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It's seldom that I meet anime fans that are very enthusiastic towards western comics, especially if it originates from the US.The US offer a variety of stories and genres other than superheroes, it's just that they are not in the mainstream regardless of how much critical acclaim they receive.

So, if there's something everyone should read it's the graphic novel: Maus. It's a Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel created by Art Spiegelman. It's in fact a biography of his father, Vladek, who is a Polish-Jew who managed to survive the holocaust. In my opinion ,the genius in this comic lies not only in the way the story is told, but it's metaphorical character design as well.

The story revolves around Vladek Spiegelman talking to his son Art (or Artie) about his experience to the build up to the holocaust and how he survived it since Art wants to publish it as a comic. Another reason why the way it's told is so great is because characters, depending on which nationality they are, are depicted as animals. The Jews are mice, the Germans are cats and the Poles are pigs. The use of this metaphor is played well for the purpose of telling the story. For example, when Vladek and his wife had to disguise themselves as ordinary Poles they just wore pig masks. I believe that is to save time for too much explanation and gets to the point very well.

It's written so that not only do we get to learn about Vladek's background and story, we also have a chance to gain understanding and witness through his eyes the atrocities he's witnessed during the holocaust. We get to see not only how the Nazi's managed to exterminate them and enslave them, but how they managed to turn them against each other when it came to trading necessities and doing jobs in order to survive in the camps...it was every man for himself. We are told how Poland was divided for the Jews and Germans and the last moments of the holocaust through the eyes of a holocaust survivor.

What really left me an impression is that the writer managed to succeed in telling us all this while at the same time we get to learn about the rocky relationship about Vladek and Artie while in the making of this very comic! The author does this by showing the exchanges he and his dad had during the breaks he had while working on the comic. His father really did end up being the stereotype of an old Jewish man who is very a very possessive miser, he is also very old fashioned. This causes conflict between the two at times. Though if there's one thing we learn is that Art Spiegelman was a tortured soul prior to this work and suffered a mental break down (not explained why). Though I wish not to spoil it for you. But we get to learn as much about them two as well as Vladek's experience.

Vladek is a very smart and flexible character who we witness go through all sorts of trials and obstacles so he and his wife Anja survive the camps. Despite how many of his loved ones were taken away from him he still managed to overcome everything and relied on his wits a lot. He stood out from most of the characters since most were just willing to die, willing to suck up to the guards and gain favour we also witness some jews willing to betray their own. Vladek was a strong character during that time, and was willing to survive knowing his wife was still alive in the other concentration camp.Other than his wit, things came down to pure luck which will amazes me how fate works. It's as if he was destined to stay alive just so this comic can be made, heh.Though you just wonder how he suddenly transformed into an old git.

The art is black and white and very cartoony. It's a very bold and different approach. It works very well in my opinion and you won't have trouble emphasising with the characters. It may look immature in the outside, but when you dig deeper, you'll see something very beautiful yet tragic.

Go check it out, it's very likely to be in your local library since it's considered an essential read and also it made a great success. I hope more manga/anime fans realise there is a wide variety of stories in the US comic book industry and it's not all just tights and capes.