One of Those Days is a translation from the original Spanish version of the graphic novel.

Set in 1980s Spain, it follows a day in the life of a group of teenage boys who become convinced that at 8pm that day, the world will end.

Trying to survive the Apocalypse, the boys try to gather materials and find an appropriate shelter to survive.

I don't feel that the storyline was as tight as it could have been and the political commentary in this graphic novel is fine, as is its commentary on drug use and trauma, however it’s very old-fashioned.

1982. Leiva, Manu and El Canijo are three friends who always go everywhere together. They share their struggles, concerns, hopes, and fears. And their greatest fear of all is the end of the world, predicted by American preachers to occur on the afternoon of October 2, 1982. With the help of a few everyday objects, they will build masks, suits and everything necessary to survive the final judgment at all costs. Although not everything will end as they imagined

I liked the idea of hiding from the world —it was very interesting. I liked the art quite a bit too. It had a cool, modern vibe. I did find the plot a little disjointed at times, but it was a good read.

I didn't really enjoy this one. The drawing was cool. I really enjoyed the art but the storyline wasn't for me. It was not hooking me like a good graphic novel would.

I didn't really like the artwork in this graphic novel or the storyline. It was a bit jumbled and confusing.

What I liked about this graphic novel is very little. The art was good and the characters, landscape were diverse and troubled which was portrayed very well. The other parts such as the story flow or the actual depth of the information was very shallow for me.

I found many instances where I sympathized for the characters plight in the world but then I couldn't relate much because of the broken flow of the story. I really liked the idea of hiding for the end of the world and the many instances which bring to light the raw honest parts of our world. The newspapers and radios which played a major role in our previous generation life. The threat of safety being snatched away, of being different, of losing yourself is all very real.

I wish the book had had a better flow and that it had been more descriptive of the familial instances. The book wasn't very clear of all the things at the basics of the story.

I knew full well that as a translation, I might find this one a little difficult to follow. There are a number of cultural references I just couldn't grasp. The art is very stylized, not my preferred style. Still, a fascinating snapshot of Europe in the 80s.

Wow to the art, including the use of color. Wow to the story, especially in terms of characterization. This is a graphic novel worthy of some love.

Thank you to the publisher for giving me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

This one really missed the mark. The only story I got from this comic was "You should have been born in the 80' because that was the best time period. Everyone else missed out." type of vibe. I believe there were some moments where we were supposed to learn and stuff but the way they brought things to the light made it cringey and not worth putting thought into.
I think this comic had a high potential but really missed the mark which is sad since the artwork is so beautiful.

This is the type of book I think that would have done better if it was published in the 1980s, the period in which it seeks to make a message. As it is, the message seems distorted and not straightforward. Parts of it I liked, other parts, seemed unnecessary.

The art was amazing. I liked this book but I did not love it. It was kind of confusing and the characters were not vert relatable. But overall it was good.

ok..... I don't really know how to begin...

I love the art style, the different drawings were really interesting, the mixture of the black-and-white and the color illustrations were good.

HOWEVER…… the story wasn’t. It didn’t captivated me, and I also didn’t care about the characters (which is completely understandable, because is a short comic).

The book tells the story about three friends. One of them listens that the world will end and he is totally freak out about it, and the possible invasions of the planet, and aliens, and stuff like that. And then he go with his two friends to prepare for the end of the world.

Oh, and there is a missing boy. Which will make sense at some point.

As I said, I didn’t like the story so much, because I didn’t think it was interesting enough. I don’t want to say it was pointless, but… you know… it kinda was.

A melancholy look at adolescence and friendship in nineteen seventies and nineteen eighties Spain. A man returns to his parents' home and remembers his youthful days, portrayed in vivid watercolor. The current time is in a graphic black and white ink style.

For me this comic fell a little flat. The art was odd at times and when reading panels they could be confusing. The story seemed interesting I mean how wouldn't it; it's the end of times and these friends get on preparing for it... Sadly it was kind of boring for me.


I just reviewed One Of Those Days by Script & art by Andrés Leiva.

First of all, the art in this graphic novel was incredible - perhaps some of the most beautiful art I've ever seen in a graphic novel. There were these very specific moments where the art took up a whole page or where one panel bled into another and it's so incredibly well done. If this book was to be judged on art alone I would've given it 5 stars.
While the story has some important issues (such as the subject of handling trauma) I was quite confused a lot of the time, unsure of who said what and why they said it - and, perhaps more importantly, I was confused as to what was actually happening most of the time. Perhaps it is the translation that made it difficult? That being said, the ending of the story was really well done and I enjoyed the 'twist' and the interesting take on how a world can end in more than one way - I must say, I feel like there were quite a lot of things that weren't tied up, but I feel like it might didn't need to. I'm unsure.

Overall, I enjoyed it enough to give it three stars but I don't think it's going to leave a lasting impression. Most of the stars are for the art rather than the story, unfortunately.

A subtle color palette in ochre, green, and brown accompanies this 1980's throwback story set in Cordoba Spain. The main character has become convinced that the world is going to end on a specific date, and he spends much of the graphic novel predicting in angst how and why this is going to happen. The language and depictions of teenage hormones felt familiar and screamed middle/high school experience... kids can be vulgar and crude, and that element of the story all felt honest. Unfortunately, something feeling true isn't always enough to grab a reader, and this felt... dry? To me? It missed the mark, though admittedly I probably am not the intended audience.
The rare full page illustrations were breathtaking, but I'm not sure they added much tonally to the story. In fact, there were several pages that I almost felt like I could just skim over, including more text heavy areas. I may return to it in a week or two and see if sitting on it makes a difference.

Thank you to Netgalley and Europe Comics for an e-arc of the book in exchange for an honest review.

3/5 Stars.

One of Those Days (translated from its original Spanish) is a coming of age story set in 1980's Spain. The story follows a group of kids over the course of one day, the day they're sure that the world is going to end. As the boys attempt to prepare for the Apocolypse we see glimpses into the reality of their lives. Facing substance abuse, mental health issues, poverty, and teenage angst the characters are attempting to escape their problems if only for one day.

The artwork is gorgeous and the writing really came alive because of it. The characters and settings were distinct and easy to follow.

The reason I'm giving this book only 3 stars is because I really felt it was difficult to connect to the characters. Some of the translations felt stilted, and the boys seemed to be speaking far more proper than normal teenagers. The boys were also very crude, perverted, and there was a lot of fat-shaming in the book. Perhaps the story speaks directly to the author's reality, but I just couldn't relate.

I picked up this comic on @netgalley because the I thought the cover was interesting. The original version is in Spanish and the story happens in Spain. I enjoyed the book but did not love it. I didn’t quite understand the storyline, I thought it was a bit messy, especially the division of the chapters as it always felt like a new day, thought the whole story happens on the same day. Apart from that, there was a clear distinction between the present and the flashbacks as the latter were in colours. The colouring was really nice, colourful and popping and the drawings, even though not my style, were interesting. I am still not sure if it is an autobiography or not, so if you know don’t hesitate to tell me. I also thought the book was really superficial when talking about drugs, or people being unphased by danger and I would have liked it if the author had gone in more details over those subjects. The only subject well addressed was the loss of innocence of the teenagers when confronted with the reality of the eighties.

*Received via NetGalley for review*

A standard coming-of-age tale, set in Spain in the 80's, full of everything you'd expect (sex, drugs, language, etc.). While you don't need to know a lot about Spain to understand it, it's simply not very enjoyable.

The introductory note is useless; it doesn't tell you anything about the story or provide any necessary context. The art is serviceable with vibrant colors and distinct characters. The translation is clunky and wordy, and the plot is stale and too slow.

Although I read a bit of everything, I don’t read that many graphic novels and I was drawn to this one when I noticed it was Spanish. I’m a translator and bringing translated fiction to a wider audience is a passion of mine.

The story takes place over one day when three young friends prepare for the end of the world after hearing a prediction on the radio. It’s unclear whether the boys really believe the world is going to end or whether it’s a welcome distraction from their lives and adolescent anxieties; it’s probably just the latter but by the end, things have taken a more serious turn. I was reminded a little of Stephen King’s The Body: a group of friends escape their lives for a while and set out on an adventure, planning on becoming town heroes but getting more than they bargained for and growing up in the process.

The story is very clearly set in 1980’s Spain but I don’t think the reader’s enjoyment would be lessened by not having much knowledge of the time – adolescence is universal. That said, it’s nice to spot 'naranjito' and other cultural markers of the time in the artwork.

I don’t have much to say about the artwork – I’ll leave that to someone with more expertise in that area. I’ll just say that I much preferred the body of the novel to the opening and closing, where the artwork had an unfinished feel that wasn’t as appealing as the rest of the book, which was in full colour.

Sadly, although I enjoyed this short graphic novel and found the story quite moving, it was let down by the translation. Now, just like subtitling, graphic novel translation is a special skill – it’s not a matter of simply changing the words but also fitting the space available, which is not easy to do. However, it’s mostly dialogue so should sound like something people would actually say. How many thirteen-year-olds go around saying ‘ill-fated’, ‘perceive’, or ‘such prudence!’? May I suggest, ‘doomed’, ‘see/smell’, and ‘good thinking!’? On the whole, I suppose it is technically correct but many phrases sound clunky and awkward and well… foreign. If this was in any way intentional, I can’t imagine why. Instead, I suspect it was a case of the translator working into his non-native language.

Thank you #NetGalley for the ARC of #OneofThoseDays.