Spiegelman, << SPEE guhl muhn, >> Art (1948-…), is an American cartoonist and author of graphic novels. He is best known for his two-volume graphic novel Maus: A Survivor’s Tale (1986-1991), for which he received a Pulitzer Prize special citation in 1992. A graphic novel is a book-length story that combines pictures and text. Maus describes the experiences of Spiegelman’s parents during the Holocaust. The Holocaust was the murder of Jews and others by the Nazis during World War II (1939-1945). In the books, the Jewish victims are portrayed as mice and the Nazi persecutors as cats.
Spiegelman is a pioneer in making comics an adult art form. He was a leader in the underground comix movement in the late 1960’s. This movement dealt in a humorous way with political and social subjects, such as sexual behavior, illegal drugs, rock music, and antiwar protests. The term comix was used to show that these comics were different from the usual ones being created at that time. Spiegelman has contributed to many underground comix publications and edited several comix magazines. In 1980, Spiegelman and his wife, Françoise Mouly, started the magazine Raw, which publishes the work of leading underground comix artists from the United States and other countries.
Spiegelman and Mouly published three collections of comics written for children and adults and illustrated by leading cartoonists and children’s literature artists. The collections are Folklore Fairy Tale Funnies (2000), Strange Stories for Strange Kids (2001), and It Was a Dark and Silly Night (2003). Spiegelman also wrote a children’s book, I’m a Dog (1997). Jack Cole and Plastic Man: Forms Stretched to Their Limits (2001) is Spiegelman’s tribute to the American cartoonist Jack Cole. In the Shadow of No Towers (2004) consists of cartoon panels and comic strips portraying the horror of the terrorist attacks in New York City on Sept. 11, 2001. In MetaMaus (2011), Spiegelman used documents, drawings, photographs, and prose to explore his creation of Maus.
Arthur Spiegelman was born on Feb. 15, 1948, in Stockholm, Sweden. He immigrated with his family to the United States in 1951. Spiegelman later became a U.S. citizen. He was an artist, designer, and writer for Topps Chewing Gum, Inc., from 1966 to 1989. He also taught about comics at the New York School of Visual Arts from 1979 to 1987. He was a staff writer and artist for The New Yorker magazine from 1993 to 2003.
See also Graphic novel.
