I Kill Giants TPB – Review

By Joe Kelly (writer) Jm Ken Nimura (art)

The Story: Eccentric and troubled 5th grader Barbara Thorson kills giants. Or does she? That’s the question you’ll be asking yourself throughout this trade as you experience a few weeks in Barbara’s incredible and difficult life.

What’s Good: There are so many exceptional things about this tpb, but to me the most novel and unique thing is that this whole trade could be cut up and published as a serialized comic strip– an incredible comic strip. The way the story is written and executed,with something memorable – whether it be funny, touching, confusing, or shocking- happening every few panels, along with the flowing  and characteristic art, reminded me of the best of Calvin and Hobbes.  There are truly hundreds of memorable moments, and it’s the kind of read that you can flip to any page and find something that will capture your interest.

Barbara is probably the most lovable and touching anti-hero I can recall. Her character is so dynamic and deep, yet she operates  so uncharismatically and frustratingly. She’s like the stereotypical ugly duck that the reader comes to love, except she is a duck with fangs and an altitude.

This is an insanely touching story that has the potential to capture a large audience. Besides Pride of Baghdad, this is the only other story I could convince my wife to read and as with the Pride, she was moved and awestruck by the comic medium and its potential. This is one of those stories that has a feel-good, universal truth to take from it, but it is told through a girl that murders Giants, so its obviously not cliche. I predict Kelly will be selling the movie rights to I kill Giants very soon, if he hasn’t already.

What’s Not So Good: I wish some of the scenes from this tale were toned down a bit and not so non-PG. This would make a great book for kids and it could serve as a part of a school reading list, and really appeal to the mainstream youth market if it weren’t for some of the language and the gratuitous name-calling. I’m not saying that this stuff was over the top, it wasn’t, and I’m not saying it didn’t work, it did, I’m just saying that the mature language removes it from the audience that could benefit from this powerful story the most.

As for the art, I was really impressed, but some of panels were hard to make sense of. I had to go back and try to figure out what had transpired and sort out the sequence of events. Nimura’s style lends itself to charming chaos, but some mayhem was just murky.

Conclusion: This is a must have trade for your bookshelf. When I was done reading I Kill Giants, I was quickly thinking about who to send a copy to and who would appreciate this trade. It was a pretty big list and included many people who would never touch a graphic novel without coaxing. As I stated, my biggest complaint  is that this list couldn’t include my younger relatives because of some of the content. But, that’s art and I respect Kelly’s discretion, or lack thereof, as he pulled off a complete winner with this series. Highly recommended!

Grade: A

-Rob G.