Classic Comix

I plowed through this one in NYC.  A classic for sure and an fascinating look at the lives of Holocaust survivors as elderly, angry, and dysfunctional humans.  Or mice.

The holocaust portions of the comic were amazing, but I was hit on a more visceral level by the discord of the "present day" scenes.  The Spiegelman's are fucked up, yo.  As well they should be.  The Holocaust has taken its toll on the family--a wound that has festered for an entire generation finally drains onto the pages of this book.

My favorite sequence (in terms of sheer power, not enjoyment) is a mini-comic called Prisoner on the Hell Planet.  It describes in ghastly detail the effects of a mother's suicide on her son.  In a book filled with terrifying sights, nothing freaked me more than a suicidal mother tucking her son in one final time.  Shudder.

I get the sense that I really have to read Maus II to fully grasp this work.  Maybe later.  This first episode was gripping, and an interesting predecessor to the more complex comic melancholy of Chris Ware.  Long live Comix!

Rock.