Giant is about a giant of a man, and the giant of a building he helps to construct in 1930s New York.

The mortal giant is a quiet, reclusive Irish immigrant with a secret past and a hidden heart. He works among the beams and girders of the ever-growing Rockefeller Center, doing his back-breaking work quickly and efficiently but withdrawing from his coworkers and living, as much as he can, a quiet and solitary life.

Then he is asked to send a letter and final payment to a woman in Ireland whose husband, also on the Rockefeller Center crew, fell to his death. Unable to bring himself to tell the young widow that she and her three children are alone, he borrows a typewriter and begins a lengthy correspondence, all the while playing the role of her deceased mate. When he can, he sends her money.

Then she, after frugally saving as much as she can, decides to immigrate and join him in the land of opportunity he so eloquently described in his letters. Of course, she does not arrive to the welcome she and her children expected.

The book, by French-Canadian writer and artist Mikael, was first published in French in 2018. The English translation came out through NBM two years later. A self-taught artist, Mikael has been publishing for nearly 20 years now, including children's books.

The story is sparse but dramatically developed as readers come to know the eponymous man along with his coworkers and others who live in their hardscrabble community and, to a lesser extent, Mary Ann Murphy, the young Irish widow who plays such an important role in his saga. Their story is told in detailed graphic panels, drably colored but vividly realized as a window into Depression-era New York City.

The book closes on a question mark, rather than a period. The fates of the characters are left open-ended, so readers can decide how things ultimately conclude.

Giant is a beautiful story, beautifully told. It's sad in many ways, but also hopeful. It's deeply human, and well worth the time it takes to read it.