Legitimation of Comics

Similar to the problems of defining literature and film, no consensus has been reached on a definition of the comics medium, and attempted definitions and descriptions have fallen prey to numerous exceptions. Theorists such as Töpffer, R. C. Harvey, Will Eisner, David Carrier, Alain Rey, and Lawrence Grove emphasize the combination of text and images, though there are prominent examples of pantomime comics throughout its history. Other critics, such as Thierry Groensteen and Scott McCloud, have emphasized the primacy of sequences of images. Towards the close of the 20th century, different cultures' discoveries of each others' comics traditions, the rediscovery of forgotten early comics forms, and the rise of new forms made defining comics a more complicated task.

Despite all of the critical acclaim from illustrators, writers, even academic scholars who have contributed to comics are an art form, and traditional style comic-based illustration dating as far back as medieval times, the large consensus about comics is that it is a collection of cartoons for children. Thankfully, some other works of comics have taken to breaking the mold, such as the works of Craig Thompson and collections of underground graphic narrative, but the comic that has most likely brought graphic novels academic limelight is Maus by Art Spiegelman.

For the general public, Maus was this insightful peak into the world of the Holocaust, but but Spiegelman it read as a journey into the mind of a father who he could never understand, both as a child and an adult. Segments of the story show Art and his father, Vladec, the "protagonist" of the Holocaust narrative discussing his life story in more recent times. The use of syntax, grammar, character, and emotion between Art and Vladec feels just as sharp, just as jarring in some places as the Holocaust flashbacks. While the history and first-hand experiences woven throughout the narrative bring sophistication as well as unnerving reality to the story, what makes the story work is the balance between the fictional representation of humans [only physically, through animal characterization], non-fictional harshness, and the way it all ties back to the author of the story. This story is just as much an autobiography as well as a biography, revealing the painful relationship that Art had with Vladec from his birth to Vladec's death.