In early February, maus-man Art Spiegelman accepted Angouleme’s Grand Prix honor, knowing that acceptance entails being president of the Angouleme International Comics Festival next year — and that means guiding the festival's exhibits and conferences and programs. "I don't know whether you should say 'congratulations' or 'condolences,' " said Spiegelman when he was interviewed by ComicRiffs’ Michael Cavna. But, he went on, "I didn't think I could say 'no' without causing an international incident of Bush-like proportions."
The four-day fest, which debuted four decades ago, now draws roughly 200,000 visitors to southern France. Joking aside, Spiegelman recognizes the Grand Prix as a distinct if perhaps (in his case) misplaced honor: "It would have made sense 15 years ago," he said. "I feel like President Obama and the Peace Prize — the timing's all wrong." It might be wrong, but Spiegelman has scarcely left his 1992 Special Pulitzer Prize for Maus behind: his latest project is "Metamaus," a look back at the landmark Holocaust-memoir graphic novel that is still his best known work.
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