This week I will be talking about Asterios Polyp, which is now one of my favorite graphic novels. David Mazzuchelli tells a unique and very emotional story that is truly amazing. He uses the the medium to full effect. Every character has his/her own dialogue font and speech bubble. In a scene towards the end of the novel Asterios is arguing with his wife and there speech bubbles show that very well. Even later they are rekindling and their speech bubbles combine and wrap around each other in a very scene. Another thing to note is the color scheme it typically sticks to primary and soft colors which is a trend it follows through on. The graphic novel helps in times where Asterios twin takes over as the narrative and even when the two of them talk to each other. I also really like when Asterios just becomes shapes and looks like not finished being drawn in the book. The novel itself is very funny. It uses dark comedy to a positive effect. The novel starts off joking about how his house burnt down again. The novel is also very smart in how it deals with a lot of astronomy metaphors. The book even ends with you presumingly thinking an asteroid killed the earth. You would think that is a sour note to end the book, but it honestly isn't in this case. It is sorta left open, but it did't bother me. Asterios's name kind of foreshadows it so it didn't come out of left field. I really enjoyed this book with it's use of the graphic medium and the creativity it brings.
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