For most of us, MAUS was our introduction to Art Spiegelman. Before that watershed graphic novel exists years of great work in the underground comix arena, which was collected into BREAKDOWNS: PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG %@&*!, now back in print in a gorgeous new updated edition from Pantheon.
From the looks of the oversized hardback, with its cartoony pratfall adorning the cover, one can be forgiven for immediately thinking of Spiegelman’s LITTLE LIT series, but make no mistake: This one’s for the big boys and girls — unless, you know, no-holds-barred depictions of oral sex are okay for your kids’ eyes.
The BREAKDOWNS title is two-fold: In one aspect, it refers to the separations of colors that combine to make the printed page. But the more obvious reference is to the artist’s state of mind, including his brief stay in a mental hospital way back when. Such open, stark admissions are par for the course in these autobiographical comics; it’s not for nothing that the original cover showed a self-portrait of Spiegelman ingesting ink, because he expels himself all over the pages.
His bravery in doing so reveals far more than any of us likely would. The opening pages depict his remembrances of a generally sad childhood: being picked on by an older boy, who then spit on his mother for sticking up for young Art; beatings from his emotionally distant father; the suicide of his mom. But it’s not all doom and gloom — several of these strips find him wearing his influences on his sleeve, as he recalls begging his mother to buy him a MAD paperback, and having his dad bring home some lurid E.C.-style comics that rocked his little world. And a cartoonist was born!
The generous helping of Spiegelman’s early published work allows us to see his style take shape. Initially scatalogical and increasingly experimental, they find him playing around with the very conventions of comics, dissecting their structure and pushing boundaries. The three-page seed that later became the Pulitzer-winning MAUS is included, as are cubist detective tales, panel mash-ups of Rex Morgan, M.D. and depictions of dreams. These go from funny to shocking and back again — smart more often than not, and wonderfully drawn even in the rare occasions when they weren’t wonderfully written.
A new afterword finds Spiegelman reflecting on the past, admitting his envy for the not-knowing-what-he-was-doing person he was, and lauding the ever-evolving respectability and legitimacy of comics while “the rest of America turns to shit.” Hear, hear! —Rod Lott
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS AUTHOR:
• BIG FAT LITTLE LIT edited by Art Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly
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