Art Spiegelman: Comix 101

The Arizona Republic chatted with Art Spiegelman recently about his "Comix 101" lectures and the acceptance of the comic form:

As a champion of the comic-book genre, Art Spiegelman has been so successful that he's almost ready to abdicate his role as defender of the faith. Almost.

"There's enough things being published that I don't even feel like I have to like all of it now," he says. "I can just focus on the things that actually appeal to me, as opposed to, 'Wow, it's in comics form, I should really pay attention.'

"In the past few years, what seemed to be a very obscure, cultlike arena has now become a superhighway, so that comics, under the name graphic novels, are really an important part of what's happening in bookstores all over the place, and get reported on and reviewed as if they were real books, by God."