Career Low and Highlights

Art Spiegelman at an early age wanted to become a cartoonist, even though his parents wished for him to become a dentist for financial reasons, he did well starting out at a young age. At 14 years he started selling his work to the Long Island Post hoping to attend an art school and become professional. But he got his first big career break, when he “worked as a creative consultant, artist, designer, editor, and writer for the Topps Chewing Gum corporation in Brooklyn from 1966 to 1988...designing Bazooka comics, baseball cards, and other novelty items.” However, after having to cut his education short due to health concerns, he experienced severe sleep deprivation and malnutrition; which eventually led to a mental and physical breakdown. He eventually checked into a hospital, to learn that it was common behaviour for a child with a Holocaust survivor parent to imitate their behaviours. After being released from the hospital to learn that his mother committed suicide, he felt guilty that he might be the cause. After losing emotional support from her family and unresolved feelings for Rysio's death, she felt alone and unloved.

In Prisoner on the Hell Planet, a comic Spiegelman published, it deals with his traumatic emotional impact he faced in his career, and the comic ends with “Congratulations! … You’ve committed the perfect crime...You murdered me, Mommy, and you left me here to take the rap!!!” Over the years, Spiegelman start publishing his artwork on underground magazines where he drew comic strips, and in 1980 founded RAW (Real Art Works) where he showcased international graphic art talents. Spiegelman never thought that Maus would be successful and let alone, be known of a history lesson. Maus has made him one of the most important figures in his medium and remains his most successful work. His work and process can be seen in numerous gallery exhibition, and you can see the variety of styles when put together.