How did Art Spiegelman’s Maus draw on underground comix traditions?

Art Spiegelman’s Maus is deeply indebted to the underground comix movement of the 1960s, a period during which Spiegelman actively participated in the alternative comics scene. His work draws on this tradition in several key ways:12

• Counterculture Influence: Spiegelman’s development was heavily shaped by the work of underground icon R. Crumb, whose approach to comics—often balancing the grotesque with the philosophical—provided a foundation for Spiegelman’s own artistic evolution.13
• Mature Themes and Autonomy: Like other underground "comix," Maus was created for a mature audience, moving away from the juvenile constraints of mainstream comics. Spiegelman’s involvement in the anthology Raw, which he cofounded to present graphic novels and comix to a wider public, furthered this mission of establishing comics as a sophisticated literary medium.13
• Personal and Subversive Expression: The underground tradition encouraged creators to explore personal, often intense subject matter. Spiegelman utilized this freedom to tackle complex themes, such as his mother’s suicide in Prisoner on the Hell Planet and the traumatic history of his parents’ survival in the Auschwitz death camp.1