Now that we're past the high concept of the book, Johnston and Hawthorne can get on to what Three Days in Europe is really about, and at a guess, what it's about is failed romance. It takes all of one issue for our generally self-involved and not-terribly-likable protagonists to throw themselves at other people, and given that their relationship didn't really seem all that strong in the first place, that's not a bad starting point. The question is, where does it go from here? Happiness with new lovers, struggle and then reconciliation, a decision to stay alone until the right person comes along? Right now, I'm not sure, and I like that uncertainty quite a bit.
In many ways, the story plays out like I expected it to. Once in the wrong place, both Jill and Jack find themselves attracted to someone else. I expected a little more hemming and hawing and reluctance before they went after an affair, however, and was pleasantly surprised that the couple seemed to recognize their unhappiness as much as the readers did in the first issue. There's plenty of laughs to be found in the way that Jack interacts with the art scene, or Jill's misfortune at being landed next to QED's self-proclaimed "biggest fan," but what really moves the story along is the sparks that fly between them and their new flames.
What surprises me most about Three Days in Europe is that I find almost all of the characters completely unlikable, and yet I'm still drawn to them. Jack is remarkably shallow, as is his new lover, but at the same time I sort of feel sorry for the guy because he's clearly looking for a less-serious relationship and maybe a less-serious life than the one he's been saddled with. At the same time, Jill is a little snobbish and Peter Dollar is plenty stuck on himself, but both of them are interesting to read about.
As with the first issue, Hawthorne brings a lot to the book with his artwork. Though his style is more stylized and "animated" rather than totally realistic, he grounds the story in realism and his work on the expressions of the characters is nothing short of terrific. I especially loved Jack's first meeting with Vivienne, which gets across both her beauty and charm and Jack's dumbfounded attraction, although the nervousness on Jill's face when she's backstage is a close second. Hawthorne stands alongside Steve Rolston and J. Bone as artists who I first really noticed at Oni, but who I'm sure I'll be seeing all over the industry sooner rather than later.
Three Days in Europe is a lot of fun, a romantic comedy with a bit of a cynical edge to it. Though Johnston's script shows the magic of new love and flirtation, there's always the undercurrent of a romance that has soured and gone bad which started the whole thing. Even better, because of that mixed emotion, there's no telling where the story could go from here, and a story that is unpredictable and fun is about as good as you can hope for.
