Days (the title is taken from a Shirelles hit - as are the chapter headings) excels at capturing the feel of its era: artist Scott Chantler is especially adept at conveying the styles of the day, while his concise black-and-white ink work also conveys the period feel. Scripter Torres' main interest is in capturing the first steps of artist confidence. Unlike most traditional show biz stories, we don't see the artists' decline, just the moments of naive enthusiasm and joy at discovering your own voice. As delightful as many of the book's characters are, they remain secondary to the book's foremost concern: the nascent awareness that sisters can do it for themselves.
There aren't a lot of comic books devoted to oldies-but-goodies rock 'n' roll, let alone an era that's frequently marginalized for its pop lightness. If I have any complaint about Days, it lies in my wish that we'd gotten at least one good look inside the recording process (we primarily learn about it second-hand as Tina describes it to her younger brother); more panels are devoted to the Tiaras trying on matching dresses than to actually making their first hit record. But that's just the pop lover in me grousing. Taken on its own sparkling terms, Days Like This reminds us of this one incontrovertible pop culture truism: that even something as seemingly lightweight and inconsequential as a teen-beat single can be a major breakthrough for all those who created it.
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