Maus: A Survivor's Tale by: Art Spiegelman, documents the life of the artist's father, a Jewish man who lived in Germany during the early 30s through the end of world war two. His father later moved to New York, which is where Spielgman grew up. Maus is considered to be one of the most important works in the history of the comics. This comic is critically and academically important for several reasons.
Maus earned the Pulitzer Prize in 1992. This is extremely important in the comic world, because it showcases the power of the comic medium amongst academics. This work won the prize for several reasons: first of all, the depiction of the characters in the novel brilliantly display the ridiculousness of the Nazi stereotype. How are the characters depicted? The Jewish race are depicted as mice in the novel, and the Nazis are portrayed as cats. This simple but very visual metaphor is striking in the message it conveys, and helps the viewer to easily "classify" and separate the races in the book. As ridiculous as that sounds, its very similar to the inhumanity of the German people during the war.
The second major success of this book, other than quickly expressing the lifelessness of war, is the ability to tell a story with compelling characters. This story is in-fact based on the real life of Vladek Spiegelman, and his son, Art Spiegelman, who is trying to gain information and storys from his father's life. Interesting subjects are talked about throughout the novel ranging from his father's early relationships to his persecution in the war and the oppression of the Jewish people.
I found this to be a really interesting read, and I think it only helps to exemplify the power of the comic and its ability to transport the reader. The story communicates very quickly and the metaphors are powerful and very accessible to all readers, which is extremely important in any form of storytelling medium.
"I have been convinced that Art Spiegelman is perhaps the single most important comic creator working within the field and in my opinion Maus represents his most accomplished work to date." - Alan Moore
