Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Aug 15
Art Spiegelman Urges US Counter-Revolution at 78 Against 'Fascist' Trump Administration
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Aug 15

Art Spiegelman Urges US Counter-Revolution at 78 Against 'Fascist' Trump Administration

1 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Aug 15

Summary

  • Art Spiegelman said the US needs a “counter-revolution,” arguing the Trump administration has dismantled democratic ideals, curtailed civil liberties and left no effective opposition.
  • The 78-year-old Maus creator said Trump is “fascist” rather than Nazi, describing a politics of “othering,” self-enrichment and repression that he believes has pushed the country beyond its previous crises.
  • Spiegelman linked that alarm to his long focus on trauma and state power, saying 9/11 first drove him back to comics as he watched security crackdowns and the creation of ICE reshape American life.
  • Maus, which won Spiegelman a Pulitzer in 1992 and was later banned by some Republican school boards, remains central to his critique; he said the bans only drove sales higher.
  • Speaking from the Soho home where he has lived for 5 decades, Spiegelman said he is still making art at 78 even as he grows more pessimistic about US politics.

Insights

How does a master who revolutionized comics with trauma still battle a crippling creative blockade at age 78?
Could the very trauma that fueled his greatest masterpiece be the exact reason he now struggles to draw?
What hidden influence did the late Jerry Moriarty hold over the Pulitzer-winning creator's most groundbreaking experimental works?