Art Spiegelman’s comic view - Mar. 22, 2003 - Art Spiegelman is not wholly comfortable in the role that has overtaken him as the world’s foremost authority on the art of comics. But he is comfy enough to enchant most in a room [and those in an overflow room as well] at MIT in 2003 on the eve of the second Gulf war as he discusses the precursors of the graphic novel form that is underground but gaining steam. 
Spiegelman has a unique and – for those outside his circles of interest – dangerous position in comic art, as he is cartoon editor of the New Yorker. His prominence for that position has somewhat eclipsed his prominence as the cartoonist of Maus, one of the most significant graphic novels in recent years.
As real wars blast away, the war between comics and art continues. Comics were the first mass media art, Spiegelman told the crowd. But its rule has been usurped by first radio, movies, and TV, and now by a whole lot more – Gameboys, MP3s, what have you.
No longer driven by its hold on the masses, comics must become art or die said Speigleman, echoing Marshall MacLuhan.
There are aspects found in comics [drawing, storytelling, so on] that are found in other forms. As the boss man on the New Yorker cartoon desk – not to mention a guest lecturer at MIT -- he’d better come up with an understanding here.. So what Art has settled on is that the comic’s ability to carve out space and time make it what it is. And it is true, the best comics are deft narrative series of diagrams.
“Comics allow you to freeze time,” said Art, ‘And juxtapose moments of time.”
In a good comic “each page is story of a building,” said Spiegleman, noting the word root form of historia. A story back in the day [the Middle Ages] being, he said, a layer picture decorating a building, or a building so decorated.
“A page is a unit. A unit is subdivided,” said Art.
Spiegleman before plowing into an analsysis of the political conundrum [for some] precedeing Pres. George W. Bush’s invasion of Iraq, said he is getting back to drawing comics, which “takes a lot of time.” The goal is to work out his 9.11 demons. He was close to it. He retrieved his daughter from Peter Stuyvesant school just as the second tower of 9.11 would fall. He returned to comic drawing “to avoid being a modern consumer of [war] news.” This was a stubborn role to overtake the U.S. populace again in a few hours.
10:11:29 PM 
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