Two sides of an argument can be presented, or the idea itself simply challenged in a natural way. I think dialogue is a really effective way of explaining ideas. In this page, the idea of duality is explored through a conversation between Asterios and the narrator. Something else I love: Mazzucchelli uses this abstract breakout device to explore and explain theoretical concepts through dialogue.

Have you seen a movie or documentary that suddenly leaves the ‘real’ world like this? With today’s VFX technology it’s entirely possible and cheap, but it rarely happens 1 Film is so tied to naturalism - that is, to be a photorealistic portrayal of people and places - that abstract treatments aren’t valued.īut comic artists, like the surrealists and expressionists before them, know they cannot compete with the film and discover that moving in the opposite direction is bountiful. What excites me about pages like this is that they are unique to this kind of visual storytelling. While most of the story is told in narrative sequence, where each panel shows action that moves the story forward, Asterios Polyp occasionally breaks away into wonderful full-page abstractions like this one (literally titled so): In short, it tells the story of a middle-aged architecture professor who goes through a crisis and ends working as a mechanic. It’s actually very good and, if you’re a fan of graphic novels or you work in telling visual stories, I recommend finding a copy. Yes, the sleeve does not fit the book - that is apparently on purpose, part of Mazzucchelli’s message about form and function. But in the midst of quarantine I have given it another go. I read a library copy in one afternoon and must admit I struggled to get into it. Last year, long-time Third Something reader and cartoonist Hugo recommended I read the graphic novel Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli.

This week’s letter is a continuation to the ideas in ( #55): sequential art in film and graphic novels. If you liked the gist of last week’s letter and want to dig deeper, give it a listen.

Through the synchronicity that only the universe understands, as I was writing to you about ideas last Sunday ( #69), Elizabeth Gilbert was talking about the exact same thing on Russell Brand’s podcast. The Third Something 070 / Asterios Polyp I break down the visual storytelling in this radical and fascinating graphic novel.

Polyp graphic novel