“3 Story – The Secret History of the Giant Man” by Matt Kindt

Good morning everyone,

This review will examine “3 Story: The Secret History of the Giant Man” by Matt Kindt. For the sake of brevity I will shorten that title to just 3 Story from now on. Matt Kindt has produced illustrated stories for many American companies to include, but not limited to, Boom! Studios, Dark Horse Comics, DC Comics, Marvel Comics, and Valiant Comics. Non-comic fans might know him best for co-writing “BRZRKR” with movie star Keanu Reeves in 2021. Per his site’s About page, Matt has been making comics all his life and doing it as a full-time job since 2003. There has been at least one attempt to turn his comics into live-action. A 2018 Sneak Peek post claimed that Ridley Scott was working on adapting Matt’s Dark Horse comic “Mind Mgmt.” However, to the best of my knowledge none of Matt’s comics have been turned into movies or series as of this writing. He lives in St. Louis, Missouri, with his wife and occasional collaborator Sharlene Kindt.

Dark Horse Comics published Matt’s graphic novel 3 Story in 2009. The comic follows the life of Craig Pressgang, a man from Buffalo, New York, who never stops growing throughout his life. He was born in the mid-1940s to a father (nicknamed Butchy) who died in World War II without ever meeting him and to a mother (Marge) who never recovered from her husband’s death. Three women (Craig’s mother, wife Jo, and daughter Iris) narrate the sad details of Craig’s life setting up a parallel with the title referring to his height at one point in his life and also referring to the three different perspectives (three stories) in his biography.

The tallest 8-year in recorded history he was 9 feet tall when he entered Elmhurst College in the suburbs of Chicago to study business and economics. Eventually, after graduation he reached inhuman stature rivaling Godzilla, but official numbers were not listed so it was difficult to judge his height at many points in the narrative.

First, let me cover the aspects which I liked. Matt Kindt put Craig into vintage advertisements for cigarette and construction companies. That felt appropriate for the era and very plausible. I also appreciated the occasional nods made to realism. For example, a doctor mentions that due to the extraordinary length of his nerves there was a noticeable delay between when Craig would take damage and when he would feel the resulting pain.

Next, let us cover some of the area where this comic may have fallen short. There were also a few continuity issues. The CIA added aluminum support strips to his pants to help him stand. Yet, years later after his height had increased significantly he was apparently able to walk without any difficulty while completely naked and not using metal supports. There was also no consideration of how his muscles worked to support his stupendous weight, how could his heart circulate blood around an enormous body, etc. So, there was a little consideration of realistic concerns, but not much.

At one point the CIA offers to remove a tumor stimulating Craig’s pituitary gland. The operation was risky and the CIA noted that the surgical procedure could either stop his growth or kill him. So, presumably and understandably scared of dying, Craig refused, but he must have had at least an inkling that he was doomed to suffer an untimely death due to his condition. Therefore, it was a little surprising that he rejected the possible cure so quickly.

In one instance a CIA doctor asked Craig if there was “any history of disease” in his family. Craig replied “No. Just wars” while three panels showed men dying in World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. That could have been an opening to discuss how those wars during the first half of 20th century affected the surviving family members of American veterans. But that idea never went anywhere. Furthermore, and this is admittedly a very minor point, but that last panel made me wonder who in Craig’s family died in Korean War. Was that poor man a heretofore unmentioned uncle? Although, to be clear, there was also no mention of anyone dying in World War I either, but I assumed that was Craig’s grandfather.

There have been similar comics from years past such as 1950’s “I Created A … Gargantua!” by artist Jack Kamen and an unidentified author (probably Al Feldstein), 1958’s “The Man Who Couldn’t Stop Growing” by artist Nick Cardy and possibly authored by Nick Cardy or editor Jack Schiff (one story out of many in House of Secrets #11), 1963’s “Wonder Woman–World’s Mightiest Menace!” by artist Ross Andru and author Robert Kanigher (Wonder Woman #136), and 1977’s “You’re A Big Girl Now” by artist Rich Corben and author Bruce Jones (one story out of several published in Eerie #81). Each of those previously covered the theme of a person experiencing runaway growth. An over-stimulated pituitary gland was even the same catalyst for never-ending increase in both I Created A … Gargantua and 3 Story. This is not to claim that 3 Story copied those stories. I am merely noting that the theme has been done before. Similar to how plenty of creators have taken the zombie trope and put their own spin on it. That common practice is a good thing because it results in new perspectives like the one explored in the 2023 film “Herd.”

Overall, I cannot recommend 3 Story to a general audience. It was not a bad read, but there was not enough of a unique spin on the idea. If you have not read much giant-themed fiction then you might enjoy 3 Story. Just be advised that it is a melancholy tale without a twist to make it interesting.

That is it for now folks. The next review will cover a giantess video from Clips4Sale. Until then, keep growing!

This review was written by SolomonG and is protected under Fair Use copyright law.

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