David Mazzucchelli - Asterios Polyp

As my friend Michael LaBash would say - "it's Mozzu-kelly! -"

I became a fan of Mazzucchelli after he did Batman Year One because I immediately could see an influence of two of my favorite Comic artists style in his work: Toth and Sickles. Later, when I was just beginning to get into story I was inspired by a short comic he did in a Marvel Fanfare. It was drawn with great simplicity and I knew that was something I wanted to achieve in my storyboards. Then his Rubber Blanket story titled Big Man came out and it really blew me away. A grittier style but with the same simplicity and a very limited tone. I noticed in all of these stories you could "turn of the sound" or remove the dialogue and you could still read the story just based on the images. A great visual storyteller.


I slipped into House of Secret's yesterday and purchased his new book titled - "Asterios Polyp." I started reading it and couldn't put it down - it's wonderful. This is a true graphic novel. Not just a collection of comic book stories or an extended comic. It's a novel in the visual narrative. Mazzucchelli does a masterful job in luring me in and making me believe in these characters and invest in them. A story that dives into one man's life and makes you understand why he ticks. "It's just a matter of paying attention - " and Mazzucchelli does, from every choice of line, acting, color/tone, dialogue bubble - every detail is well thought out. There are some great panels that flow from one to the next very much like Will Eisner's used to do. Very well done and I highly recommend anyone to buy it.