Days Like This

    (Oni, 2003)
™ and ©2003 Oni Press

There are a number of things to recommend this volume. First of all, girl groups of the early ’60s are not a topic that has been trampled to death by the comics medium. Second, precious few comics feature African-American females as the central characters. (X-Men’s Storm doesn’t count.) Finally, it is exceptionally well-written and illustrated.

While Christina and her friends (collectively “Tina and the Tiaras”) are the central characters, they do not drive the story as much as their matron, divorcée and upstart record producer Anna Solomon.
The most upright and identifiable characters are the women, Mrs. Anna and Christina’s mother, Lillian. While they have their own flaws (Anna’s neglect of her own daughter, for example), they are stellar beacons compared to the men. The Solomon brothers are a gambler and a weasel, respectively. Christina’s father is too scared of change and what the neighbors will think to even form his own opinions. But all of them ring true.

The story ends abruptly, on the cusp of the girls’ big break. While it is complete, telling the story Torres wanted to tell, it does leave the reader wanting more. There are no signs (like “volume one” or “to be continued”) to indicate that more is coming, but it’s to be hoped that more is. Many of these very real characters have raised issues crying out for stronger closure.

— Jack Abramowitz / Comics Buyer‘s Guide’s Reading Room
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#1

March, 2003
Cover Price: $8.95
1 copy available for $6.99 		J. TorresScott Chantler