Maus was the first graphic novel I have had the pleasure to read (well, that’s not true there was a western comic that belonged to my uncle when he was a child, but I digress). I have a certain fondness for the story, maybe because I am a World War II junkie or that my family is Russian/Polish and was affected by the war, or possibly just because it was merely entertaining to read. I don’t know but the fact that I get to do a brief analysis of it now brings a smile to my face.

Since the first two novels that we have gone through thus far in the course have been tales of action heroes with fantastic sketching, intricate story lines, and posses great explanatory words like “Poom!”, “Bamm!”, “Fap!” and “Ktang!”. I would have to say that one of the best parts is the amazing color. It brings vivid and bold new life to the 2-D world that we enter as readers. It shows emotion, depth and takes the audience into the world of the story. Maus is very different. The novel is completely based in black and white with subtle shades of grey shading. Tick bold en like strokes replace the thin, delicate, quick lines of the superhero comics. No color is used to help bring the story to life. This books relies mostly on the story itself to help the reader along. The dull hues add to the somber and morose topic of the Holocaust. Being black and white also adds to the realness of the story. There is no sugar coating or bold colors to entrance one’s mind. They are the cold hard “black & white facts” of the world’s history. If Spiegelman had decided to make his masterpiece in color, I doubt it would have had the same effect. Maybe that can be contested seeing as how the protagonists are Mice, the Nazis are Cats and the Polish are Pigs. This is the only fantasy that Art added to his artwork.

Another interesting idea about the fact that this comic is fully black & white is the way it plays with the characters on the page. Because Spiegelman has chosen animals as his characters, they now lack the distinguishing features that humans have that make each one of us unique individuals. This makes the reader more aware of who the speaker in each frame is and what exactly they are doing. If the speaker is put into a large group of his/her peers in a drawing, the animal is now lost in the crowd. This is clever for a couple of reasons. Spiegelman is making sure that the reader is coherent and absorbing his story as well as representing each culture. The only thing that makes them different is the clothing that they wear. All the Jew’s look the same, all the Nazis look alike and yes, the same goes for the Pols. Even the males and the the females have the same physical characteristics, proving that we really are the same and no one is better than another.

When I started reading Maus, I quickly recognized that the artwork while adequate to tell its story was not on the same level as The Dark Knight Returns, or the Watchmen. At first this put me off but after a few pages the art grew on me a bit. While not as evocative as graphic novels and I did some interesting things like the different animals for the different ethnics and Vladek wearing the pig mask when he faked being a non Jewish Polish.
What I noticed above all else though is that Maus reads more like a novel than anything else we have read so far. When I think of the story I see more of my own mental images in my mind than Spiegelman’s art. At first I found this a bit unsual but I kept reading the story really pulled me. Soon I was at ease with the feel of Spiegelman’s work and the pages started to fly by.
The story itself is the strongest point of Maus so far. The dynamic between Art and Vladek as father recounts his story to his son is very relatable and familiar. I often see much of my own relationship with my father play out between the two with their simple family banter. I feel this really made the story more approachable which is important with such a grave plot.
Vladek’s tale is a bit slow at first but picks up when he goes off to war. I found the scene on page 50 to particularly chilling as Vladek shoots an enemy solider disguised as tree and continued to shoot him even after he surrendered. The story only grew more depressing from there, hopefully there will be some light at the end of this tunnel.

I have read Maus four times now. Every single time I take back a different emotion, sense, and overall opinion of the work. I agree with Pierce’s “first reader” comment that approaching Maus on the blog is intimidating, even a bit cold, because of the nature of the content. However, after reading this book in different contexts (for myself, for a history class, for English in high school, and now for graphic novel) I am still moved by the work every time. Some critics will say that Spiegelman chose to portray a horrible event such as the Holocaust through the character depictions of mice, cats, and pigs to further desensitize the event but I strongly disagree. There are certain panels of Maus that are so graphic, clearly not as graphic as the real thing, but they pull at your heartstrings nonetheless. In my previous readings of the work in addition to doing a ton of research, I have noticed that in Maus that the physical pen strokes made by Speigelman makes carry just as much emotional weight as the dialogue and images themselves. The stern, thick marks are as influential are the words. A lot of the frames appear to be overbearing with small text and images of despair but I find that the nature of the images bear the most emotional weight.

I will be interested to see how everyone else perceives the books after further discussion and a more in-depth look of the plot and text; and will be interested to see if anyone agrees with me.

When I was in ninth grade, I tried reading Maus. I think I got through about the first chapter before putting it down and picking up The Sandman instead (we had such a wonderful high school library). I wasn’t too experienced with comic books those days, and I guess I didn’t really get why it was in graphic novel form, since the actions are pretty straightforward, and the dialogue is colorful enough to tell us what we need to know. The question I’d ask my ninth grade self today, of course, is, “Why not a graphic novel?” I’ve since come to appreciate more the subtle visual effects, from the overt metaphor of wearing a Polish mask on page 64, to the fact that the hanged mice at the start of chapter four really do look like dead mice, perhaps bringing to mind phrases like “getting rid of vermin” or “mouse trap.” I also appreciate the attention to detail in period costumes and backgrounds, and the moody shading that turns the father’s narration into a war movie. I’d still like to know Spiegelman’s rationale behind choosing this medium, but I’m no longer surprised or turned off by it.

Another thing that initially confused me was, well, probably the most important part of the book: why were different races being depicted as different species? Isn’t that a kind of racist, Nazi-ish way of thinking? I guess I was envisioning the type of Nazi rationale depicted in Inglourious Basterds (yes, I’m referencing two Tarantino movies in as many posts), where the German is the aggressive predator and the Jews are cunning prey. And I’d like to take this opportunity to slap my ninth-grade self on the back of the head, because of course that’s what Spiegelman is making us think of. The fact that normal Germans going about their everyday lives are still cats, and even the sympathetic, helpful Poles are still pigs–see Janina, pg 37–shows that he is aware of the problematic nature of such characterizations and is forcing us to think of it too.

The only thing I still don’t really get is why Polish people are depicted as pigs. To me, the immediate connotations with that animal would be cute, smart and helpful, but I doubt that’s what Spiegelman’s going for. Is the idea that they are unclean? Greedy? Domesticated so that they can be manipulated? Maybe it was a cultural stereotype at the time that I am just unaware of, or maybe the answer is coming. Anyway, I’m more excited to learn how Spiegelman will play with the story, than to find out how the story actually ends.

Right off the bat, I want to say that I read both books through last night, so there may be “spoilers,” but more than likely they’ll be thematic, not specific.  I don’t think there’s much to spoil about the holocaust.

Approaching Maus here on the blog is a little intimidating, considering both the gravity of its subject matter and the amount of interpretation its already undergone critically, so bear with me.  A lot has been said already since the work’s publication about Spiegelman’s decision to visually “categorize” different racial and religious groups as different animals.  Many early readers were taken aback by it.  However, it becomes obvious through reading the text that this typing, (an apparent manifestation of racist attitudes similar to the Nazis own propaganda of alienation concerning the Jews) is intended to dissolve through the reading, to satirical effect.  Spiegelman himself has stated  that the decision to portray Jews as mice was based on the Nazi perception of Jews as vermin.  Co-opting this device, then, he uses racial branding to the exact opposite effect and intention of that of the Nazis.  There are fractures of solidarity in all of the “animal” types represented in Maus.  As a broad example some non-Jewish Poles are portrayed as sympathetic to the Jews, some flatly anti-semitic.  Now, jumping ahead to next Tuesday’s reading… (sorry.)

(MAYBE KIND OF A SPOILER? UP NEXT)

Perhaps the most telling example of how problematic (and arbitrary) Spiegelman finds this typing is at the very beginning of book two, when he is talking to his French wife about what animal type she should be represented as.  They argue, but in the process her conversion is brought up.  Apparently, she converted to Judaism strictly in an attempt to please Vladek.  This process is jokingly referred to by Spiegelman in the panels: “So, you and I go to a mouse rabbi.  He says a few magic words and ZAP! …. By the end of the page the frog has turned into a beautiful mouse! (12)”  This section highlights the generally arbitrary nature of racial and religious typing, while showing  Spiegelman’s own conflict about the way in which he represents these “types.”

I have to say I was glad to find a topic that was not about Chapter 7 or Laurie. I think that even though we constantly read about The Comedian and his history, we don’t really grasp him until Chapter 9. Along with what Jessie said, the pin is a large part of who The Comedian is. But the ironic part is that even though this is a “smiley face” and his name is The Comedian, neither actually go along with a happy or jovial personality. In fact, Edward Blake (his real name) is actually a dark and troubled soul. As stated in the original posting he is ” a power-hungry, forced-based individual with little qualms doing things that make him seem far more like a super villain than a hero”.  The true Edward Blake is revealed when he is introduced to his daughter, Laurie. He even seems to show some form of a soul when he comments about her beauty. He constantly tries to connect with her but is always thwarted. The reader even begins to feel bad for him when his daughter publicly humiliates him and is totally oblivious to who he is in her life. But it is hard to fully forgive him for the wrongs he has done in the past. Unfortunately, his bad deeds seem to outnumber the good. Edward or The Comedian is a complicated individual who is totally. The reasons behind his inner anger and vengeance are never completely divulged, but I’m guessing, that would be a whole different comic book by itself!

Alyse — “I also wonder what kind of social experiment the book would have been if a woman had been thrust into Jon’s omnipotent superhero position rather than a man.”

That’s quite an interesting proposition. While I agree with you 100% about how Laurie may/may not be portrayed appropriately as a “real” woman; I think the book would have had a totally different tone with a woman as Dr. Manhattan. I think the theme would probably take a feminist spin and instead of the space time continuum and the folds of the universe being topics that plagued Dr. Manhattan’s time it would be a struggle between the affection for the Earth and sympathy for its people.

Why Dr. Manhattan’s character is such a conundrum and a headache to understand at times is mostly because his character is a man. We see him struggling with saving humanity or even caring seeing time as the definitive decider in life. Whereas a female Dr. Manhattan’s personality may be more centered around motherly topics.

I don’t think Dr. Manhattan as a woman would work for the plot or with other Watchmen characters. Even though Laurie is a handful and possesses some of the worst womanly qualities, she works in her own way. She’s inherited her mom’s fame and doesn’t like it – or maybe she does? She’s the cliché woman that can’t make up her mind, her emotions, or her relationships.

In most respects, I hate Laurie and Silk Spectre. She is easily replaceable and is needed for so little in the Watchmen. She serves to complete a point of the love triangle, but doesn’t have any other purpose.

In chapter 7, there is a a strong connection between Rorschach and the Night Owl in regards to their true identities. Though in an earlier reading, Rorschach’s capture and de-masking is as dramatic as it is influential to the character development of all the superheroes we have come to know in Watchmen. Rorschach happens to be the only character that openly admits to being his persona rather than his day to day being, Walter Kovacs.

In regards to Night Owl, Moore basically gives us an entire chapter showing Dan accepting the fact that he feels impotent in his normal skin. He literally uses the word impotent while wearing nothing but his owl goggles. The fact that he admits his own inabilities not only while completely exposed in his normal skin is a quiet admission to feeling only himself when in the skin of the Night Owl. This happens also after his dramatic dream of peeling back the human form to expose the true form of the superhero underneath.

We shouldn’t forget his sexual impotence. This is indeed a difference between Rorschach and Night Owl because of Rorschach’s disgust toward physical intimacy of any kind. Before he puts on his owl skin we see an unsuccessful attempt at physical intimacy between Night Owl and Laurie. After they put on their superhero skins, they save a burning building, and lo and behold sexual success. When asked if the costumes helped Night owl says yes, “It just feels strange, you know? To come out and admit that to somebody. To come out of the closet.” (VII, 28)

It’s interesting to see Laurie’s reaction to this experience. Maybe if it were looked at more closely we could argue she is maybe accepting her superhero skin more than she did before. This I think has something to do with the fact that she was there to see someone she respects openly accept his position as a superhero and admitting that it makes him feel powerful. This is definitely a complete opposite to what Laurie says her mother makes her feel about the superhero world.

Chapter 7 of the watchmen shows an interesting turn of events. Two people who seemed to be most free from their mask through out the book, were shown that they too are the captives of the mask Identity.

Dan Dreiberg and Laurie are the two people through out the previous chapter, shown as people who live their normal life after retiring mask hero life. However, chapter 7 too shows that they both were never truly free from the disturbed internal struggles that most masked heroes (comedian, Rorschach etc) seemed to exhibit. Previous to their mask adventure, Dan seems so unstable and nervous and unsure of himself. (For exaple, page 10 of chapter 7, 6th box, Dan is unable to evenput his hands slightly n Laurie from lack of confidence).

Contrastingly, on Page 26 of Chapter 7, we are shown of dan on the rooftop of his airship, He is drawn as confident and even smiling. His face is portrayed from as if the viewers are looking up to him, making him look more confident and higher being. He is also able to command people and keep them relaxed as he releases the people he rescued from fire.

Dan Dreiberg was unstable and unsure without the mask, however with his mask, he is sure of himself and carries himself with power and control(example he is able to reach to Laurie after the masked adventure).

It is truly interesting how, noone, seems to be truly free from their masked identity after the years have passed.