The mouse returns

MetaMaus: A Look Inside a Modern Classic, Maus provides all the answers for those pesky questions about Art Spiegelman’s masterwork, a graphic history of the Holocaust as experienced by his father, and in which the characters take the form of animals. At last, an explanation of why the Jews are mice, the Nazis are cats and the Poles are pigs in Spiegelman’s drawings. It also provides an autobiography (as direct as it ever gets with a cartoonist), in-depth explanations of process and source material, memoirs of how the work unfolded, and commentary from his family—including his two children. The DVD has additional source materials, like images of documents pertaining to the elder Spiegelman’s concentration-camp internment and refugee experiences. While it might seem like this collection is for the Holocaust historian or the comics aficionado, it’s a fascinating look into how art and history are made.