The Wicked + The Divine writer Kieron Gillen is re-teaming with his Die collaborator Stephanie Hans for a new one-off graphic novel from Image. Although details of the project are slim so far, We Called Them Giants is a post-apocalyptic story that follows a woman named Lori who wakes up in a world she doesn't understand and - according to Image's statement about the new book - must "scrape by in the ruins of civilization, nearly starving, hiding from gangs when… They arrive."
Who "They" are remains a mystery for now, though we have to assume we are talking about the giants of the title and preview art.
"After we finished Die, we knew we wanted to do something completely different. Rather than a sprawling ongoing, do something smaller, intimate, self-contained and really pure," Gillen explained in a statement. "So, in the middle of the covid lockdowns, I was left alone with my cats, staring at them, and them staring at me, and thinking about the miracle of relationships between beings of completely different kinds of intelligences, and the wonder of the jump across that gap. The image of the feral girl in the devastation and the giants came quickly after that, and we were away. People will fall in love and have their hearts broken - the full Hans/Gillen experience."
Gillen also went on to describe the new comic as having "an almost weird-fable kind of vibe," describing the book as "a conversation between The Walking Dead and The Iron Giant. Basically, We Called Them Giants is the story of communication across a chasm at the end of the world. Folks have seen what Stephanie does on a month-by-month rush on an ongoing comic. Here, it's a thrill to see her luxuriate - creating this single long story, and being able to shape the whole thing into a poignant, romantic, devastating single canvas."
You can check out a selection of pages from the new book in the gallery below.
"As an artist, it is always a joy to work on new challenges, especially when it is with such a great writer," Hans added. "Kieron wrote an emotional story in which he let me go wild on designs. It's a new, beautiful end of the world tale, a little bit epic, a bit nostalgic and a bit contemplative. It's nothing like we did before. In all the best ways."
The hardcover We Called Them Giants is published by Image Comics and will be available through comic shops on October 30, and in book stores on November 12.
Also coming from Kieron Gillen and Image this year is The Power Fantasy, a new superhero series co-created with Caspar Wijngaard. You can find out more about that here.
