This work explores family trauma and the challenges of contemporary life with both authenticity and nuance. — Kirkus Reviews

★ Nominated for the Quebec Prize for Best French-Language Comic of the Year, this work has also been selected by the film and TV producers’ jury at the Angoulême International Comics Festival for its strong potential as a film adaptation!
★ French-language rights have already been sold.
★ A groundbreaking narrative achievement in the graphic novel genre: with cinematic visual storytelling and deeply literary psychological depth, this work stands out as an essential contribution to the growing body of graphic novels that explore contemporary life and intergenerational trauma.
★ Drawing on the author’s own lived experiences, this book is a bittersweet, tragicomic meditation on men thrust into the role of fatherhood. It sheds light on the real-life struggles of countless “helpless-father”, revealing the unspoken vulnerabilities and inner conflicts behind fatherhood—and the often-overlooked journey of self-healing they undertake.

Set in Montreal, the story is a poignant and bittersweet drama for adults that delves into themes such as parenthood, masculinity, and violence.
Being a parent turns out to be far more challenging than Pat ever imagined. When his partner, Esther, goes on a business trip, Pat suddenly loses control, transforming into a ferocious father who terrifies the children—and deepens his own sense of guilt. His friend Matthew, a stay-at-home dad, offers parenting advice that proves utterly unhelpful, instead highlighting his own shortcomings in raising children. The two men soon realize that their kids are like mirrors, reflecting old wounds they may never fully heal from.
Meanwhile, Pat’s estranged father sends an unexpected package containing letters, photographs, and a mysterious medal he earned during his military service. This sets Pat on an obsessive quest to uncover his family’s dark past. As Pat digs deeper, both he and his family teeter on the brink of collapse. With the help of Matthew and Pat’s mother, Pat plunges into the root causes of intergenerational trauma within his family—and in the process, learns how to heal himself.
Growth is possible, but so is forgetting. In the end, light pours in.

P.S. The book’s title draws on the image of the “giant with feet of clay” from the Book of Daniel in the Old Testament, a metaphor for something or someone that appears strong on the surface but has a fragile foundation. Here, it alludes to the vulnerability and imperfections inherent in the role of fatherhood—a concept akin to the Chinese saying “a clay Buddha crossing a river cannot save itself.”

Mark McGuire (Author)
Born in the American Midwest and now living in Montreal, Mark McGuire is a father, writer, and community housing project manager. He played basketball at Davidson College, where his skills on the court were as impressive as his prowess in English studies. A documentary he co-directed with Jean-Marc Abella (author of “Shugendō Now”) about Japan’s sacred mountains won the David Plas Award and was screened at film festivals around the world. The graphic novel “Giants with Clay Feet,” which he co-created and illustrated with Alain Chevrier, was shortlisted for Quebec’s annual award for best French-language comic, and the film and television producers’ jury at the Angoulême International Comics Festival also selected it for its strong potential as a film adaptation. Alain and Mark are currently adapting this work into a feature-length animated film.

Alain Chevrier (Author, Illustrator)
Born in Montreal, Alain Chevrier began exploring comics in his teens and, over the course of a long and winding educational journey, studied drawing, painting, graphic design, and filmmaking. His professional career has primarily focused on directing for film and television, while he and his wife—contemporary dancer Jamie Wright—raise their two daughters together. When his collaborator Mark McGuire suggested they create an illustrated novel about fatherhood based on their own experiences, Alain returned to comic book creation. Since then, their collaborative projects have multiplied, and both this book and other works in which Alain has participated have been nominated for numerous awards.