The primary story of book one and of the sequel is the experience of Spiegelman's father, Vladek, a Polish Jew who survived the concentration camps of Nazi Germany during World War II. This story is framed by Spiegelman's getting the story from Vladek, which is in turn framed by Spiegelman's working on the book after his father's death and suffering the attendant anxiety and guilt, the ambivalence over the success of the first volume, and the difficulties of his "funny-animal'' metaphor. (In both books, he draws the charactersas anthropomorphic animals-- Jews are mice, Poles pigs, Germans cats, Americans dogs, and French frogs.) The interconnections and complex characterizations are engrossing, as are the vivid personal accounts of living in the camps. Maus and Maus II are brilliant in comic book-format but terrifyingly real.

Who thought comics could convey such emotion and brutal dose of reality; especially when the main characters are cats and mice. A well told, fantastically illustrated story of a Jewish survivor of Hitler's Europe.

I was so excited when I heard about this comic, Joss Whedon back in the Buffyverse onceagain!

This did not disappoint, from the subtle references to the past slayers (a blonde girl in a sunny city), to the totally dystopian future drawn out for us, all the classic Whedon elements are included - family dramas, less than ideal childhoods (including a little girl that is so real I think I've met her) and of course kick ass action!

Fray - our heroine - is tough yet vulnerable, in a way completely different to Buffy. She has forged her own place in the world and has no desire to be the one from each generation!

This was an absolute masterwork, and this was prior to Moore's "Watchmen." The literary and metatextual nods and allusions are worth the read, not to mention the thought and multiple layering that is Moore's stock-in-trade.

The character of "V" is one of my favorites in that he hardly has one. He is a symbol more than a man, and often alludes to this in both the book and the titular movie. It's something of a pity that Evie doesn't always have enough literary knowhow to realize he IS saying this.

Moore's use of multiple story lines to encompass a far more complicated world is as sharp as his work in "Watchmen" if not more so. The many characters from different perspectives throw this dark and bleak world into even more stunning contrast.

This book is definitely recommended for more mature readers, although with sufficient guidance someone at the early high school levels could read this for its entire content. Top notch, and worth reading for any reader, period.

My first graphic novel. It was sweet.