Review: I Kill Giants

I Kill Giants by Joe Kelly
My rating: 5 of 5 stars



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Sometimes there are comics, which, instead of taking you on a power fantasy, or journey of cosmic proportions, or being a contemplation of good and evil, allow you to come to terms with the harsh realities of life. It allows you to, through the medium of storytelling gain empathy and understanding of the human condition.

'I kill giants' by Joe Kelly and artist Ken Niimura is just right at this, at what it does. It doesn't need to be anything more, because it is perfect, comfortable in its own skin.

Barbara is a girl who has been dealt a bad hand by fate. And, in trying to deny the reality of her situation, she withdraws into her own impressive imagination. Turning intangible problems, to tangible adversaries, she tries to combat and get rid of them, in the vain hope that things will return to a time, when everything was well in life.

But in time, with help from family, friends and well wishers, she learns to come out of her shell, accept her reality, and make the most of what is her life.

Told through the lens of fantasy and lore, much like 'Fantastic beasts and where to find them', or 'Pan's Labyrinth', the fantastical creatures and world for a moment takes us back to that child like wonderment and boundless imagination, and feels as good as the melancholy breeze which flows in from the ocean on an evening pregnant in cloud cover.

Enjoyable, sobering and enlightening in the same vein, this is something which I would wholeheartedly recommend to all readers, as one of those works which can change your outlook of life.