I Kill Giants- Graphic Novel Mini Review
I Kill Giants
By Joe Kelly
Illustrated by J.M. Ken Niimura
Published by Image Comics
Published on September 2009
Source: Gift
Summary Taken From Goodreads:
Barbara Thorson, a girl
battling monsters both real and imagined, kicks butt, takes names, and
faces her greatest fear in this bittersweet, coming-of-age story called
"Best Indy Book of 2008" by IGN. Collects I Kill Giants #1-7.
I was given I Kill Giants by my husband last Christmas and finally got around to reading it. He was told that I would really love this comic and that it was one of the stand out series in graphic novels.
I have mixed feelings about I Kill Giants. For one thing, I don't get the point of useless nudity- especially when the figures are drawn to look like children. It didn't put me in the right frame of mind to like this book.
The story itself would have made a great novel. Barbara is a very troubled child who is dealing with her mother's terminal illness in a very unhealthy way- by imagining that she is a giant fighter, but also by taking out her rage on anyone who upset her. She constantly finds herself getting into fights and getting into trouble. She finally makes a friend, Sophia, and Sophia helps to draw her out of her cold shell.
Like I said- I enjoyed the story, but I can't say I was a huge fan of the illustrations. I am more used to shojo and clean lines in Japanese manga- and I sometimes found this story hard to follow- I felt like I really had to fill in the pieces myself. This was an interesting read, but not one I will read again.