[Taken from the July 1st Edition of my weekly newsletter No Title Needed.]
My copy of GIGA came in the mail yesterday and I was excited to finally crack it open after ordering it eight months ago. It was written by Alex Paknadel, drawn by John Lê, colored by Rosh, and lettered by Aditya Bidikar and published by Vault Comics.
GIGA takes place in a world where massive mechs known as Giga fought a violent war. When the war ended some continued to roam while many just settled down where they were. Over time, people came to live inside of the machines and worship them as gods. The story begins with Evan, a former member of the Order of the Red Relay, stumbling across a dead nomadic Giga while out looking for parts. Despite not wanting to get involved, he is seen by a former friend and officer named Mason. Mason wants answers and believes that Evan can help him get them. Unfortunately, the answers they get lead to all out chaos and a potential war. Who killed the godlike Giga and why?
I have to say that the premise and world felt fairly unique. The idea that these massive war machines would one day end up being glorified apartment buildings that you also worshiped. Of course, the world itself is much darker than that sounds. The world building was well done and it feels strongly realized and lived in. And the story itself was well paced. I liked it.
The art was expressive and good at conveying the scale of everything as well as making giant mechs fade into the background until you needed to really notice them. It complemented the writing well.
The book also feels very philosophical in some of the questions it asks. Questions that we ask in our own world. But instead of yelling at God, they’re yelling at these massive robotic mechs. And the story doesn’t feel shallow or fake deep. It feels like it is asking interesting questions. Whether or not the answer is satisfying will ultimately be up to the reader.
I largely enjoyed it and found it to be a breath of fresh air. A nice post-apocalyptic story that stands out from the usual stuff. It wasn’t extremely action packed so if that sounds up your alley, you should definitely give it a look. You can grab the comic from Amazon but I’d suggest picking it up from the Vault web store directly.
GIGA on Vault Comics.com
Check it out.