend starting from volume one if you plan to give this series a try.

Our three ladies encounter relationship issues in this volume, in which one of our characters has their first real differences with their partner. Turning them into a little bit of a different person and also showing them a new side to their relationship. With another character, we also jump into the world of MMORPGs and weddings! As I said above I am continuing to love this series and plan to read on. I have purchased a few more of the volumes and hope to have them all at some point, I just love this series so much. It is pretty rare for me to purchase a graphic novel series (I have to really love it) so the fact that I want all of these means this series is awesome. I gave this volume five stars on Goodreads.

Hi Again!

Recently, it’s been very rainy here and I love to read on rainy days. I have been re-reading the Giant Days series (one of my favorites of all time), and so I took a rainy evening opportunity to grab volume 7 on Hoopla and head to a cozy spot. I read the whole volume in one sitting, and since this is a re-read and my prior reviews are still live here and on Goodreads, I am going to keep the spoiler level to a minimum, but all that to say, go check out Giant Days if you have not yet!

SPOILERS AHEAD

In this volume, we see the reuniting of Susan and McGraw (swoon). We also see Daisy and Ingrid’s relationship play out more and I am still not the biggest fan of this relationship. I think it does not really make Daisy as happy as she could be but it also keeps her from being herself in many ways. The group also attends an in video game wedding that ends with the potential married couple breaking up.

I still love this series so much, and it brings me so much comfort and joy. I know that John Allison, the author of the series, is working on something new (fingers crossed it has many of our Giant Days faves in it), but in the meantime, I am going to keep on reading.

Goodreads Rating: 5 Stars

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

At the end of 2019, I binge-read a few volumes of Giant Days that I had sitting on my personal collection shelf that I hadn’t gotten around to reading. While I knew that I loved this series, getting that blatant reminder was a wonderful slap to the face and prompted me to check out further volumes of the series from my library.

This volume continues to the follow the lives of Susan, Esther, and Daisy with each issue having its own little story: Susan goes home for Christmas and tries to get her estranged parents back together; Esther gets woke and finds herself protesting the opening of a new supermarket; Daisy has a fight with her girlfriend Ingrid; McGraw and Ed Gemmell find out their awful roommate has found love online.

Allison’s writing in this series is so goddamn funny. I laughed out loud frequently while reading this volume. Also, while each issue has its own story, there is the larger narrative thread of the girls growing/maturing and the changes and challenges this brings. These are further explored in the next volume, but you can see the seeds being planted here. This really helps ground the series and make the characters relatable to the reader - this relatability paired with the humour is what really makes this series special imo. It’s great stuff!

[Luce · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the many fantastic things about Giant Days is that it does what almost everything else can’t, and that’s to seamlessly incorporate current slang and vernacular, in the proper contexts, without it coming across like old people trying to be Down With The Lingo. The writer must spend a lot of time on Twitter, or else really listens to the way the young people in his life talk.

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stuff and nonsense, to steal a phrase from one of the last pages of the book. Delightfully amusing stuff and nonsense though. Like solid episodes from a good sitcom, the stories in this collection amuse in the moment even if they tend to evaporate from one's mind over time.

[Alex Nonymous · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one, as always, was really fun.

Plus, I sense McGraw becoming a more feature character again and I'm P U M P E D. It's a testament to how wonderful he is that 1/3 of our main characters is canonically Sapphic but I'm still spending all my time shipping the heteros.

[Lukasz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series is brilliant.

[Travis Duke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still giving me all the warm fuzzy and silly feelings 7 books later. After 7 books its still fresh and warmhearted the art is still really awesome, I cant really put my finger on the art... it is magical and fits the stories like a glove those expressive faces win me over every time. Susan's family was one of my favorites, loved seeing her sisters and talk about warm fuzzy feelings at the end... jeez. The Dean story was the weakest luckily Esther saved the story and the day at the end. Poor Daisy and her love troubles, but you can't help but laugh at Ingrid and that masterpiece of a mural. And finally the Chinchilla moment was genius I was laughing out loud. More please

[libraryofjonna · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

giant days continues to be a graphic novel series I thoroughly enjoy every time I pick up a volume. even though the episodic nature of the series has in the past prevented me from feeling engaged in the characters and story it works quite well when you pick up a volume every once in a while.

I think this particular volume in particular has been my favourite in the series so far and I look forward to continue picking more volumes up.

read for the newt’s magical readathon: defence against the dark arts O