Maus

This comic is reminiscent of the underground style of comics in its art style and gritty nature; but the writing and character work within this tale is so much more than the extremes in those comics. The writing transcends what Will Eisner had done before and I thought his writing in Contract with God and Dropsie Avenue; which told personal stories about everyday people. This story is more of a autobiography and history lesson rolled into one, and the representation of the characters using animals is an interesting twist on stereotypes. I what I really enjoyed most, was not the tale of his father's life during the Holocaust, which was very good and harrowing account of survival and perseverance at that time; it was the tale of Artie and Vladek's relationship. I found how it interesting at times when Artie was probing too much to get the details of the story, the reader can sense this is hard for Vladek to recount as he would get upset or get sidetracked in telling his tale. I got mad when I noticed Artie getting frustrated when Vladek did that, as if retelling the worst part of his life should be easy for him to do. I felt empathy for Mala, who could be the best wife in the world, but never live up to Anja as a wife; also the fact that her side of the story is completely dismissed even though she could have gone through the same things as well. The best part of this story is how unabashedly honest this tale is, none of this felt dramatized, and I think that is in part of the interactions in the present with Artie and his father.