Each time, depending on what phase of my life I am in, I take away something new. There have been a few slice of life stories that have stuck with me, calling me back. It deserves to be read, but slowly and multiple times. This reinforces the duality concept, solidifying many of the overall themes.Īsterios Polyp isn’t for everyone. Through flashbacks, we see the man he was, and how he arrived at this point. He lands in Anywhere, U.S.A., and works as a mechanic. Due to a lightning strike, his apartment catches fire and we see him leave, taking a bus as far as the cash he has will take him. The story starts with him, divorced and an unworking, broken man. The new and old Asterios is juxtaposed via flashbacks. He feels that he’s becoming a new person, or turning into his brother, shown via dreams. This eventually destroys his marriage, and forces him to change. He’s a man who is well spoken and intelligent, but is consumed with always being right. Something is either functional, or not, etc. Asterios is obsessed with categorization, breaking everything into categories of two. The narration was from Ignazio, Asterios’ stillborn twin brother. This element easily conveyed their relationship, helping to further define them.Īs for the themes, there are numerous. Seeing how Asterios and his wife, Hana, saw the world, with her being more filled in (I’m sure there’s a word for it, but an art student, I am not), and his being more geometric.

This put their voices in my head, making them feel more alive. Every character had a different font and word bubble shape, indicating the type of person they were and how they spoke. The first element that stuck out to me was the lettering. The layers in this are so intricately woven that they provide something for everyone to enjoy while avoiding the pitfall of being pretentious or condescending. Having read it a few times, I took away a different meaning each time. This is easily a celebration of the medium. Asterios Polyp easily leads the pack as one of the best for not only the genre, but the medium is as well.Įverything in this book was done by David Mazzucchelli, famous for drawing Daredevil: Born Again and Batman: Year One. Slice of life is one of the best genres in comics, though often not widely celebrated. Asterios Polyp is such a story, with multiple layers of art, design and structure that every person who reads it will take away something different. Some stories can only be told using both.

With words and pictures you can tell any story.

Asterios comic