week 11: Asterios Polyp

Wow! WOW! I have done it. I have found the best comic ever, at least to me anyway. I don’t even know where to start literally everything about this is the best thing ever. The look is pleasant. The simple color palette is purposeful and works well with the basis on shape. composition within panels is perfect, to me I like the order he uses in his interiors, like it is very planned out. Since I love everything about this I will just talk about the top parts of the comic that I really enjoyed.
Two words, character design. For some reason I am absolutely IN LOVE with the design of Hana. In your head you i'm sure people will have this stereotypical thought of an asian woman, when it comes to stylization, but this interpretation is completely adorable. I have to say I have never seen such a unique character design. The shapes of the face and neck upon the darkness of the hair is flawless. Just because of this character alone I wanted to read the book, but it wasn’t the only reason mind you. The strong shape basis really drew me in as well.
As I read I found the story to be strangely familiar in a few ways. Firstly my dad was also born a twin and he was the only part to survive. He was always kind of off while he was around and this story made me think maybe it could have to do with his twin dying at birth. THOUGH that is a huge assumption and i didn’t dwell on it, it just made me curious to ask him maybe how he felt about it.
Another thing is the relationship between Hana and Asterios. As soon as the story progressed I started to feel like I really could feel the tone of the characters and how they felt towards each other, because I have a friend who is very similar to Asterios and his way of responding in a manner that makes him look like he is superior to others. I started to get irritated with him and it was interesting to me how long it actually took for her to bite back at him. It showed how much of an understanding person she was and possibly even how much she understood him as a person and her ability to just let him be the way he was.
When they started to fight the drawing would become separated in a way by style. I LOVE THIS. Instantly I understood he is trying to show us how the two characters think differently through the structure of their figures.
Asterios being very structurally based and Hana being more free form. Even his is more plain and unattached and hers is very emotional. LOVE IT. What a beautiful way to show something so simply and effectively. READ THIS NOW!