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Spiegelman Studies Part 2 of 2: Breakdowns , No Towers and the Rest of the Canon

2015; Wiley; Volume: 12; Issue: 10 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1111/lic3.12263

1741-4113

Philip Smith,

Narrative Theory and Analysis

Abstract Art Spiegelman is one of the most‐discussed creators in Comic Book Studies. His Pulitzer‐winning work Maus (1980 and 1991) was, alongside The Dark Knight Returns (1986) and Watchmen ( ), the catalyst to a sea change in the commercial and critical fortunes of the alternative comic book during the mid‐1980s. It has been a landmark text in critical discourse on comics ever since. The purpose of this and its companion paper is to offer a synthesis and reinvestigation of both the existing critical literature on Spiegelman as well as, perhaps most importantly, the lacunae within that literature. The aims of these two papers, then, are two‐fold: firstly, to establish where we have got to and, secondly, to suggest some directions for the future of Spiegelman scholarship. The first paper concerned Maus . This, the second of the two, is devoted to In The Shadow of No Towers ( ), Breakdowns (1977 and ), and Spiegelman's other works.