Asterios Polyp - David Mazzucchelli
It's hard to believe that Asterios Polyp is in fact David Mazzucchelli's first graphic novel, such is the artist's reputation as artist on the groundbreaking Batman: Year One with Frank Miller, his dazzling graphic adaptation of Paul Auster's City of Glass and his acclaimed work on his solo work on his Rubber Blankets series, but Asterios Polyp is indeed his first sustained narrative storyline as both writer and artist. A brilliant and highly respected architect, albeit only being demonstrated on paper and in a lecturing capacity, Asterios Polyp comes to the realisation that his life and failed marriage has ultimately been unsatisfying. When his apartment building is destroyed in an accidental fire, Asterios is presented with an opportunity to start his life anew, even at this late stage, and disappears, taking up work as a car mechanic at the destination where fate takes him. Not quite as linear as it sounds, Mazzucchelli depicts episodes from Asterios's past ...