590 SPIEGELMAN, ART
Tensions between independent
artistry and the demands of commer-
cial fame characterized Spiegelman’s
professional life, even as he drew
upon such precedents as Harvey
Kurtzman’s MAD magazine and
Robert Crumb. A hospitalization
for mental illness and his mother’s
suicide ended Spiegelman’s time
at Harpur in 1968. After a few
years spent cartooning for men’s
magazines, he moved to San Fran-
cisco, where he published in Gothic
Blimp Works, Funny Animals, and
Young Lust, and co-edited Short
Order Comix and Whole Grains.
In 1975, he moved back to New
York City, where he began co-
editing Arcade magazine, married
Françoise Mouly, and published
a collection of his experimental
comics in Breakdowns (1977; re-
published 2008). He and Mouly
began the groundbreaking maga-
zine RAW, which assembled a vari-
ety of graphic projects. At the same
time, however, Spiegelman continued to work for Topps and began teaching at New York’s
School of Visual Arts. RAW serialized Maus, an exploration of his parents’ Holocaust ex-
periences and his own life as a second- generation survivor, for several issues before its two
volumes, My Father Bleeds History and And Here My Troubles Began, were published. He
ended his career with Topps in 1989, as the second volume of Maus was underway.
Th e publication of Maus marked both Spiegelman’s emergence as a critically
recognized artist and a widespread acceptance of graphic novels as serious literature.
Particularly after receiving a special Pulitzer Prize in 1992 for the two volumes, he
found himself at the center of a maelstrom of media attention and scholarly analysis.
Th e book’s success helped him to promote comics’ visibility, a long-term goal, and gar-
nered him signifi cant acclaim. His black-on-black portrait of the missing Twin Towers
for the New Yorker’s 9/11 cover was included in the American Society of Magazine
Editors’ 2005 list of “ Top 40 Magazine Covers;” the image also appeared on the cover
of In the Shadow of No Towers, his autobiographical study of both the devastation of
New York City and its history in comics. His public commentaries on world events
continue to generate controversy and esteem.Art Spiegelman with wife and collaborator Françoise Mouly
(2000). Photofest