Asterios Polyp

I found this comic really interesting, probably my favorite so far in this class. The first part that actually stood out was of course the clean style. Within the opening pages is a profile portrait of the main character, Asterios, stood out with the clean silhouette, the front of the head's shape mirrored in the back of the head like some kind of dented lightbulb. He's a compilation of straight lies and perfect curves.  When his love interest, Hana, is introduced, she is drawn in a style reminiscent of the women in Japanese prints, having those tiny lips, leaf like eyes, and gently sloping neck and shoulders. Immediately, this sets up the major differences in these two characters--organization vs chaos, manmade vs natural. The artist plays a lot with the idea of how we view each ourselves, how we see the world, and how it can affect the way we interact with other people. To get this idea across, Asterios is drawn with light blue straight lines, looking like merely a compilation of simple shapes and forms while Hana is in pink, being shaded with a messy sort of cross hatching. When they finally come together and begin seeing things together, their colors and styles meet in the middle turning purple and being a more "realistic" version of them. So that was an absolutely brilliant translation of an abstract idea into visual means, especially when it's utilized during arguments to show their sudden distance from one another.

Asterios is not a likable man. On the contrary, Hana's character is much sweeter and easier to take in, especially because of her artistic side. Meanwhile, Asterios is a critical, rude, spot-light hogger. Flipping back and forth between the past and present allows the audience to simultaneously watch the demise and redemption of his character, as he loses love and then decides to reclaim it. The host of side characters serve as a very interesting backdrop for Asterios's turning around. Again and again, the artist makes some extremely clever decisions regarding storytelling, using a cube for a speech bubble near the beginning to show the less-than-simple, three part answer. Later, when the wife of the family who takes him in is monologuing about life and supernatural beliefs, the reader is forced to turn the page as her speech moves from right side up, to sideways, to upsidedown, creating a physical experience for the reader. Even the narration, from Asterios's unborn twin brother creates a dual plane that the narrator can spread out in. I really enjoyed the introduction at the beginning, where Asterios sits in a room alone, watching what sounds like porn when later it is reveled that he is watching something much more innocent and important to his character: his secretly video taped memories, and evening cooking for Hana

Once again, the idea of how we see each other and how we interact with one another is a huge. I found the conclusion really interesting, being able to find Hana again only after learning to cling less to himself and his pride, essentially taking what he's learned from spending time with Hana and finally applying it to life. Meanwhile, when he does finally find her, Hana has been subject to the exact same treatment, learning to appreciate the shapes and forms that have always enthralled her exhusband.