620AS Required Books
Students, we'll be reading all sorts of texts in English 620AS, from bound books to academic journal articles to various PDFs and online sources. Many of our readings will be made available via our class's Moodle site, which will become available shortly before the semester begins, that is, during the week of August 18-22. Be ready to read online and in the Reserve Room of the Oviatt Library in addition to what you see below! Also, be ready to seek out other comics, other works by Spiegelman, and critical texts as needed. You'll be doing research on your own that may require you to cast a wider net.
The backbone of our readings will consist of the major books by Art Spiegelman that are currently in print (note that clicking on a book's cover image will take you to that book's Amazon page FYI):
The backbone of our readings will consist of the major books by Art Spiegelman that are currently in print (note that clicking on a book's cover image will take you to that book's Amazon page FYI):
Maus (1991), the book that made this course possible. Available either as originally published, i.e. in two small paperback volumes (put out in 1986 and 1991 respectively), or as one larger "complete" hardback—in either case, make sure you get the whole story! Maus has generated a tremendous amount of academic writing in various disciplines, and we will be sampling some of it in class. In fact each of you will have to present on a journal article about Maus sometime during the early weeks of the course.
If you'd like to get a head start in your preparations for 620AS, the best thing you can do is read or re-read Maus!
Breakdowns (2008). The cream of Spiegelman's pre-Maus comics, originally published in 1977 in a now rare and valuable edition, but later republished in a whole new package, including a new autobiographical introduction in comics form and retrospective notes.
MetaMaus (2011). A comprehensive making-of volume consisting of interviews, documentation, glimpses into Spiegelman's working process, and an information-rich DVD including audio and video.
In the Shadow of No Towers (2004). Spiegelman's angry response to the trauma of 9/11, originally published as broadsheets in a select few newspapers, then reissued in book form. The book also includes various comic strips by early 20th century artists.
In addition, I'll be asking you to seek out this book co-edited by Spiegelman, now apparently out of print but still readily available in used copies:
Big Fat Little Lit (2006). A children's comics anthology co-edited by Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly—in fact a compilation of select comics from their three Little Lit books (originally released between 2000 and 2003).
Also, you'll need to get the following three comics by other authors, because they are related to Spiegelman:
Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary, by Justin Green (2009). A deluxe reprint of Green's classic underground comic book from 1972, which inspired Spiegelman's Maus as well as many other seminal autobiographical comics of the 1970s and after.
Fun Home, by Alison Bechdel (2007). Perhaps the most acclaimed of literary autobiographical comics after Maus, and clearly inspired by Spiegelman's example. Says Bechdel: "I couldn't have done anything without Maus..." There is already a sizable academic critical literature about this book!
Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth, by Chris Ware (2000). This acclaimed graphic novel furthers the kind of formalist experimentation modeled by Spiegelman. Ware is a protégé of Spiegelman, having been published in Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly's RAW magazine and taken up by Pantheon, publisher of Maus.
Finally, you'll need to get this recent scholarly book that recounts the history of Françoise Mouly's collaborations with Spiegelman:
In Love with Art: Françoise Mouly's Adventures in Comics with Art Spiegelman, by Jeet Heer (2013). A compact biography of Mouly, art editor of The New Yorker magazine, one of the most respected figures in magazine publishing today, and wife and frequent collaborator of Spiegelman. Together they created the seminal comics magazine RAW (which is where Maus got started).
Recommended books
In addition to the books above, which are all required, I highly recommend the following:
Co-Mix: A Retrospective of Comics, Graphics, and Scraps (2013). The catalog for a career-spanning exhibition of Spiegelman's work. The exhibition began at France's national comics festival in Angoulême (2012), and has since traveled in Europe and North America. The 2013 North American edition of the catalog is an excellent point of entry into the world of Spiegelman! I will work to get two copies placed on reserve at the Oviatt Library for us to use this semester, but I strongly recommend getting a copy of your own if you can!
The Toon Treasury of Classic Children's Comics, co-edited by Spiegelman and Mouly (2009). This compilation of vintage comic book stories, spanning from the 1940s to the early sixties, includes major cartoonists like Walt Kelly, Carl Barks, and George Carlson, as well as more obscure but excellent artists. It is an act of historical reclamation—that is, scholarship and criticism—as well as a children's book.
Understanding Comics, by Scott McCloud (1993). The most popular and influential work of comics theory and criticism in English. Essentially, this is a 200-page comic about how comics work. It addresses many issues, including narrative breakdown and ellipsis, image/text relationships, linework and drawing style, and the very definition of the comics form. Debatable, in some cases highly questionable IMO, it is nonetheless an amazing feat of formalist criticism. Not academic, but inspired. Students, you could do worse than read this cover to cover immediately before or after reading Maus.
Art Spiegelman: Conversations, compiled and edited by Joseph Witek (2007). Part of an academic book series called Conversations with Comic Artists. Witek has been a leader in academic comics studies, and was one of the very first if not the first academic to write seriously about Maus (see his Comic Books as History, 1989). This is a very useful one-stop shop for high-quality Spiegelman interviews up to 2007. I will try to get a copy of this for the Oviatt's Reserve Room, but you may find it useful to have a copy of your own.