Reception and Reviews of the Work Part II

             When Maus by Art Spiegelman came out it was a massive success, both critically and commercially. While an overwhelming majority of the feedback was positive, there was some backlash from releasing a book with this sort of subject matter. Spiegelman recounted some of these responses that were not as favorable:

“Don’t you think that a comic book about Auschwitz is in bad taste?” one angry reporter asked him when the book was published in Germany. “No,” Spiegelman replied, “I thought Auschwitz was in bad taste.”[1]

On the other hand, the book was such a hit that at some points Spiegelman was accused of having only one book in his repertoire that was worth publishing, or as the music business would title it, he was accused of being a One Hit Wonder. Spiegelman himself goes on to admit that in his career since Maus II, he has mostly been “…trying to wriggle out from under my own achievement.”[2] Nonetheless, the immense success of the work has allowed him more privileges as an artist/author than punishments. He has a level of independence that is cherished and relished in the art industry. As he puts it in an interview with the Observer “Maus does well enough that I don't have to chase every ambulance. I've no need of advances, and so on. That should give me incredible license."[3]

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[1] Kois, Dan. "The Making of Maus." Sunday Book Review. The New York Times, 2 Dec. 2011. Web. 18 Oct. 2012. <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/04/books/review/the-making-of-maus.html?ref=artspiegelman&_r=2&>.

[2] Kois, Dan. "The Making of Maus." Sunday Book Review. The New York Times, 2 Dec. 2011. Web. 18 Oct. 2012. <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/04/books/review/the-making-of-maus.html?ref=artspiegelman&_r=2&>.

[3] Cooke, Rachel. "Art Spiegelman: 'Auschwitz Became for Us a Safe Place'" The Observer. Guardian News and Media Limited, 23 Oct. 2011. Web. 17 Oct. 2012. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/oct/23/art-spiegelman-maus-25th-anniversary>.