If Where the Wild Things Are was your cup of tea, I Kill Giants should be right up your alley. In Image Comics' graphic novel, the story is about a young girl who battles giants to cope with her issues. Like Wild Things, the novel chronicles a child's escape from the real world to his or her own imagination. While reading, the story becomes alive and the reader may find themselves questioning whether or not these monsters are make-believe.

Inspired by his father's fight with diabetes, author Joe Kelly crafts an incredibly touching and witty 150-paged story that is very much like an indie film. Barbara Thorson, an outcast, deals with her teachers and peers in an unusual manner, as she is verbally and physically abusive while holding her special bag to vanish her enemies. The main story revolves around her quest to kill giants catapulted by a bully, but as the story progresses, it becomes apparent that there is more to her issues than just enormous creatures.

Kelly is paired with artist JM Ken Niimura, who provides an energetic manga-inspired art rendered in black and white. The art may be hard to decipher, but the readers will be absorbed into the story, as each page grows stronger and tighter in the narration.

Without spoiling the poignant ending, Thorson describes her enemies in vivid details: "a giant comes to a place and destroys everything in its path. A giant is hate. A giant comes to a place and takes everything away from you." The ending provides an epic fight and a resolution to Thorson's journey that all readers regardless of age, gender, and taste will easily relate to.

The seven individual chapters came out in 2008, but the full version debuted in mid-2009. I Kill Giants is worth a peek that will change your perception of the graphic novel. It may not be Homer's The Iliad, but it is sure to entertain the disbelievers. [X]