Let’s throw an idea out there.Art isn’t a character.How can the author not be a character in a book that draws on his own life, you ask? We’re not suggesting that Art Spiegelman doesn’t exi...

“Mainly I remember arguing with him… and being told that I couldn’t do anything as well as he could,” Art tells his therapist. “No matter what I accomplish, it doesn’t seem like much co...

Mala, also a Holocaust survivor, is Vladek’s second wife; she knew Vladek and Anja before the war. She and Vladek are constantly squabbling over money. As another Holocaust survivor, Mala, like P...

Pavel, also a Holocaust survivor, is Art’s therapist. Like Mala and other Holocaust survivors in the novel, Pavel provides an important counterweight to Vladek by showing how diverse the survival...

Françoise is Art’s wife. She has converted to Judaism in order to appease Vladek. In the story, Françoise serves as a kind of sounding board for Art’s ideas, questioning and challenging at ti...