Week Ten: Reading Asterios Polyp

This week, we are required to read some graphic narratives. I chose to read Asterios Polyp.

First, the art style of Asterios Polyp really impressed me. Colors, layout, and the overall style were designed by David Mazzucchelli delicately. The contrast colors are used by the artist appropriately. For example, at the beginning of the narrative where Polyp's apartment was burning up, the artist applied yellow and purple with low saturation, which really made readers understand this was an emergency situation. I personally feel really comfortable when I was reading it. In terms of the art style, the overall style is graphic and cartoony. I found one thing really interesting is every time when Polyp had a fight against his wife Hana, the artist would apply a completely different art style to these two characters. Hana usually would transform into a style look solid, realistic, and steric, while Polyp would transform into an extremely graphic and geometric style. (Like the image I applied on the top) This is showing the deep gap or the huge conflicts that they had at that time. Polyp's simple geometric style indicated his straightforward and inflexible style of thinking, Hana's solid syle indicated her soft and complicated style of thinking. This is an ingenious way of emphasizing the personalities.

Also, the storytelling style is really unique. The story is interspersed with scenes from his past personal life (including his childhood and the marriage) and what he experienced in the town of Apogee. Basically, he was recalling his past while he stayed in the town. Sometimes, his stillborn twin brother also intersects into the narrative. As showing these different scenes we understand the character better, and we get into the character's mind deeply. Personally speaking, the narrative really makes me feel Polyp is someone who is just around me or just myself.