In a Move that Should Surprise None..

The Los Angeles Times Book Prize for graphic novels has been awarded to Asterios Polyp, perhaps the best graphic novel of the last 5 years, maybe the best of the aughts.

This makes me wish I was back in North Carolina

The first comic shop I ever visited was the Heroes Aren't Hard to Find store in Winston-Salem. That one closed down years ago, but the main store has always been in Charlotte, which is only about an hour from where I grew up. If I were back in North Cakalacka and knew about this, I'd be there! Thanks, Comics Reporter, for the info!

What? You haven't read Mazzucchelli's Asterios Polyp yet? Put it on your to-do list! How else will you ever learn to spell Mazzucchelli except by writing about his work? ;)

Two New Must-Reads: A "Quick-Hits" Review

I've just completed two new graphic novels, Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli and Bayou Volume 1 by Jeremy Love. The former is about a professor of architecture who must move beyond his binary ways of thinking to become a whole person, which means reconnecting with the common folk and with his former lover. The latter is being described as a Southern fairy tale.



Both are great reads that are garnering great reviews, and they're both titles that I highly recommend. Asterios Polyp is for mature audiences and is intellectually heady, while high schoolers and onwards should enjoy Bayou, which started out (and continues) as a web comic through DC's Zuda line.

Bayou has won several Glyph awards for excellence in comics among black creators, and Asterios Polyp is a sure award-winner in the making. While I loved Bayou and will read subsequent volumes of the story as they are released in trade form (though I may not follow the strip in its web comic form at zudacomics.com), Asterios Polyp may just be one the best graphic novels ever published.