Comics as Contemporary Literature

Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli is the type of comic you’ll need to have read several times before fully appreciating how much the comic exemplifies great literature. I’d read Asterios Polyp for the first time a year ago, so it was a nice refresher to reread the comic book and discover the finer details the comic held throughout the story. The amount of finessing Mazzuchelli has achieved in Asterios Polyp proves that comic books should hold the same amount of recognition any work of literature does. Mazzucchelli draws a lot of parallels to classic Greek mythology, and successfully communicates the narrative to readers. What I liked in particular was Mazzucchelli’s differentiation among the characters in the comic; the visual representation is probably one of the more innovative techniques he uses to communicate with us. I really enjoyed that Asterios Polyp wasn’t just another superhero comic. I think a lot of people assume that comic books are meant just for preteens who geek over superheroes.

Another comic I read for this week is Habibi by Craig Thompson. While I adored Blankets, I had myself having a very difficult time getting pass the overwhelming orientalist stereotypes Thompson narrated throughout Habibi. It was a beautifully drawn graphic novel; it’s a shame that the story fell completely flat. I really tried to give this novel a chance too. But being a minority myself, I don’t want to be supportive of comics that negatively portray my culture. And it seems to me that more of the positive reception the book has received has come from people who don’t necessarily have to deal with institutionalized racism or stereotypes.