What did you think of Asterios Polyp, /co/? Compelling philosophical narrative or an artsy comic with its head up its own ass?
>>81435148
It's been awhile since i read it, but certainly one of the best uses of the medium, on par with what chris ware does, or what deforge does
It's a bit hipster trash, but I still found stuff to enjoy in it
A little of both but more of the former to make it overall a good experience
Is it possible for something to be artsy or avant-garde without all the negative connotations of those phrases? Like, shit. I loved Asterios Polyp and thought it did what it did super well.
The same concept might have been shittily handled with another artist, but Mazzuchelli executed it pretty well.
>>81435148
One of my favorites and also a great example of what's unique to comics. You would be doing it a disservice to separate out the narrative from the artsy part.
>>81435148
I saw it as a nice romance comic with the philosophy and introspection as extra padding.
I mean really, the guy is so full of himself until he meets her, who symbolically appeared very different from the rest of the people around her.
The cause of the divorce is once again because he's too far up his philosophical meandering ass to deal with what's tormenting her.
Since the kid sees the asteroid as a shooting star, I'm going to assume this was just another perspective thing that the author decided to bullshit the reader with and that the two reunited lovers are not totally dead from a random asteroid crash.
>>81435463
Wow these pages. I forgot how gorgeous this comic is on both a visual and semantic level.
>>81435464
I might have to re-read it with the mindset that it's a romance first. I loved the development between Asterios and Hana but I always felt like that book was more about Asterios' personal demons and his growth beyond them. Because of that I placed a greater personal importance on the philosophical aspects.
>>81435491
Yeah there's just so much going on. I'm surprised how well Mazzucchelli, let alone anyone, could pull this off. Even mundane things like the shape of the panel become recurring motifs like Hana and the spotlight. This one is one of my favorite pages.
storytime?
>>81435436
Heh, I know what you mean. I find it's best not to worry how that comes off too much.
I haven't read this comic, but I've been meaning to read it. Probably won't until I come across it in a shop someday, tho.
>>81435148
>an artsy comic with its head up its own ass?
If you're American, yes.
Can you story time this plz
I liked it.
>end of this comic
>pic
why?
>>81436365
I'm tired of this "Americans are loud and stupid" meme.
>>81435148
The plot was basically "elitist professor guy reconnects with th' plain folk to find out what life is really about, gets back with wife at the end (by the way, celestial bodies cannot possibly influence people's lives on earth amirite guy from the Rubber Blanket story Near Miss?!)"--i.e Hollywood base-level trite--but Mazzucchelli's formalistic devices (a bit Ware, a bit Dash Shaw who weirdly was Mazz's student at SVA) and gorgeous art made it a fucking joy, not to mention the dialogue, which most definitely WASN'T Hollywood-level trite.
If you're referring to the philosophical/classical references as evidence of "head up own ass" than no more than, say, Sandman.
>>81435463
A mate's got my copy and I need it back! It's a fun game to spot how many aesthetic movements there are in these pages and name them. If you're an elitist cunt. Nah just kidding.
Ah, medium-specificity...
>>81435436
I wouldn't call it avant-garde, though. Maybe a TAD "artsy" but probably not in the way you mean, I dunno.
>>81435148
>Compelling philosophical narrative or an artsy comic with its head up its own ass?
It's a compelling artsy comic without the head up its own ass.
It's not philosophical in the sense that it brings something new to the table. It uses Asterios obsession with abstract concepts to describe his inner complexities. This is delivered mostly via graphics and the art itself and that is exactly what a comic should do.
It's one of the best uses of the medium in the industry, IMO.
>>81437694
If you take it as an actual asteroid/meteor/comet/whatever, it harkens back to the random cosmic wedgie that acted as his inciting incident all the way back in the beginning of the book.
If you take it as a visual metaphor, it means that he's doomed to ruin things with his ex-wife in the future, but they won't be doomed right away.
>>81435148
non-cape thread on my /co/?
not in this lifetime
slide it, and shut it down fellas
>>81439145
You know when he's explaining the "dinosaur meteor" (forgotten it,s proper name) theory to the character in the cafe? That is a call-back to a story from Rubber Blanket, using the same character (Steven? As I said don't have my copy at the moment) called "Near Miss", about a guy who's obsessed with a recent asteroid passing earth (in galactic terms) by a matter of feet.
Apologies if you already knew this, thought I'd add another layer to what you were saying, Anon.
