Three Days in Europe presents a situation I'm never going to be in, starring people who are nothing like people that I know. And I love it, because Johnston and Hawthorne make me believe it. This is one of those things that is rarely tried in comics, a straightforward romantic comedy along the lines of a Cary Grant/Kate Hepburn picture. The premise is great, out there but not completely far-fetched, the characters are equally balanced between being realistic and being entertaining and Hawthorne's artwork is clear and strong, capturing the expressions of the characters and the humor to be found there perfectly.
I learned early on in my marriage that my wife didn't like surprises. I'm a fan of the occasional surprise, myself, but I can see where a surprise can be more trouble than it's worth, whether it's a birthday party, a present or, in the case of Three Days in Europe, a vacation. Or, as the case may be, two vacations. The odds against a couple booking separate surprise vacations at the same time are long, but not impossible, and that keeps the story within the realm of the possible while still hitting the ridiculous nature required to make it funny instead of tragic.
Actually, Johnston sets up the relationship between Jack and Jill as one that has had more than a few of these troubled moments and unfortunate coincidences. In fact, given that their interests and mindsets are so completely different, it's not hard to see why their relationship is so troubled in general. The toughest part Johnston had as far as selling me on the book was convincing me that this couple should be together at all, and that's taken care of when the two of them wind up on separate adventures. The story could go either way, showing us that something keeps them together even when circumstances keep them apart, or maybe providing each of them with a clarity of vision about the real state of their relationship.
There's a subtlety of storytelling and plenty of comic timing going on in the script, and in the artwork by Mike Hawthorne. I loved the cue of the Q.E.D. CDs on the desk in the first page, giving us essential character information about Jack that will become important during the initial discussion with Jill about the vacations, and I was especially pleased with the evil glint in Jill's eyes when she's winning an argument or planning something, a nice twist on the nice face that she is usually given throughout. In addition, the funniest gag for me in this issue was probably the coincidence that Jack and Jill had talked to the same person at the airline, another stretch of credibility that pays off in comedic terms.
Even if Three Days in Europe wasn't very good, I'd have to give credit to the creators for tapping a rarely-touched genre in comics and for coming up with such a fun premise. Fortunately, on top of a great premise and the rarely-explored romantic comedy genre, Johnston and Hawthorne have plenty of talent, and so they have infused Three Days in Europe with plenty of energy, a light touch and a real sense of character relationships that should pay out in laughs and in romantic tension that the readers can care about.
