Raw Volume 2 Number 1: Open Wounds from the Cutting Edge of Commix

by Art Spiegelman (Editor)

Comic strips deal with extraterrestrials, ants, political satire, dreams, time, marriage, school, the future, and the Holocaust

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Anthologies, Comix, Graphic Novels Comics, Art

202 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1989

About the author

Art Spiegelman is an American cartoonist, editor, and cultural innovator whose work has profoundly influenced the perception of comics as a legitimate art form, blending literary sophistication with experimental visual storytelling. Emerging from the underground comix movement of the 1960s and 1970s, Spiegelman quickly distinguished himself with a distinctive approach that combined meticulous craftsmanship, psychological insight, and narrative complexity, challenging conventions of sequential art and the boundaries between personal memoir and historical record. He co-founded the landmark anthology Raw with his wife, Françoise Mouly, which became a platform for cutting-edge, avant-garde cartoonists from around the world, blending surrealist imagery, literary experimentation, and bold visual ideas that redefined the possibilities of the medium. Spiegelman is best known for his groundbreaking graphic novel Maus, a haunting, deeply personal depiction of his father’s experiences as a Holocaust survivor, which used anthropomorphic characters to explore trauma, memory, and identity with unprecedented depth; the work earned a Special Pulitzer Prize and established Spiegelman as a central figure in both literary and visual culture. Beyond Maus, he has contributed influential cartoons and covers to The New Yorker, including the iconic 9/11 cover, demonstrating his ability to communicate complex emotional and cultural truths with economy and symbolic resonance. His artistic sensibility reflects influences from early twentieth-century cartoonists, modernist design, typography, and the visual language of newspapers and advertising, while also incorporating pop culture, surrealism, and abstraction. Spiegelman has consistently experimented with the interplay of image and text, treating comics as a medium that mirrors cognitive processes of memory, perception, and emotional experience. In addition to his creative output, he has curated exhibitions, edited anthologies, and published critical essays on comics history and theory, advocating for the recognition of the medium as serious art and mentoring generations of cartoonists. He has also worked in graphic design, creating posters, album covers, and commemorative stamps, and his visual interventions often reflect his interest in narrative structure, cultural commentary, and the power of imagery to shape public understanding. Throughout his career, Spiegelman has been a vocal advocate for freedom of expression and a critic of censorship, engaging in public discourse on political and social issues, and demonstrating how comics can address profound ethical and historical questions. His pioneering work, editorial vision, and relentless innovation have transformed both the aesthetics and the intellectual reception of comics, proving that the medium can handle grief, history, and identity with sophistication, subtlety, and emotional resonance. Spiegelman’s legacy is evident in the work of contemporary graphic novelists and in the broader cultural recognition of comics as an art form capable of exploring human experience, social commentary, and the complexities of memory and trauma, making him one of the most influential figures in modern visual storytelling.

Reviews

[Tristy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Totally life-changing. I feel so lucky to have had Art as a professor. My copy is signed by him!

[Francisco Cesar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nearly perfect if not for the Ben Katchor story which I found such a chore to get through.

Paul by Pascal Doury shook me to my core. Frightening masterpiece. Need to read more!

[Leonardo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A remarkable anthology of late 80s comix and graphic novels. Most likely, the chapter of "Mouse" will be the most instantly recongnizable of the contributions to this volume (and it certainly deserves the recognition it has received), but dream-like visual narratives and starkly realistic tales from a wide range of authors make this book a milestone of late 20th century literature, although I suppose reading the RAW series around the times they were published was a rather different experience, than now that they are part of recent (but nevertheless past) history. Perhaps barely twenty years ago, they seemed even more "raw".

[Adam Bessie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Especially the story "Here," which I believe is in this edition.

[Ruth Collier · Rating 2 out of 5]

I decided to re-read this one, having recently read some history of underground comix and thought I'd have a better appreciation of it. It's still a bit abstract and arty for my taste, but some of the artwork is very interesting and it doesn't lack variety or originality.

[viy]

i liked "here," the beyer (duh), the green, and the mariscal (the other euro stuff was trivially stupid to me)...

[Kristianne]

Greg and I talk about our personal history with comics and how we're still trading our favorites like kids on this episode of the Bowie Book Club Podcast about RAW, the alt comix collections from the 1980's
http://www.bowiebookclub.com/episodes...