Giantess: The Story of the Girl Who Traveled the World in Search of Freedom [Magnetic Press/Neurobellum, 2023]

Giantess: The Story of the Girl Who Traveled the World in Search of Freedom

by

Jean-Christophe Deveney & Núria Tanarit

I stumbled across this on one of my rare meanders through Kickstarter and something struck me in it so I contributed. For my support, I got a nice little hardcover graphic novel and a pretty bookmark with art from the book.

This is apparently an English language version of a 2020 graphic novel by the author Jean-Christophe Deveney. Our protagonist is a Giant Baby who is found by a farmer in the forest on his way home and when he finds he cannot leave her alone there, he brings her home – the baby is a girl and for the farmer and his wife who have 6 sons, this is a divine blessing and so they choose keep her and name her Celeste. The story follows her as she grows to a giant-sized young girl and then a young woman and as one by one, five of her brothers leave the mountain farm to build their lives in different professions and ways, she feels a need and a pull to do more. So it is that one day chance leads her to go out into the wider world despite her parents wishes to keep her close and safe. She has many adventures and experiences and faces challenges as well as finding wonder and sees all facets of the world as she seeks to find her place in it.

The story is at its core a heartwarming one in my view. It is gentle and easy and moves at a steady pace, neither too fast nor too slow, and makes sure you get to know a wide array of the characters Celeste encounters over the years and also paints just enough of the world so that we don’t feel lost. The characters are quite good and I found them to be at times simplistic but always very human and the interactions and experience of the characters are nicely and gently allegorical of many real world socio-cultural discussions to be found while never being heavy-handed or ham-fisted.

I feel Deveney has done a good job telling a story here that is very child-friendly and teaches gentle lessons about humanist ideas (intentional or otherwise) and about the struggle all humans face, especially in their younger years, and how they learn and grow as individuals over time – be they Giant or normal sized; and we also see a world where I enjoyed that despite villains and a far from perfect world, we saw so many good people and an innate goodness to be found amongst humanity. At it’s core, I found this to be a tale exploring concepts of social mores, gender roles, understanding and inclusion as well as human experience, existential fears and found family.

Accompanying this all is the bright and enjoyable artwork by Deveney and Núria Tanarit. Everything is both simplistic and has facets that seem like a child may have drawn it, but aside from surface textures and design style, as you read, you can see the attention to detail and the creative and intricate layouts and panels. It also echoes my point earlier about the book being very child-friendly but at the same time I found it exceedingly enjoyable as an adult. Despite the simple nature of the art style, there is a finesse to it all and a skill in comic-style story-telling here that elevates the narrative which is what you want from a comic/graphic novel.

A lot of thought went into this book in my view. It feel like a labour of love in a way. In a world where things can be over-simplified or over-grim or too self-serious, it’s only sometimes you find something that is a nice blend of wholesome, thoughtful and interesting.



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