Random Back Issues #107 - Giant Days: As Time Goes By #1

Well, it's only been two months since we last looked at Giant Days, but that's fine. Always time for that series, even if this was the conclusion of the book.

A year after graduation, Esther's working as an editorial assistant at a publishing house, and generally being taken advantage of by two completely awful women, both named Cressida. The constant dumping of their work on her desk has caused Esther to experience burnout on a severe scale. Worse, as she explains to equally depressed cog in the financial machine Ed Gemmel, she's missed ten weekend get-togethers with Daisy and Susan in a row.

As for those two, things are going much better. Daisy enjoys her work as, well, I'd be inclined to think she's working as a civic engineer, trying to prevent a famous footballers weird mausoleum from falling in on itself, but maybe that's standard archaeology work. She's also still dating Saffron, the girl with too much hair she met her last year in school.

Susan's working at the hospital, not getting to use a bone saw nearly as much as she'd like, while McGraw works at the key store and hopes for an engineering job offer to come in. Or does he?

Susan, in an attempt to update McGraw's desktop wallpaper to a sexy image of her, finds out he's been getting job offers in other towns and turning them down. She confronts him in her usually tactful manner, by which I mean she calls him, 'phenomenally stupid' while projecting an aura of flames. Only orange-yellow flames though, nothing too hot.

That's what Esther walks in on, so the weekend is off to a roaring start. Their evening of fun is on the upswing, until the Cressidas show up, having tracked Esther by her phone. Esther demonstrates her typical inability to brush off people she perceives as popular even if they're dicks, to Susan's complete disgust. She storms out, Daisy caught in her wake, and Esther ends up alone at some horrible jazz show after the Cressidas abandon her there.

Which makes for an awkward breakfast the next morning. Susan's her typical acerbic self, Daisy is polite, but to the point that the Cressidas suck, and Esther runs into the rain before tearfully admitting she's lonely, but didn't want to drag her friends down with her. What are friends for, if not to be torn apart in the maelstrom of your personal issues? Anyway, Susan demands a showdown and the Cressidas turn out to be. . .

I don't know what the fuck that is. Some hideous, energy-sucking, body-snatching wraith thing. Whatever it is, it's no weak against British public transportation. Susan ducks in the key store long enough to affirm she loves McGraw and wants him to pursue job opportunities, even if they take him elsewhere. In return, she gets a key. A big skeleton key. Cool. Random quest rewards are the best!

Esther and Daisy are hiding in line at the post office, counting on the Cressidas inability to cut the line. or maybe they're repelled by old people. Whichever. This time, combined with the ready availability of Post-It notes, has given Daisy the beginnings of a plan, missing just one key ingredient.

Yes, the key opens the footballer's mausoleum, and his ghost sucks the wraiths into some other dimension. The day is saved! Now all Esther has to do is explain to her boss what happened to the top executive assistants. I smell promotion! Or I smell smoke because she took Susan's advice to commit arson.

{4th longbox, 192nd comic. Giant Days: As Time Goes By #1, by John Allison (writer), Max Sarin (artist), Whitney Cogar (colorist), Jim Campbell (letterer)}