Maus Graphic Novel Review

Maus

Graphic Novel Review

There is a great trio of graphic novels that are seen by most comic book geeks – like me – as having revolutionised the genre, giving an art form dominated by stories about good-natured men in tights a more gritty, realistic texture. All were released around the mid-eighties in what still remains the most fertile period yet for this most overlooked medium.

The first of these books is Alan Moore’s much publicised – and recently filmed – 12-issue series, called Watchmen. Concerning a group of “masks” (the terminology for superhero in the alternate reality of the books), this was Moore’s self-stated attempt “to explore, amongst other things, the dynamics of power in a post-Hiroshima world.”

Second is Frank Miller’s Dark Knight Returns, in which an aging Batman is called out of retirement for one last hoorah. Miller said he was hired to “give Batman his balls back”, which is just what he did, and a new age of comics began.

The third, and perhaps most groundbreaking of the trio, was Art Spiegelman’s Maus, a tale of survival during the Holocaust, featuring anthropomorphic animals in place of humans. Whereas both Miller and Moore’s books were a new take on what was a tired superhero formula, Spiegelman’s book eschews the cape and cowl to focus on his father’s experiences as a Jew during World War II, recreating in harrowing detail the Nazi rise to power and their persecution of undesirables.

Spiegelman writes in semi-autobiographical style, using meetings with his father as a framing device for the main plot. As Spiegelman extracts his dad’s life story, flashbacks occur, and both narratives progress hand in hand. What unfolds is purely spectacular; parts of this book will make you grip the pages so tight in fear and anger that you will be in danger of rending the book in two before you finish it.

Vladek (portrayed as a mouse throughout) is a Polish Jew called into the army before his country’s annexation by the Nazis. He is captured and lives with his family in gradually worsening conditions until he eventually ends up in Auschwitz Concentration Camp, managing to live through the end of the war.

What really enraptures here is the rawness of the story; no punches are pulled in telling the tale of a society gone mad. The reader suffers alongside Vladek, an ordinary, yet resourceful and resilient young Pole, as he tries to keep his young family together. The flash forwards mainly deal with Art’s relationship with his father, who has become stingy and racist in his old age, and give the overall impression that even surviving through the Holocaust was no great gift.

A perfect example of a “legitimate” comic book.

9.5/10

Eclectic Micks Sketchbook Launch

Eclectic Micks

Sketchbook Launch

You don't put guys like that in a room together. Who knows what can happen?

I attended Forbidden Planet this Saturday for the launch of a new sketchbook called Eclectic Micks. Six of the seven Irish (hence the Micks title) comic book artists responsible for the publication were in attendance signing, drawing and generally slagging each other off. I sat down with the collective to talk influences, superhero movies and jowly actors.

What prompted your involvement in this sketchbook?

Declan Shalvey: We all met at a comic convention about a year ago and decided to do something together, so we started the Eclectic Micks blog.

Bob Byrne: Each of us posts a picture and some text once a week. The ideas are things we come up with or that the other guys suggest. The sketchbook is basically the best of the blog.

When did you realise you wanted to become involved in comics?

Bob Byrne: When I was twelve I produced my own comic, and gave copies to my friends. Of course, I never kept any of them for myself, which is a shame as they might be worth something now [laughs]. Although, a guy did contact me on Facebook the other day to say that he had kept one. The quality of the artwork was terrible.

Stephen Mooney: I remember that Image Comics became big when I was growing up and I was all over that; I loved it. I think that was when I developed a love of comics. I also did art for leaving cert, so that helped. It's funny, because my art teacher was always trying to get me out of comics.

How did you begin working on your current publication?

Stephen Mooney: I was working on a book called Freakshow 4 or 5 years ago. Chris Ryall, the editor of IDW comics, loves having Irish guys working for him; he's fourth or fifth generation Irish himself. He hired me for a CSI book called Dying in the Gutters. It's weird working on books like that because you have to get approval to use a person's likeness. I got an email of approval from Stan Lee that I still have. The only problem was the guy who plays Grissom in the series (William Petersen), who thought I made his jowls too big.

Stephen Thompson: I had to be vetted before I could work on Die Hard: Year One, so I don't really need to get each picture vetted before it goes out. I was originally going to work on the Farscape comic (Will Sliney's current publication), but then I moved to Die Hard. I was a fan of the films going in. John McClane deals with smaller time bad guys in the comics, because it's set before the first film, when he's just a rookie, but we also try to include big events like the New York blackouts and the Bicentennial.

Bob Byrne: When I created Mr. Amperduke [a book dealing with racism among tiny people who resemble Lego-men], the short answer was that I wanted to tell a story without words. I came up with the concept, and the idea for the characters came later.

Nick Roche: I always wanted to draw Transformers [the book on which Roche now works]. I have an inside contact at IDW comics who mentioned this to them and I got an interview and got in. I was always just interested in drawing the comics, but then one of the writers pulled out of doing some issues and I said 'Um, can I give them a go?' My first series was called Last Stand of the Wreckers. It's essentially I Am Legend with Transformers, so the plot was quite easy to construct. I would like to do something anti-Transformers next. I've thought about drawing a kid's comic with mummies and vampires as fairytale characters, or a comic about World War II, with dinosaurs.

Do you like the current crop of superhero movies?

Will Sliney: I think the industry is very healthy, and superhero movies are a big part of that, so yeah, in general I like them.

Nick Roche: Some I do, some I don't. I don't like the Spiderman movies; I think Sam Raimi is a great director and the special effects are great, but I don't really like the actors or the plot. The Incredibles was excellent. That took all the best bits from different superhero books. I also liked X-Men 2 because Hugh Jackman is hot [laughs].

And like that – I was gone.

The Eclectic Micks blog is online at www.eclecticmicks.blogspot.com.

Forbidden Planet is located at 5-6 Crampton Quay.