Then the scenes of the buildings and lightning are remarkable in their graphic simplicity. The black clouds are painterly, reminiscent of Abstract Expressionism – rooted in Europe but born, like Asterios, in post-war America. Mazzucchelli’s seemingly effortless visual prowess is on display from the start. The storm will destroy his apartment, and trigger a new phase in his life. No, in fact he doesn’t seem to be particularly enjoying it. The ‘camera’ zooms in to show us Polyp in his stylish yet neglected apartment enjoying some late night subscription TV. It starts with black clouds, and a thunder storm. He’s now a lecturer, and approaching fifty – all rather like Mazzucchelli at the time – and we were yet to see the full realisation of his obvious talent. The title character is a ‘paper architect’ praised for designs never built. What exactly was this new book going to be…? He was largely absent from comics for fifteen years, until, the publication of Asterios Polyp was announced. His self-published Rubber Blanket, saw him move towards more personal material, and he followed this by working with Art Spiegelman, and Raw alumnus Paul Karasik on the brilliant adaptation of Paul Auster’s meta-novel City of Glass. David Mazzucchelli had early successes, first in mainstream comics, working with Frank Miller on Daredevil: Born Again, and the acclaimed Batman: Year One.
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