On Monday I had the good fortune to hear Art Spiegelman speak as part of the Seattle Arts & Lectures series. Whoever decided to bring Art out here I'll bake a dozen cakes for. He was phenomenal, inspiring, and hilarious. If Art happens to be coming to wherever you live, I'd recommend selling your last collectible issue of Batman or your teeth for a ticket.

Art's talk was entitled Graphic Novels 101.1

He began his lecture by lighting up a cigarette (one of six during the whole thing) telling us that, "as the creator of Maus and In The Shadow of No Towers I thought it would be appropriate to spread the smell of death through the hallways." Don't you just love him?

Art had a great big screen behind him with a wonderful slide show of images from past and present comics and graphic novels. He told us that everything he's ever learned he learned from comic books:

the concept of Good vs. Evil from Batman,

Sex from contemplating Betty and Veronica,

Feminism from Little Lulu,

Economics from Uncle Scrooge,

Philosophy from Peanuts,

and everything else from MAD Magazine.

I'm purposely holding back on EVERYTHING ELSE in his lecture because I want you go drive or fly or horseback ride to the next town that has him speak and take all this in for yourself.

Some of what he spoke on and some of my favorite images you could find in this, but it looks like that is sold out? Smart chompoblog readers, please let me know if these Spiegelman comics are available somewhere to buy. I know bupkis about buying installments.

I will divulge the Q and A session, though, because hopefully that is different at every talk:

Someone asked about Art's process.

He said he spends a lot of time planning. And that he probably goes over a drawing twenty times or more. Each time he is trying to condense the art and details as much as possible while still conveying the intended emotion. He thinks he averages 30 pages of crap drawing for every one good page.

How does he know when he has a good layout?

When there's a clarity--when it is sticky enough to hold an audience's attention.

Does he consider himself a political cartoonist?

Art says he is stuck with the label after 9/11. He never meant to be one since political cartoons have such a short shelf life and it is not the most memorable work to put out there, but after 9/11 he was compelled to make sense of people trying to drop a building on his daughter's head (her high school was a few blocks from the towers.)

How are comics different from cartoons?

Cartoons are usually single image gags.

Does manga influence his work?

Art says it influences his son and compares it to rock and roll--it is for young ears and eyes. He appreciates manga, though, for the window into Asian culture. He mentioned Astro Boy's Guide to Buddha? And the Japanese artist Yoshi Harutsuke? (I can't find either of these online.)

Have you ever thought of making movies?

Art says his father taught him to never trust large groups. And movies are often made by a large group. He told us about a movie producer that would not give up calling and calling Art and offering him final cut and all sorts of things to make a movie of Maus. Art said he would do it if they could use real mice. The producer stopped calling.

What stories can comics tell that other book forms can't?

Art thinks comics are very good for stories where memory is the subject matter because comics turn time into space--look at Maus or those autobiographical installments mentioned above and you'll see some amazing page layouts of events past sharing the page with the present day in a way that plain text books and movies can't make sense of.

Which comes first? Words or pictures?

Art goes back and forth. For Maus the story came first. Drawings after. And Maus is a very very text heavy work--there is only one silent panel in Maus. He thinks maybe this is why it has been popular with a traditionally non-comic book audience because it is so text heavy.

What was your father's reaction to Maus?

Art's father died before Maus was published in book form, but he saw it in installment form in RAW and told Art, "Someday you'll be famous like What's-his-name." Being a cartoonist, Art thinks, was like operating in dog whistle range for his dad.

Do you think artists have a responsibility to promote/make art for social change?

No. Art thinks being an artist doesn't make you responsible for changing the world or it can become a Faustian deal. He said [earlier] that he wanted to do comics, but that he works so slow he wanted whatever he worked on to be somewhat meaningful. And that's how Maus came about. Art says comics are special because the play of pictures and words can fly below the radar and get into your brain. Depending on the content this can promote your strong social missions, but Art says he never did this on purpose.

I forget which question brought it up, but he reiterated a few times that he left The New Yorker in agony, not in protest. What he'd been producing and what was expected of him he just couldn't do and all he could do for a while was work on In the Shadow of Two Towers.

For all his witty asides and dry or bawdy humor Art has got a huge heart. He is sensitive and a good listener. He's produced some wrenching, poignant stuff that has left the world a better place. I'm glad he follows his heart in all endeavors.

Except for the chain smoking.

And maybe Garbage Pail Kids.

But I'm not going to hold it against him.