SPIEGELMAN, ART 589
and city politics, in which Peter is loath to get involved. A story arc in 1971 features
Harry Osborn’s addiction to drugs, whereas a 1982 single-issue questions the preva-
lence of guns in America. In 1974, Spider-Man teams up with Th e Punisher to fi ght
the Tarantula, an operative of a repressive government in Latin America. While beating
on the villain, Spidey delivers a speech in which he eff ectively aligns himself with revo-
lutionaries fi ghting tyranny. Th e most sustained examination of Spider-Man’s role in
social realities comes during writer J. Michael Straczynski’s tenure in the 2000s. Sepa-
rated from his wife, Peter returns to his high school to realize that the neighborhood
has changed for the worse. He becomes a teacher and attempts to counsel students who
might otherwise get into trouble. Spider-Man recognizes that he has never paid atten-
tion to the problems of street youth and the homeless, and a reformed thug questions
why he only deals with things after they go wrong rather than trying to prevent them
from going wrong.
Peter Parker’s private life also becomes more complex as Aunt May learns of his
secret identity and he restarts his relationship with Mary Jane, while joining the New
Avengers. In the Civil War storyline (2006), Spider-Man unmasks to the world as
Peter Parker in support of superhero registration, which he later realizes is a mistake.
As a result, May is shot by a sniper sent by a villain and, in a coma, is on the verge of
dying. Peter and Mary Jane make a deal with the devil (Mephisto) to keep May alive.
Th e resultant resetting of the Spider-Man storyline means that Peter and Mary Jane
had never married in the fi rst place and Harry Osborn, long dead, somehow comes back
to life, while Spider-Man’s unmasking has been erased from collective memory. Peter
is once again a bachelor, with a doting aunt, far removed from introspection about his
role in society—other than knocking heads together in a superfi cial fulfi llment of the
dictum that great power entails great responsibility.
Noaman G. Ali
SPIEGELMAN, ART (1948–). An artist and writer whose work has done much to bring
critical respect to comics and graphic novels, Spiegelman was born in Stockholm,
Sweden. He emigrated with his parents, Vladek and Anya (Zylberberg) Spiegelman,
to Norristown, Pennsylvania before settling in the Rego Park neighborhood of Queens,
New York. Geographical transience and the importance of place in establishing one’s
identity have remained consistent themes in his work, particularly Maus: A Survivor’s
Ta l e (1986, 1991) and In the Shadow of No Towers (2004). He began drawing comics at
an early age, publishing his fi rst drawing at age 13 before becoming a student at Manhat-
tan’s High School of Art and Design. While doing freelance work for a small newspaper
in Queens, he met Woody Gelman, art director of the Topps Chewing Gum Company,
who would become a life-long mentor and friend. After graduation from the School
of Art and Design, he attended Harpur College (now SUNY-Binghamton), where he
worked as a cartoonist for the college newspaper and edited a humor magazine. In the
summer of 1966, he became a creative consultant for Topps and began publishing his
own underground comics work in such venues as the East Village Other.
