Book · 1986
Maus
by Art Spiegelman
A cartoonist draws his father surviving Auschwitz as a mouse hunted by cats, and somehow that's the version that makes the history land.
What does Reddit think of Maus?
All 2021 recognized mentions here sit in a single subreddit, r/graphicnovels, which makes this less a cross-community verdict than one community's running citation of a canon text. That canonical status gets stated outright by one teacher (↑90): asked for comics worth studying as literature, they list Maus alongside Fun Home, Watchmen, and The Best We Could Do, with room for "100" more. Another reader (↑90) draws the Schindler's List comparison directly, saying the animal-human juxtaposition struck a nerve the film didn't. A third comment (↑90) flags it as the heavy, mature counterpart to all-ages picks like Bone and Nausicaä, a maturity warning rather than a complaint. Even the tangential mentions point outward: one thread (↑107) gets more animated about Marvel pressuring Spiegelman to cut an "Orange Skull" reference from an unrelated essay than about Maus itself. Nothing displayed here argues against the book; the closest thing to friction is disagreement over how apolitical a Spiegelman-adjacent publisher gets to pretend to be.
Community feedback & reader fit
Themes
- · The Holocaust told through animal allegory
- · Canon status in comics-as-literature curricula
- · Named alongside Fun Home and Watchmen as the medium's serious tier
- · Spiegelman's post-Maus political engagement still tracked closely by readers
Common praise
- + One teacher (↑90) puts it on a short list of comics worth studying as literature, alongside Fun Home and Watchmen.
- + A reader (↑90) says the animal-human juxtaposition hit harder than Schindler's List did.
- + Another (↑96) describes it making them cry and laugh in the same book, calling it hope inside the bleakest situation.
Common criticism
- − Every mention in this data sits in a single subreddit, r/graphicnovels, so there's no visibility here into how the book reads outside a dedicated comics community.
- − One comment (↑90) flags it as a heavy, mature read next to all-ages picks like Bone and Nausicaä, which functions as a content warning more than an endorsement.
- − The highest-upvoted excerpt (↑186) is mostly about a different, newer Spiegelman collaboration, not about Maus directly, so the top of the sample doesn't engage with the book itself.
Who it's for
Building a comics-as-literature reading list? One teacher here (↑90) puts Maus in the same tier as Fun Home, Watchmen, and The Best We Could Do without hesitation. Already seen Schindler's List and wondering if a graphic novel can hit as hard? One reader says the animal allegory got them somewhere the film didn't. Handing books to a teenager who isn't ready for Holocaust material yet? The same sample flags this specifically as the heavy, mature pick, not the all-ages entry point that Bone or Nausicaä would be.
Mentions over time
Top subreddits
Which Reddit comments matter for Maus?
The most relevant excerpts across the subreddits where this book is mentioned — opinionated, argued takes first, then top-upvoted mentions. Click through to read the full thread.
“This isn't really a GN, but it's been mentioned here a couple of times so I thought it worth sharing the final version. Spiegelman and Sacco are always worth reading. >What happens when two comics artists ‘meet on the page’ to explore the tragedies of the Israel-Gaza war? Art Spiegelman, best know…
“Maus.
“Maus by Art Spiegelman and Blankets by Craig Thompson.
“>The Folio Society asked Spiegelman to remove the Orange Skull reference from the essay, claiming Marvel Comics was trying to remain "apolitical" and wouldn't allow its publications to take political stances. Imagine thinking that Marvel has ever, in its entire history, been apolitical... And then…
“Maus made me cry and feel sick to my stomach, but also made me laugh and see how there can always be hope in the bleakest situations. Absolutely amazing.
“After reading Maus I realized I had probably read the best Holocaust depiction and memorial there was to watch or read. There was something about the juxtaposing of the animals with the cruelty of humans that really struck a nerve that Schindler’s List (although horrible to watch as well) didn’t. B…
“OP, I would never drop this in a 10 year olds lap unless they were already super interested in the holocaust. Read it with them. FOR the love of God. This book is important. Not just because of its subject matter. It is the only graphic novel to ever win a Pulitzer Prize. The year the trade paperb…
“I literally do this for a living. I teach comics as Lit. I’ll assert that many many works are worthy of study in some way, but if we’re looking for some sort of artistic merit. I could probably list 100, but I’ll start with some basics. Fun Home Watchmen The Best We Could Do Maus American Bor…
“Maus made me realize how little I knew about the Holocaust. Scary stuff, man.
“I 100% agree. Only you are able to judge, after reading it, if your child can cope and benefit from that VERY harrowing book. [anybody thinking that mentioning "nudity" in Maus has relevance in this discussion have not read it. Or require a brain transplant.]
“**Watchmen** **V for Vendetta** **Maus** **Ghost World** **Black Hole** **Persepolis** **Blacksad** **Akira** **20th Century Boys** **Nausicaa** **Batman Year One**
“These are some of the most acclaimed ones: * The Sandman by Neil Gaiman * Maus by Art Spiegelman * From Hell by Alan Moore * Saga by Fiona Staples * Monster by Barry Windsor-Smith * A couple of Batman comics: some notable ones are The Long Halloween, Black Mirror and Year One (not really into super…
“Watchmen by Moore and the entire Sandman series by Gaiman are must reads, imo. Beyond that, everything’s fairly murky in regards to any sort of canon. The Complete Maus by Spiegelman is a really close third though. Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics would absolutely be the textbook for the class …
“MAUS. One of the best graphic novel of ALL TIME, telling a story of a father telling his son how he survived the Holocaust.
“Maus and March are wonderful
Convinced? Pick up Maus
What else does r/graphicnovels read?
Other books mentioned in the same sub, ranked. Shared-sub overlap with this title breaks ties.
Guides featuring Maus
Ranked best-of lists and editorial guides where this book's tracked mentions place it.
Maus — frequently asked
Is Maus considered a serious literary work or just a comic book?+
Serious literary work, at least according to the highest-upvoted framing in this data. One commenter (↑90) who teaches comics as literature lists Maus alongside Fun Home, Watchmen, and The Best We Could Do as titles worth studying for artistic merit. That's an academic's framing specifically, from a single displayed excerpt in r/graphicnovels, not a survey of casual readers.
How does Maus compare to watching a Holocaust film like Schindler's List?+
One direct comparison exists in this data, and it favors the book: a commenter (↑90) says the juxtaposition of animal characters against human cruelty "struck a nerve that Schindler's List... didn't," despite calling that film horrible to watch too. That's one reader's reaction, not a critical consensus, but it's the sharpest comparison anywhere in the sample.
Is Maus appropriate for kids, unlike other graphic novels?+
No, and this data says so directly. One comment (↑90) recommending all-ages picks like Nausicaä and Bone specifically carves out Maus as different: "maus is a heavy book, so that is pretty mature." That's the only content-appropriateness note in this sample, but it's unambiguous about where the book sits relative to lighter comics.
Does Reddit talk about Maus itself or about Art Spiegelman's other work?+
Both, and not always separately. The single highest-upvoted excerpt in this data (↑186) is actually about a newer Spiegelman collaboration on Israel-Gaza war comics journalism, not Maus directly. Another (↑107) covers a publisher pressuring Spiegelman to cut an unrelated political reference from an essay. Maus itself gets discussed too, but the top of this sample leans toward the author's ongoing career.