When looking at reviews from regular readers, Goodreads is always an ideal place to start. For The Complete Maus (both volumes), there are almost 8,000 reviews with an average of 4.54 stars. When discussing the symbolism and allegory of the animal characters, user Steve writes: "When seen through the lens of the Jewish experience, and with Spiegelman’s masterstroke of personalizing the story by laying bare the difficult relationship he had with his father (the survivor), the residuum of cat brutality that can literally tear mice families apart is brought home to us in a very different way" (Goodreads). User LeeAnne praises it saying it is "Probably the most informative and intimate journal of the holocaust I have ever read" (Goodreads). User Emer says that they "never knew that a graphic novel could be so moving, so haunting and so phenomenally powerful" (Goodreads). There are too many reviews to go through, as they are all equally as positive. In my own experience, I read this for an undergraduate course about comic book art, and only the first volume was required...however, I found myself searching for the second volume upon finishing the first for my own enjoyment. I have read both volumes at least once more since then, on my own time. Maus immediately comes to mind when someone asks for a graphic novel recommendation (along with incredible works like Watchmen, Persepolis, and V for Vendetta), or if someone is looking for World War II narratives. Art Spiegelman's magnum opus is a phenomenal work that will stand the test of time in both graphic novels and literature as a whole.
 

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While readers everywhere were hooked on Spiegelman's heart-wrenching tale, other creators took notice as well. Gene Luen Yang, author of American Born Chinese (the first graphic novel to be a National Book Award finalist), stated that Spiegelman "set the standard for the rest of us . . . He gave us something to chase after" (Cavna, 2016). Jeff Smith, creator of the comic book series Bone, says of Spiegelman and Maus: "It was a big deal. My comics pals and I were blown away...Nobody had ever seen anything like it” (Cavna, 2016). Cartoonist Chris Ware praised Spiegelman, saying, "Probably more than any other single comic, it made me see not only the potential for complex, moving and intelligent storytelling in comics, but also galvanized my own resolve to become a graphic novelist" (Cavna, 2016). Marjane Satrapi, celebrated author of graphic novel Persepolis, sings her praises: "The idea I had was that comics were for adolescents. But then you read 'Maus' and realize comics are just a medium for expressing yourself, and it was a revelation" (Cavna, 2016). In his full review, Philip Pullman ends his praise with admiration: "Maus is a masterpiece, and it's in the nature of such things to generate mysteries, and pose more questions than they answer. But if the notion of a canon means anything, Maus is there at the heart of it. Like all great stories, it tells us more about ourselves than we could ever suspect" (Pullman, 2003).

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