Asterios Polyp

So I read ‘Asterios Polyp’ by David Mazzucchelli (who is in the running for THE MOST Italian last name ever). In short, I absolutely loved this graphic novel. It is my favorite story we’ve read so far.  An interesting factor that struck me first was the complete lack of black used in this comic. One of the details I thought was the best was how each character had a different font and speech bubble design. Because everyone talks differently and I thought that was a fantastic way to translate that. The bubbles also portrayed part of the character’s personality. For example: Asterios’ speech was enclosed in a rectangle, reflecting his career as an architect. 

Our main character suffered from survivor’s guilt contributed to the stillborn death of his twin. He has vivid dreams of how his twin’s life would be. Asterios believes he’s the one who should have died. And that chalks up some depressing points in his life. The story has cleanly integrated flashbacks that explain the present without disengaging the reader.

I really enjoyed the parts of the story with Hana. Particularly when she and Asterios first met and were drawn in two styles, eventually becoming the singular style of the rest of the comic when they reached a common ground. This style separation happened again later in the book when they fight and no longer see eye to eye. The foreshadowing was great too. It confirmed whether or not you were really reading the story. The meteor was a fantastic plot point. I also quite enjoyed Ursula’s character. Personally, I don’t believe in horoscopes or soul mates (I do believe in reincarnation), but I thought Ursula was a nice breath of something fresh. She brought in another perspective to the happenings of Asterios’ life.