About book Breakdowns, Retrato Del Artista Como Un Joven %@#$! (2009)
Spiegelman has a way of making humor and entertainment out of angst, guilt, anxiety, and high art. Breakdowns was obviously a very ambitious project in the 70s and is important today as an example of early attempts to make comics that had some critical merit and made readers laugh. In my opinion, the confessional and autobiographical pieces that were presented in a straightforward manner were more enjoyable, moving, and/or funny than some of the postmodern strips that experiment with things like nonsequential storytelling and other techniques that left me scratching my head. In spite of this unevenness, this volume is a collection worth reading for alternative comic fans. "Breakdowns" is a reprint of the same book published in the 70s except with a brief autobiographical intro by the author. The intro features nothing new to anyone with a passing interest in artists/writers: growing up Spiegelman wasn't good at sports so he turned to the life of the mind. He was influenced by MAD magazine, R.Crumb, and Peanuts. Wow, just like everyone else who grew up to be a cartoonist then. Then onto the book itself which features short strips. One is a dry and unfunny examination of what makes a joke funny. Another deconstructs detective stories and soap operas and shows up how basic and hammy their structures are. Really? I'd never have thought of that myself. He reprints the only decent strip here "Prisoner from Hell Planet" but seeing as it was already in "Maus", the only book he's done that's worth reading, it feels like padding. The rest of the book features one page illustrations of his dreams and a few more dull tellings of his life in NY (his apartment has roaches, his work is underappreciated). The book is massive, about 2 A4 sheets side by side, but very short coming in at a brief 87 pages. Besides irrelevant and frankly boring strips that shows Spiegelman is aware of how art is created, there's nothing here of any interest. Spiegelman writes in a lofty afterword that "In 1978... there was no demand for a deluxe large format album that collected the scattered handful of short autobiographical and structurally experimental comics I'd made between 1972 and 1977 - except by me". It's 2010 now and there's still no demand. If you're as interested in Art Spiegelman as Art Spiegelman is then you'll love this book. Merged review:"Breakdowns" is a reprint of the same book published in the 70s except with a brief autobiographical intro by the author. The intro features nothing new to anyone with a passing interest in artists/writers: growing up Spiegelman wasn't good at sports so he turned to the life of the mind. He was influenced by MAD magazine, R.Crumb, and Peanuts. Wow, just like everyone else who grew up to be a cartoonist then. Then onto the book itself which features short strips. One is a dry and unfunny examination of what makes a joke funny. Another deconstructs detective stories and soap operas and shows up how basic and hammy their structures are. Really? I'd never have thought of that myself. He reprints the only decent strip here "Prisoner from Hell Planet" but seeing as it was already in "Maus", the only book he's done that's worth reading, it feels like padding. The rest of the book features one page illustrations of his dreams and a few more dull tellings of his life in NY (his apartment has roaches, his work is underappreciated). The book is massive, about 2 A4 sheets side by side, but very short coming in at a brief 87 pages. Besides irrelevant and frankly boring strips that shows Spiegelman is aware of how art is created, there's nothing here of any interest. Spiegelman writes in a lofty afterword that "In 1978... there was no demand for a deluxe large format album that collected the scattered handful of short autobiographical and structurally experimental comics I'd made between 1972 and 1977 - except by me". It's 2010 now and there's still no demand. If you're as interested in Art Spiegelman as Art Spiegelman is then you'll love this book.
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Speigelman equals genius! This is a collection of his early strips, and only reinforces that belief!
—dansmo
