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NEWS

July 2, 2009

Readers, I know I’ve been going on about ASTERIOS POLYP for awhile now, but here at Pantheon we just can’t wait for the publication of this book! Every single day this week, I have received a rave review in my inbox for ASTERIOS POLYP. I just had to share a few with you: Portland Mercury called it “An absolutely incredible piece of visual communication. high-concept integration of image, text, and color that, for all its intellectual swagger, is ultimately a perceptive, funny, and empathetic case study of the book’s title character.” To read this review, click here. In their “Graphic Spotlight / ComicCon issue”, Kirkus Reviews stated that “this is graphic narrative at its most virtuosic….Yet nothing in his previous work—or anyone else’s—prepares the reader for the creative peaks and philosophical depths achieved here. Polyp may only be a hero in his own mind, where much of this story takes place, but he serves as an unlikely protagonist for a narrative that is provocative and compelling.” Richard Pachter at the Miami Herald raved that “There’s no costumed crime fighting, just the small moments of life, though Mazzuchelli’s extraordinary sense of design and drama ascends to heroic heights. This absorbing, idiosyncratic tale of love, ambition and opportunity marks the return of one of the modern masters of graphic storytelling.” The Contra Costa Times insisted that “You’ll be in awe of how perfect it is and certainly envious of it if you are a writer. What a beautiful, staggeringly brilliant piece of literature.” Well, my friends, I think we all know what this means. Run, don’t walk, to the nearest bookstore on August 18th and hope that they are not yet sold out of ASTERIOS POLYP. Or, if you want to just play it on the safe side, simply click here and preorder a copy. Happy 4th of July! -Lauren…...
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June 23, 2009

Below is an excerpt from the Comic Books Resources review of ASTERIOS POLYP. To read the full review, click here. The “about the author” blurb on the inside back cover of “Asterios Polyp” says only this: “David Mazzucchelli has been making comics his whole life. This is his first graphic novel.” That last sentence seems wrong, doesn’t it? How can this be his first graphic novel if many of us — most of us — have volumes on our shelves with his name along the spine? Though originally serialized, “Daredevil: Born Again” is surely a graphic novel. So is “Batman: Year One.” They may be genre graphic novels, but that doesn’t mean they should be disqualified. Yet, those two collaborations with Frank Miller are decidedly different than what we get in “Asterios Polyp.” And if the “about the author” blurb was written by Mazzucchelli himself, which is highly likely, than it’s telling that he would boldly differentiate between what he’s done in the past, “making comics,” and this hardcover “graphic novel.” But “Asterios Polyp” is different, and as Mazzucchelli’s first major solo project, it deserves to be treated differently. It is, undoubtedly, a major work of graphic narrative. A true graphic novel in a way that so few comics-with-spines really are. I don’t want to get into the old debates about the inaccuracy of the term “graphic novel,” because everyone knows that it’s used to mean anything from a thick collection of “X-Force” comics to “Maus” I and II. But if “graphic novel,” as a concept, bears any resemblance to the idea of a literary novel, then very few would actually qualify. If we exclude the graphic memoirs, what are we left with for great true graphic novels? Graphic novels that don’t rest comfortably inside the confines of “genre fiction”? “Jimmy Corrigan”? “Bottomless Belly Button”? “Stuck Rubber Baby”? It’s a small list indeed. “Asterios Polyp” deserves a spot on that list, and after reading it a second time, I’m convinced that no matter how you define the term “graphic novel,” Mazzucchelli’s first graphic novel is one of the great comics of all time. To order a copy of ASTERIOS POLYP, click here…....
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