‘Art Spiegelman: Disaster Is My Muse’ Review

Art Spiegelman: Disaster Is My Muse chronicles the life and extraordinary artistic contribution of an iconic cartoonist who radically changed the way we look at comic books. His seminal work, Maus: A Survivor’s Tale, was awarded a Pulitzer Prize Letters award in 1992 for its horrifying account of his parents’ journey through the Holocaust while imprisoned at the Auschwitz concentration camp. Jews are depicted as rodents ruthlessly exterminated by fascist Nazi cats who consider them vermin. This stark imagery is a hallmark of Spiegelman’s belief that comics were more than fanciful children’s stories and could be literature meant to promote subversive thought and give creative light to all aspects of the human condition.

Filmmakers Philip Dolin and Molly Bernstein give Spiegelman a direct platform to explain his motivations from childhood to adult acclaim. He’s also feted throughout the documentary by the noted artists and intellectuals who accompanied Spiegelman on his decades-long rise to influential prominence. None more important than his wife, Françoise Mouly, New Yorker magazine’s art editor since 1993, and an instrumental figure in publishing Spiegelman since the late ’70s.

The couple released Maus as installments in their groundbreaking Raw magazine from 1980-1991. This was done while Spiegelman earned a living working for the Topps trading cards company and creating such classics as Wacky Packages in the ’60s and Garbage Pail Kids in the ’80s. Spiegelman was already a household name in the comic book industry when Maus catapulted him to elite status.

Comic Books Are Literature

Art Spiegelman: Disaster Is My Muse

3.5
/5

Release Date

February 21, 2025

Runtime

98 Minutes

Director

Philip Dolin, Molly Bernstein

Cast

Pros & Cons

• Hearing Spiegelman and especially his wife discuss his career is fascinating and intimate.
• An important history of art and free speech that also studies the creation of one of the greatest graphic novels.

• It’s too straightforward and CliffNotes-like for a biopic about such a subversive artist.

Disaster Is My Muse opens with Spiegelman receiving an honorary award at his alma mater, the High School of Art and Design, in 2019. The clever and funny Spiegelman gets howls of laughter when removing his ceremonial robes. He discusses how growing up in Rego Park, Queens, shaped his perceptions from an early age. Vladek and Anja, his parents, would tell him matter-of-fact recollections of the Holocaust that greatly disturbed the mind of a young boy. He had no way to process their awful memories. You’ll be particularly gobsmacked by the fate of his younger brother, Richieu, during World War II. Spiegelman turns to comic books as a way to cope, escape, and learn critical thinking skills.

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Spiegelman credits Mad Magazine and its stable of legendary cartoonists for shaping his future. Biting satire and incisive commentary about flawed society focused Spiegelman’s creative energy. His conflicted feelings and the “canyon” divide he felt from his parents needed a cathartic outlet. This became even more apparent as another pivotal tragedy, his mother’s suicide — later illustrated in the mind-blowing Prisoner on the Hell Planet (1972) — shook Spiegelman to his core. He comments that this fueled a need to understand what his parents went through. It was the beginning of his Maus odyssey that would take years to manifest.

A CliffNotes Documentary on the Countercultural Spiegelman

Disaster Is My Muse leaps back and forth in time for its second act. Spiegelman and Françoise dine with Robert Crumb and his wife in their apartment. This meal is constantly referenced as a sort of guide through Spiegelman’s formative days in New York City and San Francisco’s underground comix scene, which takes place during the counterculture protests against the Vietnam War. It’s at this point that the film becomes an oddly stale history lesson told by the people who were on the front lines of this movement.

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Dolin and Bernstein, known for The Show’s the Thing: The Legendary Promoters of Rock and their work on art docs, are dispassionate after their gut punch open. Disaster Is My Muse becomes a CliffsNotes summary of the period where Spiegelman made his mark. The interviews blur together until Françoise takes center stage. She starts to guide the narrative with Spiegelman by explaining how they met and her keen interest in him. This is perhaps the best part of the film. She extols his genius before anyone else really sees it. Françoise was entranced by Spiegelman’s talent and ability to do things she’d never seen before. Prisoner on the Hell Planet was earth-shattering to her. No one had previously used a comic book format to address suicide, grief, and guilt. This was the groundwork for Maus and Spiegelman’s eventual reconciliation with his father.

Reconnecting with His Father

Spiegelman recorded interviews with Vladek to finally come to terms with his father and bridge the gap that separated them. This meant getting the unvarnished truth about the Holocaust. Spiegelman explains how these conversations dictated his artistic choices in Maus. He establishes a connection after a lifetime apart that doesn’t soothe the pain of collective suffering. This misery drives Spiegelman’s art, which gives the film’s title greater depth in context.

Spiegelman struggles for years in the aftermath of Maus‘ success. Fame troubled him as he and Françoise grew their family. Spiegelman credits her for being his anchor, partner, and biggest fan. She helps her husband adjust to stardom as the 9/11 terrorist attack, America’s Middle East Wars, and the emergence of Donald Trump trigger a new fight for free speech. Spiegelman takes the spotlight again as Maus is banned in Red State schools by a new specter of fascism. The irony isn’t lost on Spiegelman. Nazis burned books and now America is on the same frightening path.

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Disaster Is My Muse is a fascinating tribute to Spiegelman. It could have been done with more visual flair and imagination, but Dolin and Bernstein were purposely straightforward. Spiegelman narrates his own biography with insights and reflections from people who matter most: Françoise, their children, and longtime colleagues. Spiegelman sees no difference between a comic book panel and paintings hanging in museums. He was able to artistically express the suffering that defined his parents for the world to understand. Anyone who enjoys graphic novels owes Spiegelman a debt of gratitude.

Art Spiegelman: Disaster Is My Muse is a production of American Masters, Claims Conference, and Foothill Productions et al. It is currently in limited theatrical release at New York City’s Film Forum with a forthcoming national expansion and PBS premiere.

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