I read a book the other day that simply, for lack of a better term, touched me. Since I now have yet another platform from which to babble at you, O huddled Internet Masses, I thought I’d tell you about it.

It’s called I Kill Giants.

Written by Joe Kelly and drawn by JM Ken Niimura, it’s the story of Barbara, a girl who plays D&D, is always on the lookout for impending Giant attacks, and carries the magician Hammer of Coveleski.

It sounds a bit silly, but like all good protagonists, Barbara has a secret and things that she’s dealing with outside of just being the one at school who’s a little different. I won’t go into more plot points here, because I don’t want to take the magic out of this story, but when I finished it I honestly teared up a little.

I Kill Giants is a prime example of why I love the graphic storytelling medium. Not only is the story beautiful, but the art is able to perfectly capture the emotion and tone of the book, and propel you inside the story so that you not only read and see it, but you feel it too. That’s a rare thing even in the Graphic Novel world, and I Kill Giants executes it beautifully.

The story is one of self-discovery, persecution, and survival against some of the horrible things life can throw at us. As a child and as an adult, we all have to face things and fight even when we don’t want to, and don’t think we can. I Kill Giants is an inspirational story that shows the reader that it is possible to survive, even when things look the darkest.

To close, I’ll simply quote from the book’s dedication:

“To those fighting their own Giants
You’re stronger than you think.”