Coming of Age: Maus
Comics started as a dime store attraction, something of a distraction for a few moments or a way to get children to read. Despite visual storytelling's noble history in the descriptive scrolls of the past, it had degraded to being viewed so menially. The stories were thought of as being of little to no consequence to real life. Superheroes and flights of fancy meant to simply be for fun.
Until Maus.
With the release of Maus and it's widespread appeal, it gave people something to put on a pedestal to display what comics could be. Not every comic has to aspire to be some societal statement of course, just as not every movie must be Citizen Kane, and not every book has to be Wuthering Heights but in mediums that were already taken so seriously, they didn't have to be to get respect and be enjoyed without shame. It was with Maus that comics became that higher medium, taught in schools and looked at as something worth analysis.
Personally, I found the topic of Maus to be somewhat related to "Oscar-bait" of cinema. With subject matter like the holocaust, it's hard not to be taken seriously and to be considered with all respect due. You've already earned that, so what Maus does is bring an analysis of the deeper issues within the topic, and makes it more palatable to those who might have trouble with it in other contexts. But overall, it brings the art of comics to a wider audience, and overall strengthens the respect for the art form as a valid expression. It brings it from being a child's medium, to an expression of adult themes and ideas. It's a coming of age.
Until Maus.
With the release of Maus and it's widespread appeal, it gave people something to put on a pedestal to display what comics could be. Not every comic has to aspire to be some societal statement of course, just as not every movie must be Citizen Kane, and not every book has to be Wuthering Heights but in mediums that were already taken so seriously, they didn't have to be to get respect and be enjoyed without shame. It was with Maus that comics became that higher medium, taught in schools and looked at as something worth analysis.
Personally, I found the topic of Maus to be somewhat related to "Oscar-bait" of cinema. With subject matter like the holocaust, it's hard not to be taken seriously and to be considered with all respect due. You've already earned that, so what Maus does is bring an analysis of the deeper issues within the topic, and makes it more palatable to those who might have trouble with it in other contexts. But overall, it brings the art of comics to a wider audience, and overall strengthens the respect for the art form as a valid expression. It brings it from being a child's medium, to an expression of adult themes and ideas. It's a coming of age.
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