Comic Capability

In this society, comics are so often seen as novels that are meant for kids only, due to the numerous amount of pictures. However, what is not commonly known is that each picture, graphic, and/or sketch has a significantly deeper meaning that can only be interpreted at older levels. In the comic Maus by Art Spiegelman, pictures are used to depict what happened to the author's Jewish parents during wartime in Poland. 

On this page, Art's emotions are explicitly stated when he says "I feel so inadequate trying to reconstruct a reality that was worse than my darkest dreams" (16). Art incorporates this quote very well into his conversation with Vladek by indirectly addressing the comic he has written. In other words, the comic he is talking about in this conversation is the comic readers read. Even though Art feels "inadequate" about his comics, he does a wonderful job depicting the tragic lives of humans through animals. 

Art expresses the complex issue of racism through different animals. In Maus, Jews are portrayed as mice, while Germans are portrayed as cats. He manages to disprove the fact that "reality is too complex for comics" (16). Although every minor detail isn't mentioned in the comic, enough is mentioned for the author to connect and realize the main idea. 

Art's distinct style of shading is very appealing to the audience. He uses diagonal shading for objects that aren't significant to the topic. Additionally, in order to depict changes in the story, Art uses different shapes for his panels such as circles, which are a recurring motif throughout the story.