Week 15 Revised Post

I read Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli which is a graphic novel that focuses on the life of New Yorker Asterios Polyp who is an architect and professor. He is an architect but he has never had one of his designs built. We see him struggle for his apartment burns down, he is an architect without a single building and his marriage failed. Like an architects work, Asterios is very precise and rigid, he is arrogant but his character feels realistic to the human experience. 

The style of the illustrations is unique, I haven’t seen anything like it in the graphic novels that I’ve read before. The illustrations are highly stylized and have a retro 1950s/1960s feel to them. Something that I noticed and found interesting what the use of color in this comic; each character seemed to have their own dominant color used for them. Asterios’ dominate color is blue while Hana’s color is pink. Most of the comics that I have looked at this semester were in black and white but this one doesn’t use black at all but instead uses purples, blues, and pinks. The style of illustration/linework tends to have variations for the characters as well.

This comic was a great read; out of all the comics that I read this semester, this one is my favorite. The illustrations were captivating and the storyline was engaging. I found myself reading it rather quickly because I kept looking at the illustrations. I have read Batman: Year One and I loved the illustrations and I am so impressed by the illustrations in this work. I will definitely be reading more of David Mazzuchelli’s work in the future.