Art Spiegelman, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
My mother ended 1986 laboring to bring my baby sister into the world, but in some ways events that occurred earlier that year would have an equally significant effect on my life. This was the year that brought about some great changes in the world of sequential art, or comics, and one of the men responsible for those changes was Art Spiegelman.
Mr. Spiegelman was an established artist in the comics community long before 1986. He had been an influential member of the underground comix movement of the 1960s and 70s, which sought to explore sequential art and express visually the counter-culture movements of that time without the controlling influence of the Comics Code Authority. Many of the themes in underground comix explored politically charged topics, violence, and sexuality, which were banned from mainstream publications.[1] Mr. Spiegelman contributed to many underground publications, such as Real Nulp, Young Love, and Bizarre Sex. He also co-founded two underground publications: Arcade and Raw.
Raw was a project begun by Mr. Spiegelman and his wife, Françoise Mouly, in 1980.[2] In Raw, Mr. Spiegelman began to serialize what would later become one of the most famous and influential pieces in both comics and American literature: Maus. Maus is the personal memoir of Mr. Spiegelman, which relates conversations between himself and his father about his father’s experiences in pre-war Poland and the Holocaust.
- From the Cover of Maus, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
The first volume of Maus, which collected the serialized comics previously released in Raw and other publications, was released in 1986. That year also marked the publication of Dark Knight Returns and The Watchmen. Together, these three graphic novels would change the way the world saw sequential art, and many of their underground elements began to appeal to a mainstream audience. Maus, however, would receive the most recognition when in 1992 it received the Special Pulitzer Prize for Letters and was exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art.[3]
With the publication of Maus, Art Spiegelman almost single handedly transformed graphic novels into a serious form of literature. His mature handling of distressing subjects like the Holocaust, father and son relationships, and the struggle of an entire generation to reclaim its familial history showed how sequential art could create literature that was in many ways more compelling than the written word alone. His method of using animals to personify different ethnic groups made the characters more human in many ways, much like in the novel Animal Farm. His simple monochromatic palette conveyed a more shocking and stark reality than many people around the world ever experienced in color.
In becoming an accepted and established medium, graphic novels earned a place of their own in libraries and bookstores. I spent much of my childhood immersed in them. Stories like Maus introduced me to issues and subjects that I couldn’t find in other literature in a way that moved me deeply. It’s fair to say that neither I, nor the world of comic books, would be the same today without Art Spiegelman or Maus.
[1] Roger Sabin, Comics, Comix & Graphic Novels: A History of Comic Art, (London: Phaidon Press, 2001), pg 92
[2] Ibid, pg 178
[3] Ibid, pg 188
Maus is an excellent read! To my surprise, the themes addressed in the text were dynamic and layered–so much so that I almost forgot it was formatted as a comic book.
I too forgot that I was reading a graphic novel while reading Maus. I have never read one, so at first it was a bit awkward to go between the pictures and the text, but once I got the hang of it, I was off! It went so fast, it felt like I was really watching the story unfold. When I didn’t understand a point or an event, I could just look at the picture to clarify, which was refreshing, as I would normally have to re-read something if I was confused.
Also, I wanted to comment on Spiegelman’s use of black and white. I don’t think the story would be the same in color. It was so horrifying at certain points, that colorful images may have detracted from the somberness of the moment. Being in black and white made me feel as though I was watching an old movie reel, or looking at grainy newspaper images. Overall, it was a format that really worked for me!
When Haley and I were working at the gym the other day, a little girl walked in and spotted Haley’s copy of Maus. She was confused as to how a story about mice could possibly be related to history. She wanted to know what the book was about, but that would have been too complex to even begin to explain to her, she must have been about five years old. It is interesting to me how the illustrations on the book from afar look like a children’s book, but once you look closer you know it is more complicated than that. Even adults were commenting on the book, at first assuming it was a children’s book, and the realizing what the book truly was. The use of comic as a medium for historical literature is an interesting one that can be mistakenly perceived as something else, however I find the medium suitable for the material being relayed. The story is already tragic and horrific, giving the characters the forms of animals, and using the medium of a comic, helps promote the story in a way that allows the reader to become slightly removed from the acts of inhumanity throughout the comic.
I wonder if Maus works a little bit like a Disney Pixar or Dreamworks movie. Follow me on this one! The layers of meaning can be interpreted by adult audiences but are not necessarily inappropriate for younger readers. I’m not recommending the book to a 5 year old but I do think that it’s fascinating how a high-schooler, college student, and post grad might interpret the text very differently.
I think what Art Spiegelman has done for history is amazing, especially in terms of discussing the tough stuff of history. Perhaps having the tough stuff in graphic novel format makes it more palatable to readers? Or at least initially draws them in? Either way, I’m a fan. I’ve also noticed that books deemed “classics” are making their debut as graphic novels. My favorite…”Pride and Prejudice.” Whatever gets people involved!
Keith – great post! I really enjoy the format of the graphic novel – it brings in another element, body language, that makes the story nuanced and deep on many levels. I feel that the animals allow just enough distance for the reader to make the story truly personal. The animals make the characters just ambiguous enough to fill in the blanks with ourselves.
Tori’s comment about my gym experience makes me wonder about entry points to tough history. While this inquisitive little girl was just curious why I was reading a comic book ( as where many of all ages), I was stumped at first as to how to reply. The nature of the topic isn’t something you drop into casual conversation, but I found it an incredible easy entry point to discuss tough issues. I found myself avoiding using the word Holocaust, becoming hyper- aware of the weight of this word. The book allowed me to enter the discussion from another avenue. To adults, I told many of them it was historically based and even some older men I discussed the plot lines. But the response I gave the little girl when she asked what it was about, after a long and thoughtful pause ( the educator inside me was panicing) ” mice and cats, and the cats trying to eat the mice because they are different.” to which she replied, “well that’s not very nice”. While this may be a simple exchange, it totally changed my perspective on this book. Spiegelman has hit it off the charts in accessibility. I can say first hand that this book creates creative opportunities to bring any age in to a discussion ( and hopefully a better understanding) of one of histories “tough topics”.
This is actually the second history based graphic novel I’ve looked at this week, the other being Journey into Mohawk Country by George O’Conner, which is the 1634 journal of a Dutch trader. The Ed department at TFM is thinking about using it for some of their older students. I really like the idea of using graphic novels as an entry point, especially for students. I found Maus to be extremely easy to read, and I still feel like I got a lot of content out of it, and I think that junior high or high school students would probably say the same. I wonder if there are any other examples of graphic novels that cover history?