June 4, 2009

Check out the 6/10 issue of Entertainment Weekly, in which David Mazzucchelli’s new graphic novel ASTERIOS POLYP receives a rave review. Here’s a taste:

“When we first meet the brilliant and bullheaded professor Asterios, just before his New York City apartment is destroyed by fire, he’s glumly watching sex tapes of himself and his ex-wife. He flees the building and heads out of town as flashbacks show him, 20 years earlier, blithely tossing off obnoxious cocktail-party bons mots and sleeping with students. His youthful self’s slicked-back hair and ever-present smirk recall one of Chester Gould’s Dick Tracy villains, and the stuffy middlebrow conversations that swirl around him bring to mind Woody Allen’s favorite targets. …Elegant, deceptively simple line work and nearly subliminal color symbolism make everything go down like candy. The narrative comes back to earth for a profoundly satisfying climax, but you’ll want to keep turning pages — all the way back to the beginning, for another read.”

My personal favorite quote from the review: “it’s as if John Updike had discovered a bag of art supplies and LSD.”

Go Asterios (and David)!