Maus



Maus is a Pulitzer Prize-winning comic of furry interest written and drawn by Art Spiegelman, telling his father's true story of surviving the Holocaust, in whereas human beings are portrayed as anthropomorphic characters.

Volume One was released from 1973 - 1983 and Volume Two was released from 1986 - 1991. All installments were collated into one graphic novel in 1996. Maus was published by Pantheon Books.

Premise
There are two story arcs within Maus. Vladek Spiegelman's story of surviving the holocaust, and Art Spiegelman's present day story of his flawed relationship with his father.

Spiegelman used a tape recorder to capture most of his father's tale as he told it, but he also recorded and took note of events that occurred while he was trying to create Maus. Often there will be a present day scene ending with Art prompting his father to continue his story, at which point Vladek's story picks up where it was last left.

Animals used in the book Maus Volumes one and two



 * The Jews are mice
 * The Germans are cats
 * The non-Jewish Americans are dogs
 * The Poles are pigs
 * The French are frogs
 * The Swedes are reindeer
 * The British are fish
 * The Gypsies are gypsy moths

Trivia

 * Polish release of the comic has been delayed considerably, as it was first published in Poland in 2001. The reason for this was the controversy that the use of pigs to represent Polish characters caused. Even Art Spiegelman officially stating that he did not intend to portray Poles negatively did not help shorten the delay.
 * On the series 'The Simpsons', episode 'Husbands and Knives', Art Spiegelman appears as himself, signing autographs of Maus at Coolsville, a new comic book store. Eventually, Comic Book Guy picks a fight with Art Spiegelman, Alan Moore, and Dan Clowes, at which point Spiegelman puts on a mouse mask and retorts, "Maus in the house!" before continuing to pummel Comic Book Guy with his fellow freelance comic artists.