We Called Them Giants

Kirkus Reviews stated that We Called Them Giants focuses on teenage Lori and her classmate Annette who survive threats in a world where "nearly everyone has disappeared" and then "Supernatural Giants arrive, seemingly from space, speaking an impenetrable language". They noted that the "tone of the story then subtly shifts from post-apocalyptic desperation to one that's somewhat playful". Sean Dillon of The Beat called the graphic novel "a truly stellar work by some of the best artists in the business", noting that the "story is a rather straight forward tale of two girls surviving in a postapocalyptic landscape full of roaming gangs, carnivorous wolves, and inhuman giants". April Spisak, for the academic journal The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, highlighted that while Lori is practiced in loneliness, "nothing could have prepared her for the sudden disappearance of nearly everyone on Earth" so she is "inordinately lucky" to find an ally in the "practical" and "survival-oriented" Annette. Spisak noted that while Annette's "attitude keeps them alive", it is "Lori's dogged optimism" that provides the hope they need to keep going. Spisak commented that "the poignant, bitter journey of Lori's clawing toward emotional growth and openness is captured with an understated eloquence here". Peter Dabbene of Foreword Reviews called it "a thrilling graphic novel about alien contact on a postapocalyptic Earth". Dabbene commented that "the story is fueled by bold narrative decisions", noting the "mass disappearance of humans and arrival of the aliens are kept mysterious", which builds "tension and intrigue as" characters are left to piece together the truth "through guesswork and experience". He also highlighted the "satisfying" second narrative thread which focuses on "Lori's emotional breakthroughs and rediscoveries of how to trust". Thom Dunn of Boing Boing praised the graphic novel's "cleverness", noting that it begins with "simple characters and two huge mysteries", but by the end, readers become "more invested in the people than the mystery and your own relationship with the giants that surround you – and that's truly the mark of a good story". He added that We Called Them Giants has "the trappings of a classic young adult fantasy film from the 80s or 90s" with the ability to hold "up into adulthood" and that cinematic quality is enhanced by its release "as a complete graphic novel" rather than "in serialized installments to be later collected as a single edition, like most Western comic books". Publishers Weekly highlighted that reunited collaborators Gillen and Hans "deliver a gripping but underexplored dystopian graphic novel. Though the breakneck pace is sometimes overwhelming, first-person focused vignettes arranged in dynamic composition and rendered in electric color palettes drive this propulsive adventure about grief and trust". Dillon opined that the "main draw" of We Called Them Giants is Hans as she is "one of the great comics artists of the modern era, whose water painted style feels right at home in this decaying natural landscape. Of particular note is the first page we see one of the titular giants" which have "a neon quality" and as the colors lean "mostly towards darker shades of red, yellow, and turquois, one is immediately drawn to the out of place nature of the giant, even if one discounts the fact that it's a giant". Dillon also commended the character design work. Spisak similarly noted the effective use of color, "with the ruby red and emerald-green giants sharply contrasting to each other, both several shades brighter and more vivid than the washed out, bleak blues, grays, and browns that are used elsewhere". Spisak commented that "perspective is key" and highlighted the size of the "visually stunning" giants, "particularly when a human is near one and barely reaches their ankles". Kirkus Reviews highlighted that "Hans' artwork and paneling fill each scene with wonders" and "after a certain point, a visual element that appears early on takes on clear significance and meaning in the context of the story at large, offering a subversively humorous twist for readers to consider and a creative element that deviates from other alien invasion narratives". Austin Manchester of AIPT commented that "Hans's artwork complements Gillen's script tremendously well", highlighting the depiction of "the titular giants as both beautiful and mysterious but also frightening". Manchester stated that the graphic novel "contains some of my favorite writing from Gillen" and his "prose runs throughout the book as Lori narrates the story in a way that makes it almost feel like you're reading a novel – a gorgeously, gorgeously illustrated novel". Dillon noted that while "survivalist fiction" is "a genre Gillen has never worked in before", post-apocalypse benefits "Gillen's skills as a writer". ICv2 highlighted that ComicHub, a point of sale tracking system which provides a "non-random sample" from "stores selling American comics around the world", listed We Called Them Giants for three months – #8 on "Top 20 Graphic Novels by Units" and #15 on "Top 20 Graphic Novels by Dollars" in October 2024, #9 on "Top 20 Graphic Novels by Units" and #7 on "Top 20 Graphic Novels by Dollars" in November 2024, and #14 on "Top 20 Graphic Novels by Units in December 2024.