This was a beautiful short story with a shining message about the importance of hope, and maintaining belief in unconditional love despite everything that speaks to the contrary.
I’ve read a fair bit of Gillen/Hans’ previous work, and We Called Them Giants seems markedly different from their usual style. This was a lot more straightforward and the story was simple and linear (possibly due to it being a standalone), however I enjoyed the novel nonetheless. A lot of emotion is conveyed in a few short scenes, and there’s just enough dialogue to give life to the gorgeously detailed illustrations and build a wider story. The story itself is very focused on survival in both the physical and emotional sense: the main character constantly grapples with her own feelings of abandonment and distrust of other people, and it takes the length of the novel for her to come to some important realisations about the nature of love, albeit amongst a frozen wasteland filled with constant danger. All in all, this is a heartwarming (and often sad) story about a girl and her companions at the end of the world, and how hope can blossom, grow and heal even in our darkest times.

We Called The Giants by Kieron Gillen, illustrated by Stephanie Hans
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

One day Lori wakes up and nearly everyone is gone. Thrust suddenly into a post-apocalyptic world we follow Lori and another girl Annette as they do their best to survive. And then some other worldly (and giant) beings arrive.
First and foremost the artwork in this graphic novel is beautiful and is what drew me to it in the first place. That being said this book just left me wanting more. This felt like just the base of a story instead of something fully fledged out. While I’m fine with books leaving me with some questions at the end, there were just a few too many at the end of this one for me.
I would love if the creators decided to continue this story because I do think it has a lot of potential and would love to see more of this world and learn more about the “giants” and why so many people disappeared.

Thank you to the creators, Image Comics, and Netgalley for the arc in return for my honest review!

Check out We Called Them Giants on November 12th!

The art is in this was stunning, absolutely beautiful use of color. I liked the exploration of communicating across barriers, both internal and external. It felt very introspective while still following an external plot. Definietly a unique short read!

This was REALLY cool! I am so curious about the origins of the Giants, but I realize that may always be a mystery. I also REALLY loved the art style, and so much about the storyline! Lori was a great character, even if she was cynical. Loved it!!

We Call Them Giants starts with most of the human race dissapearing suddenly and Lori, who is used to surviving by herself is left alone to survive in this new world along with her friend Annette and some companions they meet along the way. It is a great story about humanity, comunication and building trust.

The art is beautiful and there is a marked difference between the beauty of some pages along with the bleakness of the new world which adds to the atmosphere.

Lori’s voice throughout is a perfect way to explore with world from her cynical point of view as she learns to trust the people around her.

Thank you to Netgally and Image Comics for providing me with an advances reader copy of We Called Them Giants and I eagerly anticipate future novels from this writing team. I would also love to learn more about this world and would read a continuation of this book

We called them Giants is not only moving but also thought provoking. I loved the parallels between the main protagonists want for a cat and her eventual storyline.

The illustrations were beautiful and I will be thinking of the graphics for a long time. They match the story perfectly.

My only thought, I wish the protagonist had a bit more back story at the beginning. I wanted more from her and why she is so sceptical of newcomers and their actions.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this in advance.

Stunningly beautiful. Story and art. Simply gorgeous. It proves that stories can be both bleak and hopeful at the same time. Very highly recommended.

"We Called Them Giants" is a gorgeous graphic novel! The art is honestly beautiful, each panel could be a painting. The dreamy quality of the art really helps to elevate the story and adds to the otherworldly feeling of "them". The story, however, feels a tad incomplete. Most of the dialogue isn't spoken, it's merely Lori's internal dialogue. Her thoughts are basically a running narration of everything happening in the story, but it's strange. It's written as if she's telling the story to someone else, but...she's thinking to herself. I guess the "telling a story" style is meant to make it feel like she's telling the story to the reader. But it doesn't feel like that, it just feels strange. This story moves at a very quick pace. You don't learn much about the world or even the characters themselves. Because you get no chance to connect with the characters, when emotional moments happen, you feel nothing. I do find the concept very fascinating and I do love the character designs. But the message of the story just...feels like nothing. I read it and went "Okay." and had no emotional response. However, I do think this could translate well into a movie or animated film!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

I was a big fan of Gillen and Han's comics series Die, so I was so excited to get an ARC of their graphic novel. Hans art was fantastic. I'm always partial to art styles that look similar to water colors, I also loved the contrast between colors during some of the scenes with the GIants, it really highlighted the action of the sequence.

This graphic novel might have only been about a hundred pages but I really feel like it told a complete story. There was not a lot of background on the characters, but I did not feel as if that was missing since the story is about what comes after everyone disappears. Anything before that doesn't matter. The contrast between how Lori, Annette and Beatrice all viewed what was happening to them was also interesting. The plot was easy to follow, and having these three different personality types added depth to what was going on. Overall, this was another story by Gillen and Hans I really enjoyed!

Let me start by saying that this rating does not correlate with the art, because the art is absolutely stunning. The colors, the scenes, everything about it kept me intrigued. As for the three stars, the writing was decent. I wish there was more dialogue instead of thoughts from the main character, as well as more world building. Though I understand this is the first of the series, if this will a series and the themes and main overall plot was still interesting. If this becomes a series, I will definitely read it but either way, recommend reading anything from the artist for sure!

I knew the creators of one of my favorite comics, Die, would come back with a BANG! Congrats to Stephanie Hans for yet another beautiful comic and to Kieron Gillen for impressing the hell out of me :D

Beautiful art and the idea is great. Overall the story feels like it's missing parts that would of made it feel more complete for me. It felt like it was finished quickly and I wanted more from it.

The story is a moving and gripping tale of learning to trust in a world where everything is uncertain and strange. The art is incredible and so so beautiful and we get just the right amount of time with each character to understand who they are. Not a single panel or sentence was wasted.

3.5 stars.
The colours, the characters and the concept are 5 star quality.
The style is 4 stars for me.
The story is 3.5 because I expected more questions and ironically, more answers.
The MC, Lori, is multi-dimensional and skeptical and this story is told from her POV. We get a bit of her back story, and the premise might be a metaphor about human relations.
Themes explored are interesting too.
But I wanted to know more back story, and mostly, more about why things were happening the way they are (avoiding giving away spoilers), who some characters were, where they came from, etc.
It was a bonus that the three more prominent characters were women.

I don’t think that I have read a comic or graphic novel as an adult. This was an entirely new genre for me and I was instantly gripped up by the cover when I saw it on NetGalley. The premise sounded perfect for me, so I jumped in!

I was absolutely blown away by this beautiful story. It took me a minute to figure out how to “read” this format as my eyes and brain were a bit overloaded with the amazing illustrations. Once I got into a rhythm, I discovered a story that devastated me (in the best way.)

We Called Them Giants is a beautiful exploration of communication and humanity. The characters were very ~real~ and Beatrice almost made me cry just from being so adorable. I loved all the feels and vibes I was able to get from this one in just over 100 pages. What an amazing introduction to the genre - if you have any recommendations on comics or graphic novels that lean towards sci-fi (or horror,) please drop them below!

**Thank you to NetGalley and Image Comics for the eARC of this unique title!!**

Everybody is gone and maybe it was the Rapture, who knows, but now Lori and Annette are alone on an Earth that has become completely alien and hostile. Food is scarce, heat must be generated by setting fire to the depleting resources around them and now there are Giants to contend with as well. Whatever this is the girls know they have to survive it.

An interesting and beautifully illustrated read on trust and love. The plot is very simple and I think that's what makes this work so well. We have one girl who doesn't trust anyone and one who is maybe a little bit too trusting and throughout each girl grows became of what they take from each other. Although in Lori's case by the time she realizes this it's way too late.

Overall just a surprisingly uplifting read that is and is not what I expected when I started reading it.


As always thanks to Image Comics and NetGalley for the eArc!

I loved the art style it was absolutely breath taking. The story moved maybe a little too fast but Lori was a great apocolyptic character they way she never let down her guard continued to fight and always think things through. she could be seen as a bit cold but it was a nice quick read.

I've always been a fan of Kieran Gillens work and the latest addition didn't disappoint. The artwork was gorgeous and the story, while short, was a good story of how to enjoy the good things in life before they are gone.

We Called them Giants is a story of trust and communication told through gorgeous artwork. The story ended up lacking for me and I wish the ‘giants’ had been a bit more fleshed out.

The artwork is absolutely stunning though, there are panels showcasing the giants that I will go back to again and again.

Thank you to NetGalley for the eArc

Thank you Kieron Gillen, Image Comics, and Netgalley for this free ARC in exchange for a review.

Gorgeous art, and a lovely story. I only wish it had been longer, and that we chad learned what happened to cause the situation.