Pantheon Graphic Library Asterios Polyp, (Hardcover)

from VisibleGhost

Asterios is one of those works that could only work in the graphic format. It seems like a simple enough story until second thoughts emerge. Mazzucchelli plays with different drawing styles that are also tributes to other artists. There is some satire, some philosophy, and some of many other thin...

from Girl_Detective

Asterios of the title is an Updike-ish architect. Recently divorced, his apartment building is struck by lightning. He grabs three items and his wallet, and takes a bus to the middle of nowhere. The story alternates between the present, where he works as a mechanic in a small town, and the past, ...

from stephmo

In Asterios Polyp, David Mazzucchelli has managed that rare trick of making you genuinely root for a character so narcissistic and devoid of basic human courtesy that you'd normally simply want the entire story to consist of a single paragraph describing his well-deserved comeuppance. But, no, yo...

from VisibleGhost

Asterios is one of those works that could only work in the graphic format. It seems like a simple enough story until second thoughts emerge. Mazzucchelli plays with different drawing styles that are also tributes to other artists. There is some satire, some philosophy, and some of many other thin...

from JLSmither

A lot of comics, even long-form literary "graphic novels," tend to excel either visually or narratively, but rarely both. Especially when a single person serves as both the writer and the artist, there's often a noticeable strength in one area. In most well done comics, I don't even notice this d...