I Kill Giants

Summary

I Kill Giants is an American comic book limited series published by Image Comics beginning in 2008. The comic was created by writer Joe Kelly and artist J. M. Ken Niimura and features Barbara Thorson, a girl struggling with life by escaping into a fantasy life of magic and monsters.[1]

I Kill Giants
Cover of the first issue
Publication information
PublisherImage Comics
ScheduleMonthly
FormatLimited series
Genre
Publication dateJuly 2008 – January 2009
No. of issues7
Creative team
Created byJoe Kelly
J. M. Ken Niimura
Written byJoe Kelly
Artist(s)J. M. Ken Niimura
Collected editions
HardcoverISBN 1-60706-173-2

Synopsis edit

According to Kelly: "It's a story about a girl who's a bit of an outsider – she's funny, but totally in our geekland: she's obsessed with Dungeons & Dragons, she doesn't have a lot of friends, she's a bit of a social misfit. She's taken her fantasy life a little far, and really only talks about giants to people. She's convinced that giants are real and giants are coming, and it's her responsibility to stop them when they show up. This weird little fantasy life that she's going has started seeping into her real life, and as we see things from her point of view, we see that she sees pixies and she sees signs in the clouds and other things that might be telling her that bad things might be coming".[2]

Collected editions edit

The series has been collected into an individual volume:

  • I Kill Giants (softcover, Image Comics, 184 pages, May 2009, ISBN 1-60706-092-2, hardcover, 300 pages, November 2009, Image Comics, ISBN 1-60706-173-2, Titan Books, ISBN 1-60706-172-4)

Awards edit

I Kill Giants won the "Best Indy Book of 2008" by IGN,[3] as well as making it onto the list of the ten best comics of 2009 compiled by New York magazine's Dan Kois.[4][5] It was also a 2010 top ten great graphic novels for teens by the Young Adult Library Services Association.[6] It won the Gold Award at the 5th International Manga Award in 2012.[7] It was voted the second best foreign comic book published in Japan in the Gaiman Award.[8]

Film adaptation edit

A film adaptation of the novel,[9] directed by Anders Walter and based on a screenplay by author Joe Kelly, was released in 2017.[10] The film stars Madison Wolfe, Imogen Poots, Zoe Saldaña and Noel Clarke.[11]

In popular culture edit

New Zealand band The Naked And Famous included a song "I Kill Giants" on their album In Rolling Waves. Boston band I Kill Giants' name is based on the graphic novel.[12]

Notes edit

  1. ^ Manning, Shaun (April 25, 2008). "Joe Kelly: 'I Kill Giants'". CBR. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  2. ^ Brady, Matt (April 17, 2008). "Joe Kelly Talks About I Kill Giants". Newsarama. Archived from the original on December 5, 2008. Retrieved February 24, 2009.
  3. ^ "IGN Comics: Best Indy Book 2008". IGN Entertainment. 2008. Archived from the original on January 6, 2009.
  4. ^ Kois, Dan (December 20, 2009). "Shocking Memoirs and Superhero Adventures: The Best Comics of 2009". New York Media.
  5. ^ Kois, Dan (December 20, 2009). "The Best Comics of 2009". New York Media. Archived from the original on March 25, 2018.
  6. ^ "2010 Top Ten Great Graphic Novels for Teens". American Library Association. 2010.
  7. ^ "The 5th International MANGA Award". manga-award.jp. International MANGA Award Executive Committee. Archived from the original on January 16, 2014. Retrieved January 14, 2014.
  8. ^ "ANIME NEWS: 'Taste of Chlorine' voted No. 1 translated foreign comic in 2013". AJW. Asahi Shimbun. 5 December 2013. Archived from the original on 13 December 2013. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  9. ^ "I Kill Giants on the Big Screen". Dread Central. 23 March 2015. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  10. ^ "Anders Walter to Direct I Kill Giants". CS. Coming Soon. 5 December 2013. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  11. ^ Davis, Scott J. (13 September 2015). "Zoe Saldana to star in graphic novel adaptation I Kill Giants". Flickeringmyth.com. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
  12. ^ "I Kill Giants". Spotify.

References edit

  • I Kill Giants at the Grand Comics Database
  • I Kill Giants at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)

External links edit

  • Official website

Reviews edit

  • BooklistOnline
  • GraphicNovelReporter.com
  • ComicBookResources.com
  • MinnesotaReads.com
  • 1FOE.com