Discover Top Posts Tagged with #arceline

Maus: Color & Action

Art Spiegelman choose to illustrate “Maus” is entirely in black and white with influence from woodblock printing. Each picture and scene is completely flat therefore Spiegelman uses techniques with lines of various lengths and widths to create depth and texture. The lack of color allows for an eerie atmosphere which intensifies the severity of one of Vladek’s experiences. For instance, the photos below are of the cover of “Maus” but one is a colored version. As seen the colored version looks more inviting where the one on the right gives off a menacing feeling.

The use of color catches a readers eye and is key when drawing in a crowd especially when bold bright colors are used. A reader may be hesitant to pick up a book with a bland looking cover which is why inviting covers are more popular. When reading “Maus” the feeling is similar to that of a comic strip in the news paper.

Action is portrayed very minimally in “Maus”, Spiegelman demonstrates action through sharp think lines and negative space. As seen in the photo below, A bullet is being fired at Vladek and is represented by the white space passing by him and creating an “explosion” through the tent. If it were not for Vladek’s initial remark on how a German soldier shot at him, it would be difficult to make out what the scene is depicting.

The use of dramatic lines is common in comic strips and books to show some form of activity, however “Maus” lacks in shading and uses thick hard lines making it very stationary and stiff. Japanese manga and American comic use a variety of shades, width of lines and use onomatopoeia; words describing sound. As seen in the photos below, the intensity of a scene changes when the lines become the source of action instead of the negative space.

(Scene from “Naruto”)

(Scene taken from “Spider Man”)

#maus1 #color #action #arceline #photo

Arceline’s Annotated Bibliography

<http://www.haaretz.com/news/study-holocaust-survivors-3-times-more-likely-to-attempt-suicide-1.166386>

Spiegelman, Art. "Why Mice?"The New York Review of Books. N.p., n.d. Web. Mar. 2017. <http://www.nybooks.com/daily/2011/10/20/why-mice/>.A written article by Art Spiegelman about why he choose mice as characters in “Maus”

Shmoop Editorial Team. "What Animal Allegory? in Maus: A Survivor's Tale."Shmoop. Shmoop University, 11 Nov. 2008. Web. Mar. 2017. <http://www.shmoop.com/maus/what-animal-allegory-symbol.html>.

"Q&A With Art Spiegelman, Creator of 'Maus'"Tablet Magazine. N.p., n.d. Web. Mar. 2017. <http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-arts-and-culture/152310/art-spiegelman-jewish-museum>.

De Angelis, Richard. ”Of Mice and Vermin: Animals as Absent Referent in Art Spiegelman’s Maus”. Comic Book Justice. N.d. Web. April 2017

<http://www.comicbookjustice.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Of-mice-and-vermin.pdf>

Comtois, Pierre. “Top 10 Most Influential Comics of the 1980s”. PJ Media. 18 August 2014. Web. April 2017.

<https://pjmedia.com/lifestyle/2014/8/18/top-10-most-influential-comics-of-the-1980s/>

Ekko. “The Top 20 COmic Book Stories of the 1980s”. Berkeley Place. 10 March 2009. Web. April 2017

<http://berkeleyplaceblog.com/2009/03/10/the-top-20-comic-book-stories-of-the-1980s/>

Traubmann, Tamara. “Study: Holocaust Survivors 3 Times More Likely to Attempt Suicide”. Haaretz. 10 August 2005. Web. April 2017

Holocaust a Call to Conscience. “The Killing Machine”. ProjectAladin.org. 2009. Web. April 2017

<http://www.projetaladin.org/holocaust/en/history-of-the-holocaust-shoah/the-killing-machine/why-did-nazi-germany-end-up-killing-millions-of-jews.html>

Price, Nicoal. “Color vs Black and White photography - What makes sense and when?”. Photography Vox. n.d. Web. April 2017

<http://www.photographyvox.com/a/color-vs-black-and-white-photography/>

Parker, John. “The Great Art Comic Evangelist: A Tribute to Art Spiegelman”. Comics Alliance. 15 February 2016. Web. April 2017.

<http://comicsalliance.com/tribute-art-spiegelman/>

#arceline #bib

Maus: Characterization

Art Spiegelman’s graphic novel “Maus”, used anthropomorphism to represented nationality groups as certain animals. The use of animals helped create relational imagery between groups based on their animal representative. For instance, those of Jewish descent were represented as mice, the Germans were represented as cats, Polish as pigs and Americans as dogs.

Those who were Jewish were represented as mice in “Maus”, which coincidentally translates to mouse. This is because Jews were considered the lowest kind people and were treated in a ways that were inhumane. Nazi’s goal was to exterminate Jews due to eugenics, the elimination of “abnormalities and illnesses” from their own race. They were left in concentration camps to essentially starve and fight for food scraps. The camps were extremely unhygienic as it was littered in feces, bodies and pests; such as fleas and rats. In respect to mice, cats are considered their worst enemies hence the Nazi were drawn as cats. Jews were belittled, tortured and left to work in hard condition. Jewish people and were left in the mercy of the Nazi’s claws and forced to bow and perform at their will. Unfortunately children, were treated as lab experiments that would either leave them deformed or dead.

In a documentary Spiegelman watched he recalled that “Jews [were in] a ghetto swarming in tight quarters, bearded caftaned creatures, and then a cut to Jews as mice—or rather rats—swarming in a sewer”. Jews were often represented as rodents in literature and media, and it was this that drew Spiegelman to finalize his decision to draw Jews as mice/rats.

On the other hand, Nazi were powerful cats that dominated “mice infested” territories. Spiegelman drew the Nazi as cats to illustrate the mouse and cat relationship between the Jews and Nazi. Due to the Nazi ideology, The German army stripped many of the Jewish people of their possessions and title leaving them with nothing. The cats are seen to be drawn with an evil atmosphere and bigger than all the mice.

The Polish were represented by pigs, and often Jews are seen wearing pigs mask to disguise themselves as regular Polish people. During World War 2, Poland was defeated within 2 months of being invaded and the residences were forced under the will of the Nazi. Some followed under the Nazi army, agreeing to their ideology, others helped the Jews hide and escape from the army and some stayed neutral.

#maus1 #characterization #quotes #arceline #photo

Maus: Images

“Comics are a narrative art form, a form that combines two other forms of expression: words and pictures” -Art Spiegelman.

“Maus” is a graphic novel illustrating his father’s memories and experiences during the holocaust with significant amount of scenes regarding their relationship as father and son. The comic’s unique style invites one to experience many historic events in a humorous fashion although many scenes represented horrific events.

Spiegelman's art style was highly influenced and inspired by Harvey Kurtzman, a cartoonist and editor, and Frans Masereel, a painter and graphic artist. Harvey Kurtzman was known for his comedic comic called “Mad” which “challenged the repressive status quo in the early 1950s by satirizing cultural figures, politicians and rampant consumerism” (Steven Heller). Heller also drew war comics with extensive background research for each story and often use controversial topics. Spiegelman took inspiration to create a graphic novel that could represent serious historic events through a humorous and playful mannerism. Although the story is real, the animals he uses makes it playful and inviting but in reality it provokes one to think about the deeper meaning and relationship between each animal.

Masereel was a known painter and graphic artist inspired Spiegelman with his wordless comics. The comics were illustrated using a method called woodblock printing: a wooden block would have negative space cut out and used as a stamp which translated into a picture. This created blocky textures with black and negative space that defined the shapes of each object. Spiegelman adopted this style when creating “Maus” but rather than use wooden blocks, drew each picture and added more detail through the repetition of lines. This enhanced the intensity of a scene depending how chaotic the lines were.

#maus1 #images #arceline #photo

Maus: Outstanding Scenes

“Prisoner on Hell Planet” illustrated the death of Art Spiegelman’s late mother, Anja, and the events to follow after she had committed suicide. The comic depicts Spiegelman’s roller-coaster of emotions due to his guilt, grief and responsibility. He was overflowing with guilt because her death could have been prevented if he was a more loving son. Although he tried to mourn for his mother, many of his relatives and friends shunned him and instead he was left with the responsibility to care for his father. As a result, he is wearing prison clothes to signify that he is a prisoner to responsibility and guilt due to his parents.

“Prisoner on Hell Planet” is drawn in a more dramatic style compared to Maus as its atmosphere illustrates Spiegelman’s depression and guilt towards his mother death. Throughout Maus, we see Anja, a beautiful, charming and smart woman who slowly loses her state of mind due to stress and anxiety. The first instance of this is seen after the birth of her first son Richiev, where she is left to raise him by herself while Vladek is away for business. She becomes ill and obsessive over Vladek which results them spending time at a mental hospital alone for a couple of months. When the Nazi Germans invade Poland and take control of their town, Anja’s anxiety is heightened by the stress of being separated from Vladek, her family and the fear of being killed.

Anja’s state of mind never recovered so she became engulfed by anxiety. One being that she did not feel loved by her family and the resounding loneliness brought her to her own demise. Although the majority of Jewish people did not survive the Holocaust, the few that were able to survive could not cope with the trauma they experienced. The unbearable memories caused them so much pain and many suffered from permanent health issues after leaving the concentration camps. Trying to return to their previous lives was impossible therefore creating a new life was the only option available. However, a majority of survivors between the ages of 40 and 60 could not cope and dealt with suicidal tendencies.

(This video shows the after effects of war on holocaust survivors)

Another outstanding scene was when Spiegelman discovered Anja, wrote diaries recalling events during the holocaust and thought to use them in during the production of “Maus”. He would often look for the diaries in his father’s house and questioned Vladak regarding their location, only to discover that his father had burned the books soon after Anja’s death. Spiegelman is in total disbelief of his father's actions, calling him a “murderer” as the diaries were memories of his late mother and held truth to his father’s stories.

During the Second World War the Nazi supported a book burning campaign which destroyed millions of books that went against Nazi ideology. Many of the books were written by Jewish, Communist and Religious authors. Vladek’s actions are very symbolic because he suffered through so much during the holocaust along side Anja only to destroy the diaries. The diaries could have been a historic view on Jewish victims similar to that of Anne Frank's diaries.