Comparing Protagonist Introductions: Maus and Essex County

Essex County by Jeff Lemire

            So I finished Art Spiegelman’s Maus a few weeks ago. It’s a good read for anyone that enjoys a bit of history in his or her comics. After I finished it, I picked up Jeff Lemire’s Essex County. After reading the first book of County, it got me thinking about how main characters are introduced within these stories.

Maus by Art Spiegelman

            When the reader is first introduced to Vladek in Spiegelman’s Maus, it’s all through text. When you first start it, you’re introduced in Artie’s dialogue “I went to see my father in Rego Park. I hadn’t seen him in a long time – we weren’t close.” Immediately, I know how he feels about his father, Vladek (obviously). The thing is, I don’t think it’s quite necessary to use “we weren’t close” directly. As the reader, I understand that if the author states that he hasn’t seen his father in a long time, There’s something amiss: They live far away from each other; He never has time to visit; Their relationship isn’t strong; etc. As the reader continues the story, he/she gets the idea that the relationship is broken.

Artie's father, Vladek

            Anyway, in the first frame, we are introduced to Vladek, Artie’s father, and his very first dialogue says “Oi, Artie! You’re late. I was worried.” This shows that: 1) Through Vladek’s use of “Oi” and not “Hey”, he must be of European descent (North Americans hardly greet with “Oi”). 2) Vladek is somewhat impatient. The reader isn’t shown how late Artie really was, but since Artie never apologizes for his tardiness, he must not have been realistically all that late. And 3) Vladek does show compassion for his son. If Artie was just a few minutes late, we don’t see that as a big deal. Vladek, on the other hand, cares for his son just enough to think, “Artie was supposed to be here five minutes ago. I hope nothing bad happened to him!” Again, since nothing was explained about his tardiness, it must not have been a big deal. I believe that in this one frame, the reader is able to get a clear picture of who Vladek really is in just four sentences.

Lemire's character, Lester, can fly

            Spiegelman’s character is introduced in a very obvious way: the reader GETS that character right at the get-go. The same cannot be said about the main character in Jeff Lemire’s Essex County. Lester is shown at the beginning; there is a pan where the reader sees him staring at the top of the barn’s silo. As the frames focus on Lester himself, the reader can tell that he is just a young boy (maybe around young adolescence) wearing a cape and half mask. In just one frame, Lester somehow floats off the ground and flies through the field. Then just as quickly as it started, it ends with an outside voice yelling “Lester!” By this time, the reader has made it to page 13. All we know about Lester is that he is at a young age, he’s into superheroes (or he is one?) and that he daydreams about flying (or can he really fly?) All I can say is that I finished the first book, and I still have not completely understood Lester’s character yet.

            Basically, this exercise was to explain how these different books have different ways of introducing the main character. Spiegelman’s Maus is very straightforward with dialogue that helps the reader. Lemire’s Essex County differs by using no dialogue at all to show who Lester is. In fact, I would even argue to say that the reader’s perception of Lester is able to change depending on that reader BECAUSE he has no formal introduction. Something to think about…..