The team behind Die return with a self-contained story that opens simply enough: a prickly foster child, who has long since internalised the lesson that everyone leaves, wakes one day to find that everyone really has. Or almost everyone; she meets one kid she knows, and soon there's a gang holed up in the mall, but the vast mass of humanity has vanished. And then, as the title and cover suggest, something else appears.

It's a hard one to talk about without giving too much away, but how's about this: on one level it's surprisingly long considered as a single unit from Gillen, a debut original graphic novel from someone who's already had a substantial career in single issues. And if you squint you can see where the chapter breaks might have come, but the mood definitely benefits from not being obliged to contort around them. At the same time, it's also quite short - this would have been, what, four issues, when even his miniseries usually run to five. Meaning the characters are of necessity done in broader strokes, though never to the extent of feeling sketched; they're real people, it just feels a little odd not knowing what their favourite bands are, y'know? Considered in plot terms, this could easily have been a Future Shock, but I don't mean that in the damning way I often do for Image SF books. Apart from anything else, that would have meant fewer pages of Stephanie Hans art, and especially in this quieter, emptied-out world she's doing a lot of the lifting. Just past a hundred pages is the perfect balance; short enough to be a one-sitting read, long enough to get sufficiently invested that the ending hits as hard as it needs to, and the experience can burrow its way in, the better to subsequently haunt.

SPOILERS from here on, though I'll try to keep them as pointers rather than full reveals: possibly it's the precise mulch of creative input I've had over the years, a particular strand of misanthropic sixties and seventies SF combined with a specific strain of apparently wholesome posts on Tumblr &c about animals, but I was way ahead of the narrator on what the giant wanted from the humans, and the deeply frustrating attempts at communication between the two species (some excellent work from letterer Clayton Cowles here). And I like that she never turned to camera and did the encapsulation of what was going on. But I honestly don't know whether it was meant to come as a surprise at any point, though the journey was beautiful enough and the pace judged sufficiently well that I didn't mind either way.

(Netgalley ARC - and if anyone knows why Image is currently putting some stuff on there half a year in advance, and others on Edelweiss in the month of release, I'd love to be filled in on the thinking, though in the meantime I'm certainly not going to look gift review copies in the mouth, and I don't just mean because ebooks don't have mouths)

The illustrations here are breathtaking. I just wish the actual story had held up. The premise is right up my alley, so I’m disappointed I didn’t like it more. The main character is hard to root for, although she certainly has the right to be cynical. The story just didn’t do it for me, and the ending just made me angry. I would have liked to learn more about the giants, but alas…

3.5, bumped up to 4 because the artwork is so beautiful.

Thank you to NetGalley and Image Comics for an advance copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

a pretty and mystical apocalyptic story

the character design was pretty amazing. they all felt dynamic and interesting. the main character slightly felt like a mary-sue but it's forgivable because of the art. the art was very lovely and i wonder how they did it. some panels (especially at the end) were colored beautifully. the art style is a major selling point for me.

i wish that the artist didn't have grey undertones for every human character's skin. i understand why they chose to use grey (color theory + emotions) but it's not always tastefully done, especially in some scenes.

* Thanks to the publisher Image Comics via Netgalley for the ebook!

As expected, from the duo that gave us DIE and Wicked + The Divine: Astonishing art style, a unique world and a strong main character. This quick read doesn’t hold your hand and throws you in the deep end right away. While this worked well as a one-and-done, I would love to see more of the universe in future installments and feel this could match DIE in terms of storytelling given more time.

3 out of 5 Stars

It was good. The art is quite lovely. However, the text is far to small for the digital version so if you're interested go for the physical.

Thank you Netgalley for this E-Arc.

"We Called Them Giants" is a nice read with artwork that truly sets the scene beautifully. The premise is great and full of potential, but it falls short in the storyline department. The story moves way too fast, making it feel like you're missing chapters of important information. While the art is impressive and the concept intriguing, the narrative could use more development to fully realize its potential.

The art is absolutely stunning. Each panel feels like a painting and the use of color (particularly wherever there’s contrast) was absolute magic. Makes me really want to go read the other graphic novels by this team (Wicked + Divine and DIE) if only for the art.

Lori made a great apocalyptic protagonist - prickly and cynical with survival always the first (and usually only) thing on her mind. Combine that with Annette who’s bubbly and hopeful and brave in a way that is wholly unfamiliar and inscrutable to Lori. I wish we understood Beatrice better; instead she felt more like a means to an end.

This could have done so much more if it was longer, but even at only 100 pages, it feels complete - though not so conclusive that the world and characters couldn’t be revisited in the future.

What a astonishing artstyle, the way the colors and style blend makes such a beautiful contrast to the narrative.
I really enjoyed the story, it was a fast-paced thought provoking story about survival & love.
The pacing did feel a bit too fast, especially because it felt like we didn't get to know the characters enough.

I just finished it, read it in one sitting!!! So very lucky I got approved for an ARC through NetGalley!!! It’s a unique, beautiful and moving story! Unlike anything I have ever read before! The artwork is ASTOUNDING!!! The only negative thing about it, is that it was so short!

The art in this story was phenomenal. I found myself pausing and looking at the art for moments at a time because of how they were depicted.
I liked the main character. We didn't get to learn too much about her, but that's because the story was less about her and more about the world she had found herself in. I liked her cynical attitude and I liked the way she developed her friendships and wanted to keep them safe despite not feeling like they could do the same for her.
My one issue was that the pacing felt a little off. At times, I wasn't sure how much time had passed and how things were determined. But other than that, I enjoyed this story a lot!

With a team of pros like Gillen and Hans this book was always going to have at least a base level of quality. Hans is an incredible artist and Gillen knows how to write to her particular strengths. The character work and world building on display are also extremely strong. All that said, I’m a little disappointed that Gillen’s first OGN effort isn’t more ambitious give the scope of many of his other works.