Giant Days by John Allison

I held off from finishing this comic for a long time.

I started reading it years ago and I adore it. It tells the story of three friends, Susan, Daisy, and Esther, meeting in university in Sheffield. It begins with their first year and over the course of 50-something issues takes the reader through three years of university with them.

It's the best slice of life comic I've read. Every page has some significant beat, whether it is a joke (it's very funny) or a dramatic moment (it is sad, touching, powerful). It's the best comic I've read about friendship, about becoming an adult. It is weird - there are touches of the supernatural, or at least a kind of magical realism. It has a host of wonderful characters. The core cast grows as it proceeds and everyone is well drawn and distinctive, both in the writing and visually. The art is fantastic. It is cartoony and expressive and playful.

I had a sensation when I finished it, when looking through a load of comics on my Comixology account, and feeling like it is the hardest thing to follow. It is so much fun. 

Anyway, if you are at all curious about the work of John Allison he has put a lot of comics on his site. His Patreon is also great. 

There's a huge back catalogue of comics, loosely connected to Giant Days, which I've only read a fraction of. Maybe 2025 is the year to dive in.