The Complete Maus combines the Pulitzer Prize winning Maus Volume I (published in 1986) and Maus Volume II (published in
1992) into one graphic novel. The novel is an autobiographical journey in which the author's father, Vladek, tells the story of his life during the Second World War, his persecution as a Jew and finally his internment in the Auschwitz concentration camp to his son, for the book he is writing on the subject. The art is entirely black and white and the story has echoes of George Orwell's "Animal Farm" with the Jews portrayed as mice, the Germans as cats, the Poles as pigs and the Americans as dogs. Through the medium Spiegelman successfully portrays the astonishing barbarity of the Holocaust although, as he says himself, it is impossible to really convey the true horror of the event without having actually experienced it. The present day Vladek is portrayed as the stereotypical miserly Jew who, despite his own past experiences, is still extremely racist, recoiling in shock when his daughter in law offers a lift to a black hitch hiker. Events such as his leaving the gas stove top burning all day because he didn't have to pay for the gas and wanted to save on matches become even more amazing if they are true. Vladek's increasingly strained interactions with his son who cannot understand his father's penny pinching ways form a fascinating side plot to the story. A recent poll nominated "Maus" as the number one trade paperback of all time, ahead of such greats as "Watchmen." High praise indeed but, after reading it, it is difficult fault this decision.