Maus and the Transitions

In Understanding Comics, Scott McCloud talks about transitions between panels. They are as follows:

1. Moment-to-Moment (each frame representing as time progresses)

2. Action-to-Action (progression of action)

3. Subject-to-Subject (staying within a scene or idea, rendering them meaningful)

4. Scene-to-Scene (transports the reader to a different time or place)

5. Aspect-to-Aspect (bypasses time, sets eyes on different aspects of a place, idea or mood)

6. Non-Sequitur (no relationship between panels)

(McCloud 70-72)

Spiegelman uses 3 of the transitions in his graphic novel, Maus: action-to-action, scene-to-scene, and subject-to-subject. Spiegelman does mix up his transitions so it doesn't seem repetitive, though I did notice he used subject-to-subject a lot.

One of the examples of the action-to-action transition is when Valdek shoots a moving tree that turns out to be a Nazi (Spiegelman 48-49). An example of scene-to-scene is when Vladek takes Anja to a sanitarium for depression. There are frames that show the characters going from place to place. (Spiegelman 31-34) There are various examples of subject-to-subject in Maus, mostly with Art and Vladek having conversations and Vladek recalling past events. (Spiegelman 43-46).