About six months ago, I wrote a review of Asterios Polyp for Elizabethtown College Comic Club’s magazine, Suh-Weet Comics. Since the planned issue never got published, however, the review wasn’t used and I’ve sat on it until now. I thought maybe I could just swipe most of what I’d written and save myself some trouble, but before looking over the review again I decided to re-read the book itself. Reading Asterios Polyp a second time was an almost entirely different experience than the first, and I realized my initial review was now pretty useless. Finding a piece of art of such depth is somewhat rare, and finding such a comic is, unfortunately, more so.
A brief synopsis: Asterios Polyp follows its title character, a retired professor and “paper architect” (none of his designs have ever been built) who has just turned 50, and whose apartment has just burned to the ground. He leaves his home and doesn’t look back, and along the way we learn about this man’s past and simultaneously see how he’s changing in the present. We also see his gradual transformation from a self-absorbed, pompous intellectual into…well, I won’t spoil anything. He does meet a variety of people who challenge his ways of thinking, and cause him to reflect on who he is and how his life came to this point. You may be questioning how you’ll be able to relate to a snooty, middle-aged jerk, but it’s not as hard as it sounds.
When talking about Asterios, the first thing to comment on will always be its formal qualities. So much of the book screams out “This is a comic!” but it uses this self-awareness to fully exploit the advantages of the comic medium. Most apparent is Mazzuchelli’s choice to work mainly using cyan, magenta, and yellow (the three printing colors), which instantly gives the book a unique visual style. Going further, certain colors are assigned to certain philosophies, and the way a character is drawn is a reflection of that character’s personal worldview. These and other similar elements allow Mazzuchelli to show us some really outstanding things about the way the characters interact that simply wouldn’t have been possible (or at least as elegantly accomplished) in any other medium.
One of the aspects of the book I focused on in my first review is how this book can mean so many things to different people. Everything about this book, from individual words to seemingly insignificant visual details, is loaded with purpose and meaning, and with its abundance of themes (including love & relationships, art, academia, duality, existentialism, Greek mythology, plus plenty more and likely plenty I didn’t pick up on), it’s only natural that a reader will focus on certain themes in particular, depending on that reader’s experiences and inclinations; like I said, reading the book again after only nine months was a very different experience for me. I imagine that all of you would read the book in a different way than me, and then again in a slightly different way in the future.
Another way Mazzuchelli displays his mastery is in the way that he shifts the reader’s perception of the story as it progresses. Lines and images are repeated in ways that illuminate more fully the earlier appearances, often with heart-wrenching results. And just about everything introduced is referenced again at least once, which gives the book a sense of neatness and coming full circle. It’s also important that I say that aside from all the book’s formal qualities and techniques, at its core there is a very emotionally engaging story about love (not quite a love story) that I’m sure most people can identify with in some way.
Asterios Polyp is one of my favorite books, hands down, and is one that you must read. Whether that means shelling out the money yourself or borrowing it from someone, just make it happen. This is such a beautiful work of art, and one that I feel can be appreciated by anyone, fan of comics or not. You might read it and not like it, but it’s still undoubtedly one of the most important comics out there, and for that reason alone is worth your time. Please check it out, you’ll be happy you did.
Happy reading,
-Nate
Tired of Superheroes 