Three Days in Europe is a different take on that old catchphrase, the "movie on paper." Usually that means something along the lines of an action movie, but what Johnston and Hawthorne have captured is the sort of thing we used to see with Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn, a screwball romantic comedy with more than a touch of slapstick. What started out as a borderline ridiculous high concept has reached out for the higher levels of ridiculous coincidence and contrivance, which actually turns out to be a good thing in making this book outrageous and hilarious.
So our intrepid couple, an advertising executive and an employee at an art gallery, have become linked with the worlds of art theft and high profile rock and roll. The results have changed them both, and might serve as a catalyst for a re-examination of their relationship. Certainly Jack might appreciate the more mundane life he had with Jill now that he's seen the downside of this bit of adventure, and likewise Jill might find Jack's more restrained nature attractive after being with Pete the living ego. Mind you, she's not likely to start enjoying Q.E.D.'s music anymore now that she knows them.
Really, though, Three Days isn't about Jack and Jill's relationship so much as it is the trouble that they can get into (or out of) individually. Johnston has surrounded these interesting lead characters with some fun supporting characters and antagonists, including the American-hating and generally deranged Pascal, the arrogant but still somehow likable Pete Dollar and the rest of the Q.E.D. crew. Jack's confrontation with Pascal was a lot of fun, and I also very much enjoyed seeing how Jill is fitting in so frighteningly well with the superficial and demanding world of rock stardom.
Of course, comedy in comics is difficult if you don't have an artist that can pull it off, but fortunately Johnston has been blessed with Mike Hawthorne, whose work here has been nothing short of terrific. He captures the frantic pacing of Jack's escape and attempt at reconnecting with Jill, and a big part of the sympathy I feel for poor Jack comes thanks to the generally rundown and panicked look that Hawthorne gives him. In contrast, the transformation of Jill into slick rock group hanger-on has changed her characterization as much as anything she has said.
Three Days in Europe is the kind of thing that, if it were released as a movie, would be #1 at the box office on its opening weekend. It's got a wide appeal to mainstream audiences as well as comics fans, and to help matters out, it's also really good and really, really funny.
