Art Spiegelman, In the Shadow of No Towers. New York: Random House, 2004

Art Spiegelman is one of my favorite cartoonists because he never flinches. The man developed a comic book about the Holocaust, and Maus became a cultural icon by helping children understand the horror we can inflict upon one another. So who better to commemorate our generation’s defining act of terror, the attacks of September 11, 2001?

No Towers is a tortured book, reflecting Spiegelman’s own struggle to accept and understand these events. It is a personal essay in pictures, recounting his thoughts and actions on and after 9/11. This means the story is about Spiegelman, as much as 9/11, and to help us understand him, Spiegelman includes a short history of the funny papers as an appendix. Still, the levity this provides does not completely counter the crushing weight of loss No Towers conveys. As we reach the fifth anniversary of these horrible events, In the Shadow of No Towers is a powerful memorial and reminder of what we have lost.