This was a gorgeously draw exploration of interactions when communication is non-existent. In this case, the lack of communication is between the human protagonists and the giants that have arrived on Earth. The theme of inaccessible communication though, is one that can be applied in our world where people don't share languages, where we interact with other animals, or where things like mutism and hearing loss come into play. It felt like part of what could be examined in the wake of this story was what it means to communicate, regardless of who the participants are, and what experiences can be considered part of the human experience.

Where wariness and mistrust dominated the majority of the story due to our main character's life experiences, by the end we see her realizing that despite being unable to speak with the red giant, she has come to understand them, at least in part.

As a big fan of DIE, I was very excited to hear about this graphic novel. The illustration style and colours did not disappoint, the writing provided an interesting take on the standard post-apocalyptic tale. As always, Gillen's work is dream-like and eerie, I will be ordering a copy for my libraries collection.

I was gifted the pleasure of experiencing this graphic novel through NetGalley.
The illustrations are beautiful and mesmerizing, with so much detail it is easy to get lost. You can feel the chill in the air while looking at the snow covered landscape. Through the story you can feel the relationship between Lori and Annette, and feel the love that has grown between the two after being thrown together under such unlikely circumstances.
When our characters are forced together, we meet them just after the apocalypses takes place. We are led to believe it all happened very suddenly. The question is raised in the text if this could be the rapture. Two young girls, Lori and Annette come together as the last remaining people in their community, and as they recognize each other from school it's as good a pairing as one could hope for.
As with any post apocalypse story, there has to be a reason. There also has to be those left behind who become wild with the lack of civilization. This story is no different in that respect, with the men calling themselves DOGS hunting and scavenging for any food or supplies they can find.
What makes this story different, the introduction of large beings. Could they be aliens, angels? "We called them giants."
Where did they come from. Are they here with a sinister plot, or could they be friendly? Leave it to our characters to find out.

We Called Them Giants is a very quick post apocalyptic story with beautiful illustrations. The story is interesting, but I felt it was a bit short. I wish we could have learned more about the giants, why some people stayed behind, and what exactly happened. Overall, it was an enjoyable graphic novel. Thanks to Netgalley and Image Comics for the arc.

we called them giants is an absolutely beautiful story, radiating warmth even in it’s coldest pages - a celebration of love and persistence that showcases how true connection transcends all man made triviality.

as the gorgeous cover was what initially drew me to this world, i cannot write this without first mentioning how lovely the illustrations were. with an incredible use of colour and composition, stephanie hans’ understanding of expression is what really helped this tale shine.

being just over a hundred pages, this graphic novel explores a fairly straightforward plot, beautiful in its simplicity - which is somehow what makes it work so well while simultaneously leaving me wanting for more.

at times, the pacing seemed to be running a bit of a marathon - and i feel there was an excess of narration where we could have benefited from having the plot showcased in other ways.

while i was skeptical for a while due to our main character’s cynicism, that was an ending worth waiting for, a beautiful message that truly spoke to my soul.

The art was great in this quick dystopian graphic novel. It’s only 100 or so pages so the story moves quickly as we try to work out what happened and why some people were gone while others were left behind. The food is gone, their family and friends are gone and why did they leave the canned beans behind?

Thanks to #NetGallery and publisher for a copy of this book.

"We Called Them Giants" is a post-apocalyptic, dark fantasy graphic novel. A very simple story, but accompanied with gobsmackingly beautiful illustrations. Truly impressive and stayed with me long after I finished the book.

I went into this one being a fan of the writer and artist on previous books. In a post apocalyptic world, many have disappeared, leaving our main character and her friend down the street one of the few left. In this world is a scary gang, deadly wolves, and giants. Do they trust the giants? I'm not sure what I expected from this one but I really enjoyed the story though I could have done with a few more pages at the end.

3.5/5 but I'll round it up. 3.5/5. T:;DR would be as follows "stunning art, beautiful colors, average story and characters." I liked it. but I guess more for the aesthetic pleasure than good storytelling.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy.

In a post apocalyptic world, Lori wakens to find everyone just gone. She finds fellow classmate Annette and they set out just to survive. Then the giants come.

This is a story of how someone can love and be loved, without ever understanding a single word the other says. I very much enjoyed some of the obvious metaphors.

2✨️/5

1 star for beautifully composed illustrations. The style of the art was perfect for what this story wanted to represent, portraying a beautiful and fascinating yet gritty edge to the environments and characters. I particularly enjoyed seeing the inside of the Giants 'home' and the inside of the Dogs Mall Base. I felt the art had a light theme to it despite the story taking on some darker elements, a nice contrast. The lettering was easy to read and the perfect size. I didn't feel like I was having to search for the words or as if the font was offputting.

.5 star for an intriguing premise. I enjoyed the idea behind this story. I was curious to see where the story would go and if they would answer my inherent questions regarding where everyone had gone and if the FMC was going to be alone during the entire story. Unfortunately, that's where I became disappointed. It reads a lot like the author had a grand idea for this amazing scene between Red and Green and built the story out from there. My questions were never answered, and I felt like they were also tossed aside by the resolution of the story, as if they knew the questions we would undoubtedly have and simply didn't care to elaborate. I'm okay with not having all my questions answered by a story, movie, book, etc., but to have none of them brought up at all? Feels sort of like I was baited into reading one story and then given another.

.5 star for the pacing and ending. I think the writer has some solid ideas, and I would have loved to see those fleshed out more. I would have gladly read another 50 pages if it meant more continuity, world building, or background story. While I was reading it, I felt like we were skipping large expanses of time without explanation or that ideas were being introduced and then tossed off-putting. then it all culminated in this deep and meaningful message at the end that I'm supposed to understand, but I just didn't. Or maybe, I do understand it how it was meant to be, but it just wasn't really that compelling. This format may hit deeper for those who primarily read graphic novels, but for me, it was very anti-climactic. I would still read more from this illustrator and author.

I enjoyed this very much, it was both a subtle yet painful critique of how we deal with help after trauma. The main characters were less exciting than the giants themselves and I wish there was more on if the giants had caused the rapture, etc. The book left me wanting, but not in a good way. The artistry was good, but the way the characters we drawn, the grotesqueness, was not my cup of tea, especially for the characters that were supposed to be more feminine and delicate (as you can in an apocalypse).

Very quick read - the artwork was absolutely stunning, I loved the design of the giants but I wanted a lot more. I really enjoyed 'The Wicked + the Divine' by Gillen so I was expecting a bit more substance to the story.

Thanks to Netgalley for this ARC!

What -- noooo! This story broke my heart so fast and then just expects me to just move on with my life. Such gorgeous storytelling, such interesting characters. There's no need for explanations because we're suddenly in this situation and a dystopian world. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this graphic novel

First, I would like to thank Kieron Gillen and their publisher for this Arc.

Rating 4.5 Stars

I really enjoyed this. When I read the synopsis, I was intrigued by the premise of the book. Let me tell you that it did not disappoint. The storytelling and the characters were amazing and I connected with them all. I love the themes of survival, morality, hate, love, sorrow, and acceptance. It was short but it left a large impression on me. The art was also beautiful and I love the art style because it fits the story. I really recommend giving this a read.

What a beautiful graphic novel! It doesn't certainly provide all of the answers we may want with its length, but it gives a satisfying ending and it's got beautiful illustrations throughout.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with this ARC of We Called Them Giants by Kieron Gillen and Stephanie Hans. I’m grateful for the opportunity to have read it and give feedback.

First off, this was a beautiful graphic novel. Stephanie Hans used colour brilliantly, and I could really envisage the way characters moved. The rest was fine.

As a whole, the story was decent. It was short enough that I could read it all in one sitting, but by the end I didn’t really have any major questions answered. I didn’t care enough about the wolves to need to know where they came from, and finding out whether the Red Giant was friendly or not wasn't compelling enough for me.

Although the characters themselves were fine (nothing special), it was simply too short. Entire chunks of the story were missing, explained away with minor narration by the main character. Part of the beauty of this book could have been about how they survived, the different factions of survivors, and the the growing suspense with the mysterious wolves and giants. This could have easily been a duology, or even trilogy if the authors had wanted to stretch it out. As it stands now, it rushed by in a blur.

The potential of the graphic novel made it an enjoyable enough read, but the reality was a little more disappointing. I’m giving it a 2.5, rounded down to 2.

Probably more like 3¾, but am bumping it up bc the colours were fucking stunning and I am shallow like that sometimes.

The problem sometimes with the self-contained GN is that they can either contain too much story for their relatively short length, and would be better served as a mini-series, or that they drag along bc maybe they should have been part of an anthology or released as a one-shot. This is the latter.

I didn't dislike reading this, and will probably even buy it for my kid bc they will LOVE the art, but the story itself was fairly predictable and dragged on for more pages than it needed to.

Gorgeous art but nothing story. As much as I enjoy world building - I need a bit more meat to my stories. Putting this one down as good but not for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Image Comics for allowing me to read a digital ARC of this title.

The art in this was lovely but the story left me wanting a bit more. I was kind of surprised when it ended. Lots of world building but still relies on you filling in blanks and generally made me feel bad for my pets.