Another brilliant opus from Kieron Gillen with gorgeous art by Stephanie Hans. The team behind the comic book, Die, do not disappoint with this melancholy tale.

Thank you to Image Comics for the eARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Just have to start with, even though all Stephanie Hans draws, is gorgeous. This was top tier. I mean, insanely haunting and beautiful.

It's a story about an apocalyptic event that's not really the point. Which is my favorite kind of apocalyptic story. What happened/how it happened isn't the point, and doesn't matter. Survival does. If you're looking for answers, you will be disappointed or let down. Survival, skepticism, communication, and the unknown make up this story of two young women navigating a new world and new visitors. It poses questions like, "What happens when your worst fears about safety and love come true?" That you can be loved and not all will let you down. Whether they be human or not.

I would love to see more in this world if Gillen and Hanz ever decide to expand more, but I'll take a short, simple (yet deep) beautiful one-shot tale any day.

Thanks to NetGalley and Image for the ARC. Will def pick up a physical copy on release.

3.5 stars round up to 4 for Goodreads

The artwork in this is top tier, absolutely beautiful. 👌🏻

The story is good if a little predictable while leaving so many questions unanswered that I wish had been addressed. The characters are also a little one dimensional and I didn't feel any sort of attachment to them.

Overall a decent quick read with some haunting visuals.

(A quick thank you to NetGalley for the arc)

We Called Them Giants by Kieron Gillen, Kieron Gillen, Clayton Cowles and Becca Carey is a short but powerful end of the world narrative with lush art that contrasts wonderfully with the bleak story being told. Having enjoyed previous works by this team I was keen to check out this volume and I was not disappointed. Though short the story still feels satisfying , but I would not say no to revisiting this world again should the opportunity arise as I think there is scope to explore more. The contrast between the two main characters, spiky survivalist Lori and overly optimistic Annette, made for some fun interactions and I really enjoyed their friendship. The artwork really is spectacular, I loved the painterly style and the beautiful colour palette chosen to portray the Giants, it really made them stand out as not of this world. Found family stories are often a hit for me and this one is no exception.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

Sad, tense, wondrous, and hopeful, WE CALLED THEM GIANTS is a beautiful piece. Kieron Gillen’s words and Stephanie Hans’s and Clayton Cowles’s art are stunning. This graphic novel is well worth your time.

Heartbreakingly short - Gillen’s writing hints at more and Hans’s art is so delicious that I was legitimately disappointed by how quickly this wrapped up. That being said, it’s a tremendous little short story that works on several levels - exactly what original genre comics should be - and I support it wholeheartedly.

The art here is beautiful and despite her prickly nature I really enjoyed the main character. Here is a prickly ex-shelter cat cycled through fosterers and then turned out into a world where food is scarce and other strays are competition and threat, accompanied by a housecat and an old feral. And then there are giants.

The giants cannot be communicated with, their motives are impossible to divulge. One well-meaning giant feeds the strays in his back yard, another kicks dogs seemingly for the hell of it, sets his own dogs on them. Watching Lori having to learn to trust with no certainty, learning to accept love at a cost, is heartbreaking, though there's a hint of hope in the bittersweet ending.

*Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.*

This was a good story but I felt like for a short story it was slow to get in to however, if this is to become a series that makes sense.
The artwork was absolutely beautiful and captivating.

Without the artwork I would have gave this a 3 Star but the artwork has pulled it up to a 4 star for me.

This was a beautifully drawn book with a story that is both gripping and poignant. I enjoyed it very much and will add it to my recommendations for my students.

Thank you to NetGalley and Image Comics for the ARC.

This has some of the most beautiful illustrations and colouring I've seen in graphic novels so far, but the story was shallow, the narrative and sentence structures often confusing, and leaves too many big questions unanswered. I liked the messages of overcoming cynicism, allowing yourself to love and trust, the found family trope, but they weren't explored with as much depth as they deserved. Such high concept stories shouldn't be told it what felt like a 100 page one-shot pilot.

3/5

thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-arc!

I really enjoyed this. the art style and the fact that alien giants were in it is what immediately drew me in, but I’m also a sucker for an apocalypse story, so this was hitting all my marks.
However, even though this is short it did take me a couple days to finish because I struggled slightly at the beginning to care about the characters and the situation. Despite that I do feel like a 3.75 rating is best.
I thoroughly enjoyed this art style and really want to look at the artist’s other works. It was beautiful but chaotic at the same time and it felt so appropriate for the story. I enjoyed seeing this giant’s colors be so bright compared to the world and human characters. it’s add to the character design for them to stick out so much since they are alien and it worked really well.
I would definitely be interested in this as a series so we can learn more about the giants and see the characters travel and what they come across, but this felt satisfactory enough for a stand alone.
This was a great story, though a bit slow and short so be prepared for that, but at the end, the story’s message of kindness and the love it can grow from it was very well done and I enjoyed myself.

3.75/5⭐️

I can’t get enough of the artwork in this novel, which is absolutely stunning! The colour palette used is fantastic, and its ethereal glow works incredibly well in a scifi story. It’s only a short novel, and while I would’ve devoured a story double its length, the plot was just the right length to tell the story it wanted to.

We Called Them Giants establishes a small group of strong characters incredibly quickly, and their personalities and character traits stay well defined throughout. This is particularly true of Lori, and her cynical view of the world and friendship after time spent in foster care. I thought including her character in an apocalypse survival story where most of the population vanishes was a clever and smart choice.

I think everyone who has read this wishes that there was more. The artwork is great and the story is too. But it's quite, quite short.
Don't worry though, something tells me Kieron Gillen and Stephanie Hans will be around for a while.
#NetGalley

I thoroughly enjoyed this graphic novel, the art was beautiful and really complemented the story. The story was great and really gripped me to the point where I devoured all 104 pages in a short sitting.
I am truly intrigued for future editions, this will be a series I will continue to find out more about the "Giants" and where they came from.

The only real critique I have is that it was a slightly slower burn and it took me a while to warm up to Lori. I would've enjoyed slightly more exposition but that is just the type of reader I am.

Overall an enjoyable first entry to a promising series.

4/5

An incredibly fun, rewarding, and surprisingly life-affirming adventure. There’s no dearth of darkness here, certainly, but there’s also plenty of light to fright the shadows away. I was hooked by the art and story from the first panel. And I plan on getting my friends and family hooked, too!

Truly sensational art that tells a story centered around the importance of kindness. Gillen tells a story of a world on its last legs, and the mysterious giants that might be responsible for its downfall.

I don't know how to feel about this because this is probably the most depressingly and hopeless graphic novel I've ever read. The art and writing were beautiful, but wow, I felt like watching a rom com after reading this. I wasn't expecting it to be just so miserable and sad of a story. I can see so many people loving this, but I don't love anything that makes me stare into space wishing I hadn't read it because I'm going to be depressed the rest of the day.

Beautiful illustrations that balances wonder with a strong unsettled feeling. Found the story super engaging and didn't want it to end.

Was a fun read with a interesting world. I do wish we could see more of it though to understand more about what is going on now with the world.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced readers copy of We Called Them Giants. This was a nice quick graphic novel set in a fantasy, apocalyptic time. The artwork was nice and the dogs were creepy. The ending didn’t feel totally pulled together and finished but overall it was a good short story. Thanks again for the ARC!