3 Story: The Secret History of the Giant Man Hardcover – September 29, 2009

I was always into giants and growth spurts. But when I saw this book on Amazon. I had to have it. I begged my mom for months for this book. When my mom finally said yes, I was so excited. I read the book in little under a hour. I loved every page and story. I loved the second story the most. I'll read it again and again for a very long time. Thank you.

I'm not sure why I bought the book, but I'm glad I did. It is very surreal, but it does keep very closely in touch with humanity. It is a very unique story and I have read it several times. I still get new things from it here and there. The art work is very well done, but that's an opinion. It is ink and water color. At first glance, I really didn't like the art work, but the story style fits so well with the art that now, I wouldn't want it to change. I'm looking forward to getting to know more about Matt Kindt's work.

Simply 10 out of 10 and 5 stars, not only for the subtle yet nicely done art, but for the deep story and concept beneath it. It got me sad, happy and thoughtful for a while.I have read it 8 times already, and still kept the same feelings I had when reading it for the first time.Totally recommend it.

A fantastic book, truly moving graphic novel. Kindt's style dovetails beautifully with the melancholy tone of this very odd but also very universal story. I haven't been this moved by a comic in a long time!

There's a certain simplicity in action here which I liked immensely. You take out SF element from Kindt's work and you get an age old tale of estrangement, growing apart, loss and abandonment. Not necessarily in that order. You've read stories like these before. You'll read them again. They are made from elements which bother us quite a bit and have this habit of staying with us all the way till the end. So people write about them. To share, to get them out, to scream silently onto blank pages...or just to play. Sentiments are a funny things. You can draw them out artificially jut for the hell of it. People write and other people read. We're sort of weird (or was it wired?) that way. We also like to revel in sentiment. Life being all pink bunnies, sunshine and roses as it is. Then you put the SF element back in and nothing really changes. Not for the worse that is. The book still works as a kind of parable and nothing really prevents you from reading it verbatim. It might be that it's even more powerful like that. If you stretch your imagination to encompass a possibility of a giant man and “real life” repercussions of his existence you get a layer that's not present when you take things down to earth. Matt Kindt writes and draws in simple, broad strokes, sometimes reminiscent of Jeff Lemire's work. This simplicity is deceiving, of course. While ultimately simple in it's “message”, there's nothing simple in evading traps of pathos laid all over chosen path. As far as I can say Kindt managed to evade all of them, making vivid images and powerful emotions in somewhat subdued sepia tones in the process. We don't hear much from the Giant Man himself. We see him as others saw him, we look at ripples his presence makes in the pond of reality, in the lives of people closest to him. At the end of the book he is almost as much a stranger as he was in the beginning. Somehow this is fitting. Both as an SF move (how man people can really understand something so alien) and as a metaphoric move (hinting on and drawing power from the way we experience our own reality). After all, this wasn't his story to tell. “The Secret History of the Giant Man” is best when it takes its time. When it 'wastes' panels to deliver emotion. Every now and then Kindt rushes a book (third story feels particularly rushed) and this sounds out of tune. Fortunately, these are rare events and magic of storytelling remains unbroken most of the time. This is not a landmark book, nor will it be remembered as particularly important in the cultural landscape inhabited by American comic book artists of late 2000's. It is, however, one of those hidden gems that you don't hear much talk about. Just laying there, under pile of worthless dirt, waiting to be discovered.

3 Story is the very lonely story of Craig Pressgang growing up with gigantism and how it affects his life and those around him. Kindt's style of art is a bit austere, but it works well given the story and setting. His text is also very sparse, but what little there is leaves a deep impact. The packaging is well done with a die-cut hardcover.3 Story is split into 3 sections from the points of view of the women in Craig's life with the first told from his mother, which is surprisingly emotional given many pages have little to no text. Craig's mother comes off lamentable, yet very cold especially once Craig leaves home for college. The detachment of Craig is already present at a young age.The second story is told from Craig's love interest Jo. This section gives you a good feeling on how living with someone so large can be hard on not just the giant. Craig continues to become more and more remote with his affections and humanity. One of the most interesting aspects is that as Craig grows his hearing and eye sight change with him. Especially, when he has delayed responses to touch and pain as his pain receptors are further removed from his brain. During this time we're also treated to Craig's involvement with the CIA as a supposed secret agent. Keep in mind most of this section takes place during the cold war times of the 1950s and 60s.The 3rd part tells of Craig's time out in the wilderness as he faces his imminent demise from the point of view of the daughter he never really knew. This section is the shortest, which could have been longer, but that was my desire for more. The melancholy ending is more than fitting to this sad life story.Overall, Craig is a very difficult character to understand, but Kindt gives you a view from the outside instead of the inside on what it could be like living with a giant. Surprisingly moving, 3 Story is one of the better liteary graphic novels I've had the pleasure of reading. I give 3 Story 9 out of 10 Hats. Kindt is best known for Super Spy, which has been lauded by most as one of the best graphic novel in recent years that I'll now have to check out. If 3 Story is any indication of Kindt's talent he'll be here for a long time.