New York Trilogy
Based on the novel author: Paul Auster
Adapter: Paul Karasik, Lorenzo Mattotti and David Mazzucchelli
Publisher: Pantheon
Publication date: April 2025
adaptation Paul Auster’s New York Trilogy like Paul Karasik Work has been carried out for more than thirty years. So far, only volume 1 Perlis Available to purchase. Interestingly, the novel was adapted by three independent artists: David Mazucucucucucielli, , , , , Lorenzo Mattottiand Karasik himself. Therefore, it is best to understand this adaptation through the perspectives of three artists who helped it become a reality.
Perlis As far as the expectations of the American comics community are concerned, the most traditional of these three adaptations is perhaps the most traditional. From a visual point of view, it would be a shocking thing to consider how creative and attractive David Mazzucchielli’s work is here. Frequently utilizing strange angles and disconnected visuals to portray New York City, from conversational balloons of books, shit and corpses to humans who look like mannequins on the ladder. In many ways, you will feel Mazzucchielli’s style turns to its change Asterios polypsmost likely the first great graphic novel of 21Yingshi century.
Furthermore, the shadow work here is top notch, providing an atmosphere of dark uncertainty that suits Oster’s novels. Indeed, one can see Mazzucchielli’s growth from his previous work using shadows in the black genre Batman: First Year and Daredevil: Rebirth. The black and white of the comics really make the shadow drama completely shroud the characters here in a way that is completely muted with colors.
Interestingly, the book’s publication looks more like a hardcover novel than a traditional comic book hardcover. It is significantly smaller in size than traditional comic books, although slightly larger than the original published City of Glass. The result is that although largely aesthetic in nature, the novelty of graphic novels is retained.
What makes it feel traditional compared to the other two works in this trilogy is that it uses panels. More specifically, it utilizes nine panel grids throughout most of the graphic novel. Indeed, Mazzucchielli’s use of grids often shifts with strangeness similar to internal visual effects, making shapes, turning into prison bars, and other extremely clever techniques.
In many ways, this evokes the shape of New York City itself, or at least part of Manhattan Perlis Putting oneself in large part. Its stripping coincides with the stripping and deletion of the central character from his perspective. Related to the psychological geographical meaning of narrative.
Lorenzo Mattotti’s decision further emphasizes this ghost Through the footage of illustration prose. Suitable for his background New Yorkereach page consists of a singular image (occasionally divided into multiple panels, but largely retained as a single image form, some with no image form at all), and below is the context of large paragraphs (or several (or few small paragraphs)). These images avoid any text in it.
There are some exceptions, such as the return of nine panel grids to show the passage of time, or the climax set of two pages that are poor, and PDF provides incomprehensible, as PDFs often occur in PDFs and rather destructive watermarks in comic business, which makes it nearly impossible to actually read the book, and thus sometimes read the book). However, the general nature of illustration prose remains. No dialogue balloon can guide us into the world ghost.
The result is a degree of alienation to the reader, and Mattotti’s almost charcoal-based approach to painting and shadowing further emphasizes the reader. Even Mazzucchelli’s abstract realism, known alienation is not just in the reader, so we cannot fully see the fullness of the world. There are only a small part of them, just like a pseudonym written, such as color or shape.
Leaving Locked roomadapted by Paul Karasik himself. If the core of this adaptation is an singular Auteur (no, but pretending to be nice), it is Karasik. He has been writing scripts for the past three decades. Mazzucchelli focuses on the visual and the place where Mattotti approaches the script in an oil and water way between vision and text, Karasik chooses to approach things through the overall text.
Karasik is not bound by any grid or structure, allowing text to dominate pages, often with text boxes, dialogue balloons and words themselves dominate pages. At some point, the entire image is created except for the words. The resulting method confuses the reader along the life of a person without a paddle in an uncertain world.
The further disorientation of readers is the tendency to cut the readers into completely blank spaces, freeing them from the linearity and world of the novel. There is no answer in the comics, only more questions.
This may fit Oster’s work, interested in the ambiguity and incompleteness of life. There is no answer, only further questions are pursued. And, George, it’s a really good adaptation, worth completing it for decades.
The New York Trilogy is being published through the Pantheon
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