The Use of Transition in "Maus"

The transition is necessary in the comic world. It allows us passage onto the next scene, the next thought, the next moment that we need in our story. It is the means by which the creator of the story allows us to move forward. In McCloud’s “Understanding Comics” we learn the six types of comic transitions:

1.     “Moment to Moment"

2.     “Action to Action”

3.     “Subject to Subject”

4.     “Scene to Scene”

5.     “Aspect to Aspect”

6.     “Non-Sequitur”

I have identified three types of these transitions in Art Spiegalman’s “Maus.” So far the three types of McCloud’s comic transitions that I will use as examples are: “Action to Action,” “Scene to Scene,” and “Moment to Moment.”

On page thirty-two, the top two panels to show the “Oi!” and the other mice’s reaction to that. I believe that this would be an example of an “Action to Action” transition, because it is showing an action and a reaction to that. 

The second transition I noticed was a “Scene to Scene” transition on page 56. At the bottom row, there are two panels. One is stretched to I think indicate the passage of time that the people were supposed to be working for.

The third transition I observed was on page fifty-seven. The third row of panels down is what I believe could be considered a “Moment to Moment” transition. The characters barely move except for the movement of the subject on the right’s head from one panel to the next. Since the event seems to happen only a moment later I believe this to qualify.

I notice that there seem to be quite a few of the three examples that I chose in the novel. I found either none or very few examples of “Non-Sequitor” or “Subject to Subject.” I think that Spiegelman’s transitions are all relatively similar and I had trouble finding different examples of McCloud's listed transitions to use.