Asterios Polyp

Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli.

This book is considered by many to be the best of 2009. Mazzucchelli does a fantastic job with all aspects of the artwork, making the story follow perfectly from panel to panel, making use of color to tell us different things and he also uses the lettering to give each character their own voice. The comic is full of wonderful parts where words aren't needed, showing why this comic had to be done as a comic and not prose. I particularly love a chapter near the beginning about how we perceive things in our own unique way and how we influence the perceptions of those around us. This is done brilliantly by drawing different characters in very different styles, having Asterios drawn in a clean geometric form (arms being cylinders), while having Hana (his wife)drawn with lots of red lines. The comic also has a great chapter, where it gives us another take of the Orpheus myth. It works great during the story and it is beautifully illustrated.

This book gets a lot of attention for its fantastic visual storytelling, but the writing is also very good. I thought the story was very strong (and memorable) and I enjoyed the dialogue. It had funny moments and it had interesting discussions about different things in life.

Asterios Polyp, the character, changes gradually during the course of the book and we get to see his path. I really enjoyed the journey of reading this book. I highly recommend this comic.