Asterios Polyp

Just whizzed through David Mazzucchelli’s Asterios Polyp today, and loved it. I’m struggling to break out a single element to focus on and praise; the book really functions as a total work. The artwork is superb—totally virtuosic. If you like design, architecture, school, weird formalisms, weird relationships, and/or the idea of a solar-powered Cadillac, you’ll like this book.

The NYT review might be more helpful. I guess I’ll say this: To me, this is the graphic novel that Understanding Comics seemed to imply was possible. It just hasn’t come around—until now.