'In The Shadow Of No Towers'

Pantheon Books, 2004

By Art Spiegelman and others


The comic evolved from Spiegelman's experiences during the September 11 terrorist attacks. Spiegelman has said that the comic is a way to reclaim himself from the post-traumatic stress disorder he suffered after the attacks.

It also has many references to Spiegelman's Maus comics, for example one in which Art said that the smoke in Manhattan smelled just like Vladek said the smoke in the concentration camps smelled. Also he often turns himself into a mouse on the fly.

It was published by the German newspaper Die Zeit after Spiegelman was unable to secure publication in any major American outlet. In Britain, excerpts have been published in The Independent. A segment also appeared in 2004 as part of the Actus Tragicus comics album Dead Herring Comics.

In 2004, the entire series of ten strips and a supplement of reprints of turn-of-the-20th-century comics such as The Katzenjammer Kids and The Yellow Kid were collected and published together as a book by Viking Books. In the Shadow of No Towers was selected by the New York Times as one of the 100 Notable Books of 2004.

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