#asterios polyp

[hundredthdejavu]

Asterios Polyp, David Mazzucchelli, Pantheon

[hundredthdejavu]

reading next!

[caskeullt]

asterios polyp

[keycomicsvault]

15 Best comics without superheroes

This list is by no means exhaustive and is instead an introduction to some of the best non-superhero comics and graphic novels, offering something for everyone, from new readers to regulars. Maus There is a reason Maus is always on the list of all-time great comic book stories. Spiegelman’s anthropomorphic characters reflect very human emotions during the horrors of the Holocaust and Second…

15 Best comics without superheroes

[dtiys-december]

12/10: From Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli. Love the stylish lineart and color palettes in this book.

[readingtoinfinity]

Asterios Polyp

Asterios Polyp is a tenured professor teaching architecture at a college when a lightning bolt strikes his apartment and burns everything he owns down on his fiftieth birthday. From there, we get flashbacks to his past and his failed marriage to a woman named Hana, and him in the present trying to put a life back together.

The story is fine. It's the kinda thing that gets movies made and a white guy playing the lead (regardless of the original character's race) where he gets one big yelling scene and re-posted with Sigma edits and 14-year-olds saying "That's so literally me". But the book turns out to be of higher quality than this; Asterios is a flawed man, and whatever virtues he may have his flaws are the parts of him that are on full display throughout. He and his ex-wife are both very particular and specific people, and that is where we get into the interesting aspects of this book.

The story is communicated almost entirely through the medium. Obviously we get moments of conversation and drama, comedy and realization, but the visuals communicate most of what's happening in the moment it happens. The core premise of this book is the idea that perception shapes reality, and shared perception shapes a more whole reality.

I've been having an idea in my head for a long time, that of different perspectives shaping a story. If it were a show, I would write a story where each main character has a color associated with them, and when two main characters are together those colors would fuse and we'd get halfway tones. This book is based entirely on that idea and runs with it to the fullest extent I've ever seen, playing out in some really beautiful and artistic explorations of the human psyche. It's truly wonderful to read.

It's hard to describe with words because it transcends words. The point of the artistic expression is to communicate things without using words. It's truly a phenomenal piece of work, and on that merit alone I'd recommend it.

I don't like the ending, though. The last five pages just feel unnecessary and cruel. Read it and see what I mean, but also see the colors move and sway across the page, and understand why I'd recommend it regardless.

[atomicbritt]

I was reading Asterios Polyp and really related to Hana here.

[nerves-nebula]

love this part of asterios polyp because like, this is basically what im doing 24/7 and its probably why im so disconnected from reality or smth