Spatula Forum

Wow, this is cool -- the online comics magazine Indy has devoted much of its new issue to analysis and interpretation of the visionary graphic novel "City of Glass" by David Mazzucchelli and Paul Karasik, based upon the novella by Paul Auster. This is one of the most unheralded comics of the last decade or so, and a visionary mind trip to boot -- an existential detective story that takes the idea of adaptation to new levels. "Glass" is an adaptation that only comics could do -- the flourishes, surrealism and vision of Mazzucchelli reinvents the novella without replacing it. "With this project, I think Paul (Karasik) and I thought of it not so much as an adaptation as a translation from one language to another," Mazzucchelli tells Indy.

Mazzucchelli takes the despair and symbolism of Auster's excellent story of a detective who becomes lost in his own missing persons case and dissects, mixes and reimagines it. It's the kind of work that comics are capable of when they expand beyond just the "Biff! Bam! Pow!" stereotype, and that's why it's so great to see "City of Glass" is finally coming back into print. It also turned me on to the vast and strangely beautiful work of Paul Auster, who's now one of my favorite authors. Fans of this adaptation or any groundbreaking comics should check this new "Indy" out, and of course grab "Glass" too -- well done all around.