Maus convention drawing 1987 – Art Spiegelman

Those "comics aren't just for kids anymore" articles were trite--there's no getting around that--but they were very much in tune with the innovation taking place throughout the industry: from the "gritty" revisionist takes on the superhero to the indie scene that was emerging.

Spiegelman doesn't use as heavy a line in this sketch as he would in the published Maus but that's what makes this such a fun piece of history. He's energized by the initial reception of the book and that's coming through on the page. Congrats on this!

I am sure you are correct about the triteness of those articles for laypeople. I was happy to overlook their shortcomings for some coverage and recognition of the artform outside of the usual comic fan press. Thank you for your kind words and appreciation.

It's the impassioned spirit in the writing of these works that elevated the genre.  The works took the mantra of not talking down to the audience and went beyond the expected.  They hit a chord with a mature corwd which then pulled the aim of the rest of the industry to cater towards that audience.  This is a very fine example of a convention piece and the age is right at the time after the first volume's release.        

Once again, thank you for your perceptive comments. It is always interesting to hear the thoughts of someone whose interests in comics are much more wide-ranging than my own. On a slightly separate note – I don’t how much I agreed with some of  the winners of this year’s Best of 2023 CAF Awards but I am sure everyone was glad to hear of your special commendation – more than well deserved. Congratulations.

Thanks for sharing this cool sketch from the 'old' days!

Yes, those were the days. Thank you for your comment. You are probably tired of hearing it, but you have a truly remarkable CAF gallery.