By Tom Gauld; Drawn and Quarterly
Sometimes it's fun knowing how the story ends. Goliath is a comic about one of the oldest stories in the Judaeo-Christian tradition. A story that pits a humble shepherd against the fearsome giant Goliath in single combat to decide the fate of a war. A story where the shepherd, graced by righteous power of god, strikes down the giant with nothing but a similarly humble stone thrown from a humble sling. It's a story that tells about underdogs defeating favourites, heroes standing up to bullies, and the power of conviction and courage in the face of adversity. Everyone knows it. But what if that version of the story is completely wrong? What if the narrative we all know is a lie written by the victors or a story mistranslated into allegory by eons? Goliath tells the biblical story from the perspective of Goliath, a pretty okay giant guy in a crumby situation, and the series of misunderstandings that lead to the tales bloody ending. It's a really pensive and bleakly funny comic that strains under the gravitas of its inevitable conclusion. It is drawn in this really expansive, open, minimalist way that is the perfect visual palette for the books themes. The resulting comic is.... arresting. Goliath is certainly a comic worth reading despite already knowing the ending.
Word count: 219
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