I was surprised at how Spiegelman managed to give a new layer to a time in history that has countless books written about it and movies made and that many people think they know everything about. Vladek Spiegelman was a surprisingly unlikable narrator and the characters, be they Jewish mice, Nazi cats, Polish pigs or American dogs were frighteningly human.Full review here: http://sffbookreview.wordpress.com/2012/06/16/art-spiegelman-the-complete-maus/