Will Eisner
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William Erwin Eisner ( ; March 6, 1917 – January 3, 2005) was an American
cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...
, writer, and entrepreneur. He was one of the earliest cartoonists to work in the
American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical literature originating in the United States, commonly between 24 and 64 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publ ...
industry, and his series '' The Spirit'' (1940–1952) was noted for its experiments in content and form. In 1978, he popularized the term "
graphic novel A graphic novel is a self-contained, book-length form of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and Anthology, anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics sc ...
" with the publication of his book '' A Contract with God''. He was an early contributor to formal comics studies with his book '' Comics and Sequential Art'' (1985). The Eisner Award was named in his honor and is given to recognize achievements each year in the comics medium; he was one of the three inaugural inductees to the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame.


1917–1936: Early life


Family background

Eisner's father, Shmuel "Samuel" Eisner, was born to Galician Jewish parents on March 6, 1886, in
Kolomyia Kolomyia (, ), formerly known as Kolomea, is a city located on the Prut, Prut River in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast in the west of Ukraine. It serves as the administrative centre of Kolomyia Raion, hosting the administration of Kolomyia urban hromada ...
,
Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...
(present-day
Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
), and was one of eleven children. He aspired to be an artist, and as a teenager painted murals for rich patrons and Catholic churches in
Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
. To avoid conscription in the army, he moved to New York before the outbreak of
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. There he found getting work difficult, as his English skills were poor. He made what living he could painting backdrops for
vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...
and the Jewish theater. Eisner's mother, Fannie Ingber, was born to Romanian Jewish parents on April 25, 1891, on a ship bound for the US. Her mother died on her tenth birthday and was quickly followed by her father. An older stepsister thereafter raised her and kept her so busy with chores that she had little time for socializing or schooling; she did what she could later in life to keep knowledge of her illiteracy from her children. Shmuel and Fannie, who were distant relatives, met through family members. They had three children: son Will Erwin, born on his father's birthday in 1917; son Julian, born February 3, 1921; and daughter Rhoda, born November 2, 1929.


Early life

Eisner was born in
Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
. He grew up poor, and the family moved frequently. Young Eisner often got into physical confrontations when subjected to
antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
from his schoolmates. Young Eisner was tall and of sturdy build, but lacked athletic skills. He was a voracious consumer of pulp magazines and film, including avant-garde films such as those by
Man Ray Man Ray (born Emmanuel Radnitzky; August 27, 1890 – November 18, 1976) was an American naturalized French visual artist who spent most of his career in Paris. He was a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealism, Surrealist movements, ...
. To his mother's disappointment, Eisner had his father's interest in art, and his father encouraged him by buying him art supplies. Eisner's mother frequently berated his father for not providing the family a better income, as he went from one job to another. Without success he also tried his hand at such ventures as a furniture retailer and a coat factory. The family situation was especially dire following the Wall Street Crash of 1929 that marked the beginning of the
Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
. In 1930, the situation was so desperate that Eisner's mother demanded that he, at thirteen, find some way to contribute to the family's income. He entered working life selling newspapers on street corners, a competitive job where the toughest boys fought for the best locations. Eisner attended DeWitt Clinton High School. With influences that included the early 20th-century commercial artist J. C. Leyendecker, he drew for the
school newspaper A student publication is a media outlet such as a newspaper, magazine, television show, or radio station Graduate student journal, produced by students at an educational institution. These publications typically cover local and school-related new ...
(''The Clinton News''), the literary magazine (''The Magpie'') and the yearbook ''(The Clintonian)'' and did
stage design Scenic design, also known as stage design or set design, is the creation of scenery for theatrical productions including Play (theatre), plays and Musical theatre, musicals. The term can also be applied to film and television productions, wher ...
, leading him to consider doing that kind of work for theater. Upon graduation, he studied under Canadian artist George Brandt Bridgman for a year at the Art Students League of New York. Contacts made there led to a position as an advertising writer-
cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...
for the '' New York American'' newspaper. Eisner also drew $10-a-page illustrations for pulp magazines, including ''Western Sheriffs and Outlaws''. In 1936, high-school friend and fellow cartoonist Bob Kane, of future
Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...
fame, suggested that the 19-year-old Eisner try selling cartoons to the new comic book ''Wow, What A Magazine!'' "Comic books" at the time were tabloid-sized collections of
comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics terminology#Captio ...
reprints in color. By 1935, they had begun to include occasional new comic strip-like material. ''Wow'' editor Jerry Iger bought an Eisner adventure strip called ''Captain Scott Dalton'', an H. Rider Haggard-styled hero who traveled the world after rare artifacts. Eisner subsequently wrote and drew the
pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...
strip "The Flame" and the secret agent strip "Harry Karry" for ''Wow'' as well. Eisner said that on one occasion a man whom Eisner described as "a mob type straight out of Damon Runyon, complete with pinkie ring, broken nose, black shirt, and white tie, who claimed to have "exclusive distribution rights for all Brooklyn" asked Eisner to draw Tijuana bibles for $3 a page. Eisner said that he declined the offer; he described the decision as "one of the most difficult moral decisions of my life". Spiegelman, Art
"Tijuana Bibles"
'' Salon.com'', August 19, 1997
p. 2

WebCitation archive, main page
an

Retrieved on February 24, 2009.


1936–1941: Comics industry and ''The Spirit''


Eisner & Iger

''Wow'' lasted four issues (cover-dated July–September and November 1936). After it ended, Eisner and Iger worked together producing and selling original comics material, anticipating that the well of available reprints would soon run dry, though their accounts of how their partnership was founded differ. One of the first such comic-book "packagers", their partnership was an immediate success, and the two soon had a stable of comics creators supplying work to Fox Comics, Fiction House,
Quality Comics Quality Comics was an American comic book publishing Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, ...
(for whom Eisner co-created such characters as Doll Man and Blackhawk), and others. Turning a profit of $1.50 a page, Eisner claimed that he "got very rich before I was 22," later detailing that in Depression-era 1939 alone, he and Iger "had split $25,000 between us", a considerable amount for the time. Among the studio's products was a self-syndicated Sunday comic strip, ''Hawks of the Seas'', that initially reprinted Eisner's old strip ''Wow, What A Magazine!'' feature "The Flame" and then continued it with new material. Eisner's original work even crossed the Atlantic, with Eisner drawing the new cover of the October 16, 1937, issue of Boardman Books' comic-strip reprint tabloid ''Okay Comics Weekly.'' Another Eisner & Iger product - created by Eisner, but soon left to his stable of assistants - was the 1938 short-form comedy strip '' Archie O'Toole''. In 1939, Eisner was commissioned to create Wonder Man for Victor Fox, an accountant who had previously worked at
DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...
and was becoming a comic book publisher himself. Following Fox's instructions to create a
Superman Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...
-type character, and using the pen name Willis, Eisner wrote and drew the first issue of ''Wonder Comics.'' Eisner said in interviews throughout his later life that he had protested the derivative nature of the character and story, and that when subpoenaed after
National Periodical Publications National Comics Publications (NCP; later known as National Periodical Publications Inc. or simply National) was an American comic book publishing company. It was the direct predecessor of modern-day DC Comics. History The corporation was origin ...
, the company that would evolve into DC Comics, sued Fox, alleging Wonder Man was an illegal copy of Superman, Eisner testified that this was so, undermining Fox's case;Andelman, Bob. ''Will Eisner: A Spirited Life'' (M Press: Milwaukie, Oregon, 2005) , pp. 44–45 Eisner even depicts himself doing so in his semi-autobiographical graphic novel '' The Dreamer''. However, a transcript of the proceeding, uncovered by comics historian Ken Quattro in 2010, indicates Eisner in fact supported Fox and claimed Wonder Man as an original Eisner creation.


''The Spirit''

In "late '39, just before Christmas time," Eisner recalled in 1979, Quality Comics publisher Everett M. "Busy" Arnold "came to me and said that the Sunday newspapers were looking for a way of getting into this comic book boom," In a 2004 interview,Will Eisner interview, ''Alter Ego'' No. 48 (May 2005), p. 10 he elaborated on that meeting: Eisner negotiated an agreement with the syndicate in which Arnold would copyright ''The Spirit,'' but " itten down in the contract I had with 'Busy' Arnold —and this contract exists today as the basis for my copyright ownership—Arnold agreed that it was my property. They agreed that if we had a split-up in any way, the property would revert to me on that day that happened. My attorney went to 'Busy' Arnold and his family, and they all signed a release agreeing that they would not pursue the question of ownership". This would include the eventual backup features " Mr. Mystic" and " Lady Luck". Selling his share of their firm to Iger, who would continue to package comics as the S.M. Iger Studio and as Phoenix Features through 1955, for $20,000, Eisner left to create ''The Spirit.'' "They gave me an adult audience", Eisner said in 1997, "and I wanted to write better things than superheroes. Comic books were a ghetto. I sold my part of the enterprise to my associate and then began The Spirit. They wanted an heroic character, a costumed character. They asked me if he'd have a costume. And I put a mask on him and said, 'Yes, he has a costume!'" ''The Spirit'', an initially eight- and later seven-page urban-crimefighter series, ran with the initial backup features "Mr. Mystic" and "Lady Luck" in a 16-page Sunday supplement (colloquially called "The Spirit Section") that was eventually distributed in 20 newspapers with a combined circulation of as many as five million copies. It premiered June 2, 1940, and continued through 1952. Eisner has cited the Spirit story "Gerhard Shnobble" as a particular favorite, as it was one of his first attempts at injecting his personal point of view into the series.


1942–1970s: Military publications, ''The Spirit'', and new endeavors


World War II and ''Joe Dope''

Eisner was drafted into the U.S. Army in "late '41, early '42""Will Eisner Interview", '' The Comics Journal'' No. 46 (May 1979), p. 45. Interview conducted October 13 and 17, 1978 and then "had about another half-year which the government gave me to clean up my affairs before going off" to fight in
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.Eisner interview, ''The Comics Journal'' No. 46, p. 37 He was assigned to the camp newspaper at
Aberdeen Proving Ground Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG) is a U.S. Army facility located adjacent to Aberdeen, Harford County, Maryland, United States. More than 7,500 civilians and 5,000 military personnel work at APG. There are 11 major commands among the tenant units, ...
, where "there was also a big training program there, so I got involved in the use of comics for training. ... I finally became a
warrant officer Warrant officer (WO) is a Military rank, rank or category of ranks in the armed forces of many countries. Depending on the country, service, or historical context, warrant officers are sometimes classified as the most junior of the commissioned ...
, which involved taking a test – that way you didn't have to go through Officer Candidate School." En route to Washington, D.C., he stopped at the Holabird Ordnance Depot in
Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...
, where a mimeographed publication titled ''Army Motors'' was put together. "Together with the people there ... I helped develop its format. I began doing cartoons – and we began fashioning a magazine that had the ability to talk to the G.I.s in their language. So I began to use comics as a teaching tool, and when I got to Washington, they assigned me to the business of teaching – or selling – preventive maintenance."Eisner interview, ''The Comics Journal'' No. 46, pp. 45–46 Eisner then created the educational comic strip and titular character ''Joe Dope'' for ''Army Motors'', and spent four years working in
The Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense, in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The building was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As ...
editing the ordnance magazine ''Firepower'' and doing "all the general illustrations – that is, cartoons" for ''Army Motors''. He continued to work on that and its 1950 successor magazine, '' PS, The Preventive Maintenance Monthly'', until 1971. Eisner also illustrated an official Army pamphlet in 1968 and 1969 called ''The M16A1 Rifle'' specifically for troops in
Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
to help minimize the
M16 rifle The M16 (officially Rifle, Caliber 5.56 mm, M16) is a family of assault rifles adapted from the ArmaLite AR-15 rifle for the United States Armed Forces, United States military. The original M16 was a 5.56×45mm NATO, 5.56×45mm automatic ...
's notorious early reliability problems with proper maintenance. Eisner's style helped to popularize these officially-distributed works in order to better educate soldiers on equipment maintenance. While Eisner's later graphic novels were entirely his own work, he had a studio working under his supervision on ''The Spirit''. In particular, letterer Abe Kanegson came up with the distinctive lettering style which Eisner himself would later imitate in his book-length works, and Kanegson would often rewrite Eisner's dialogue. Sim, Dave, "My Dinner With Will & Other Stories," ''Following Cerebus'' No. 4 (May 2005) Eisner's most trusted assistant on ''The Spirit,'' however, was
Jules Feiffer Jules Ralph Feiffer ( ; January 26, 1929 – January 17, 2025) was an American cartoonist and author, who at one time was considered the most widely read satirist in the country. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1986 for Pulitzer Prize for Editori ...
, later a renowned cartoonist, playwright and screenwriter in his own right. Eisner later said of their memories of their working methods on the feature, "You should hear me and Jules Feiffer going at it in a room. 'No, you designed the splash page for this one, then you wrote the ending – I came up with the idea for the story, and you did it up to this point, then I did the next page and this sequence here and...' And I'll be swearing up and down that 'he' wrote the ending on that one. We never agree." So trusted were Eisner's assistants that Eisner allowed them to "ghost" ''The Spirit'' from the time that he was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1942 until his return to civilian life in 1945. The primary wartime artists were the uncredited Lou Fine and Jack Cole, with future '' Kid Colt, Outlaw'' artist Jack Keller drawing backgrounds. Ghost writers included Manly Wade Wellman and William Woolfolk. The wartime ghosted stories have been reprinted in
DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...
' hardcover collections ''The Spirit Archives'' Vols. 5 to 11 (2001–2003), spanning July 1942 to December 1945.


Post-war comics

On Eisner's return from service and resumption of his role in the studio, he created the bulk of the ''Spirit'' stories on which his reputation was solidified. The post-war years also saw him attempt to launch the comic-strip/comic-book series ''Baseball,'' ''John Law,'' ''Kewpies,'' and ''Nubbin the Shoeshine Boy;'' none succeeded, but some material was recycled into ''The Spirit''. ''The Spirit'' ceased publishing in 1952. During the 1960s and 1970s, various publishers reprinted the adventures, often with covers by Eisner and with a few new stories from him.


American Visuals Corporation

During his World War II military service, Eisner had introduced the use of comics for training personnel in the publication ''Army Motors'', for which he created the cautionary bumbling soldier Joe Dope, who illustrated various methods of
preventive maintenance The technical meaning of maintenance involves functional checks, servicing, repairing or replacing of necessary devices, equipment, machinery, building infrastructure and supporting utilities in industrial, business, and residential installa ...
of various military equipment and weapons. In 1948, while continuing to do ''The Spirit'' and seeing television and other post-war trends eat away at the readership base of newspapers, he formed the American Visuals Corporation in order to produce instructional materials for the government, related agencies, and businesses. One of his longest-running jobs was '' PS, The Preventive Maintenance Monthly,'' a digest sized magazine with comic book elements that he started for the Army in 1951 and continued to work on until the 1970s with Klaus Nordling, Mike Ploog, and other artists. In addition, Eisner produced other military publications such as the graphic manual in 1969,
The M-16A1 Rifle: Operation and Preventative Maintenance
', which was distributed along with cleaning kits to address serious reliability concerns with the
M16 rifle The M16 (officially Rifle, Caliber 5.56 mm, M16) is a family of assault rifles adapted from the ArmaLite AR-15 rifle for the United States Armed Forces, United States military. The original M16 was a 5.56×45mm NATO, 5.56×45mm automatic ...
during the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
. Other clients of his Connecticut-based company included
RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...
, the Baltimore Colts football team, and New York Telephone.


1970s–2005: Godfather of the graphic novel


Graphic novels

Eisner credited the 1971 Comic Art Convention (CAC) for his return to comics. In a 1983 interview with CAC organizer Phil Seuling, he said, "I came back into the field because of you. I remember you calling me in New London, where I was sitting there as chairman of the board of Croft Publishing Co. My secretary said, 'There's a Mr. Seuling on the phone and he's talking about a comics convention. What is that?' She said, 'I didn't know you were a
cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...
, Mr. Eisner.' 'Oh, yes,' I said, 'secretly; I'm a closet cartoonist.' I came down and was stunned at the existence of the whole world. ... That was a world that I had left, and I found it very exciting, very stimulating". Eisner later elaborated about meeting
underground comics Underground comix are small press or self-published comic books that are often socially relevant or satirical in nature. They differ from mainstream comics in depicting content forbidden to mainstream publications by the Comics Code Authority, ...
creators and publishers, including Denis Kitchen: In the late 1970s, Eisner turned his attention to longer storytelling forms. '' A Contract with God: and Other Tenement Stories'' (Baronet Books, October 1978) is an early example of an American graphic novel, combining thematically linked short stories into a single square-bound volume. Eisner continued with a string of graphic novels that tell the history of New York's immigrant communities, particularly
Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...
s, including ''The Building'', ''A Life Force'', ''Dropsie Avenue'' and ''To the Heart of the Storm''. He continued producing new books into his seventies and eighties, at an average rate of nearly one a year. Each of these books was done twice – once as a rough version to show editor Dave Schreiner, then as a second, finished version incorporating suggested changes. Some of his last work was the retelling in sequential art of novels and
myth Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...
s, including ''
Moby-Dick ''Moby-Dick; or, The Whale'' is an 1851 Epic (genre), epic novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is centered on the sailor Ishmael (Moby-Dick), Ishmael's narrative of the maniacal quest of Captain Ahab, Ahab, captain of the whaler ...
''. In 2002, at the age of 85, he published '' Sundiata'', based on the part-historical, part-mythical stories of a West African king, "The Lion of
Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...
". '' Fagin the Jew'' is an account of the life of Dickens's character Fagin, in which Eisner tries to get past the stereotyped portrait of Fagin in '' Oliver Twist''. His last graphic novel, '' The Plot: The Secret Story of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion'', an account of the making, and refutation, of the antisemitic
hoax A hoax (plural: hoaxes) is a widely publicised falsehood created to deceive its audience with false and often astonishing information, with the either malicious or humorous intent of causing shock and interest in as many people as possible. S ...
''
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion ''The Protocols of the Elders of Zion'' is a fabricated text purporting to detail a Jewish plot for global domination. Largely plagiarized from several earlier sources, it was first published in Imperial Russia in 1903, translated into multip ...
'', was completed shortly before his death and published in 2005. In 2008, Will Eisner's ''The Spirit: A Pop-Up Graphic Novel'' was published, with Bruce Foster as paper engineer.


Teaching

In his later years especially, Eisner was a frequent lecturer about the craft and uses of sequential art. He taught at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, where he published ''Will Eisner's Gallery'', a collection of work by his students and wrote two books based on these lectures, '' Comics and Sequential Art'' and '' Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narrative'', which are widely used by students of cartooning. In 2002, Eisner participated in the Will Eisner Symposium of the 2002 University of Florida Conference on Comics and Graphic Novels. Before his death, Eisner worked on and outlined a third book, ''Expressive Anatomy For Comics And Narrative'', but would die before its completion. Editor Denis Kitchen and Eisner's family would decide that the book was near completion, and had cartoonist Peter Poplaski finish inking Eisner's art for publication in 2008.


Death

Eisner died January 3, 2005, in Lauderdale Lakes, Florida, of complications from a quadruple bypass surgery performed December 22, 2004. DC Comics held a memorial service in Manhattan's
Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Historically, it w ...
, a neighborhood Eisner often visited in his work, at the Angel Orensanz Foundation on Norfolk Street. Eisner was survived by his wife, Ann Weingarten Eisner, and their son, John. In the introduction to the 2001 reissue of ''A Contract with God'', Eisner revealed that the inspiration for the title story grew out of the 1970 death of his leukemia-stricken teenaged daughter, Alice, next to whom he is buried. Until then, only Eisner's closest friends were aware of his daughter's life and death.


Awards and honors

Eisner has been recognized for his work with the National Cartoonists Society Comic Book Award for 1967, 1968, 1969, 1987 and 1988, as well as its Story Comic Book Award in 1979, and its Reuben Award in 1998. In 1975, he was awarded the Inkpot Award and the second Grand Prix de la ville d'Angoulême. He was inducted into the Academy of Comic Book Arts Hall of Fame in 1971, and the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1987. The following year, the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards were established in his honor. In 2015, Eisner was posthumously elected to the Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame. Comics by Will Eisner are archived in the James Branch Cabell Library of Virginia Commonwealth University. VCU's James Branch Cabell Library has served as the repository for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards since 2005. Each year following Comic-Con, nominated and award-winning titles are donated to the library's Special Collections and Archives and made available to researchers and visitors. Approximately 1,000 comic books, graphic novels, archival editions, scholarly titles, and journals are included in the VCU library's expansive Comic Arts Collection. On the 94th anniversary of Eisner's birth, in 2011,
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used an image featuring the Spirit as its logo. With
Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (; born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comics artist, comic book artist, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He grew ...
, Robert Crumb,
Harvey Kurtzman Harvey Kurtzman (; October 3, 1924 – February 21, 1993) was an American cartoonist and editor. His best-known work includes writing and editing the parodic comic book ''Mad (magazine), Mad'' from 1952 until 1956, and writing the ...
, Gary Panter, and
Chris Ware Franklin Christenson "Chris" Ware (born December 28, 1967) is an American cartoonist known for his ''Acme Novelty Library'' series (begun 1994) and the graphic novels ''Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth'' (2000), ''Building Stories'' (2012 ...
, Eisner was among the artists honored in the exhibition "Masters of American Comics" at the
Jewish Museum A Jewish museum is a museum which focuses upon Jews and may refer seek to explore and share the Jewish experience in a given area. Notable Jewish museums include: Albania * Solomon Museum, Berat Australia * Jewish Museum of Australia, Melbourn ...
in New York City, from September 16, 2006, to January 28, 2007. In honor of Eisner's centennial in 2017, Denis Kitchen and John Lind co-curated the largest retrospective exhibitions of Will Eisner's original artwork, shown simultaneously at The Society of Illustrators in New York City and Le Musée de la Bande Dessinée in Angoulême, France. Both exhibitions were titled ''Will Eisner Centennial Celebration'' and collectively over 400 original pieces were included. A catalogue of the same name was released by Dark Horse Books and nominated for multiple Eisner Awards in 2018.


Original books

* * ** DC Comics reissue * * * **Hardcover reprint 2000 * * * * * * * * * **Hardcover edition * * * * * * * * * * * * **Hardcover edition *


References


Works cited

*


Further reading

* Feiffer, Jules, ''The Great Comic-Book Heroes'', . * Jones, Gerard, ''Men of Tomorrow'' . * Steranko, Jim, ''The Steranko History of Comics 2'' (Supergraphics, 1972).
The Spirit
at Don Markstein's Toonopedia
Archived
from the original on August 8, 2017. *Fitzgerald, Paul E

''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'', June 3, 2004. . *Robinson, Tasha. ttp://avclub.com/content/node/22822 "Interview: Will Eisner" '' The A.V. Club'' / '' The Onion'', September 27, 2000
WebCitation archive
*Jacks, Brian
"Veterans Day Exclusive: 'The Spirit' Creator Will Eisner's Wartime Memories"
MTV.com, November 11, 2000. . * Archive of . Interview conducted September 10, 1968; originally published in ''
Witzend ''witzend'', published on an irregular schedule spanning decades, is an underground comix, underground comic showcasing contributions by comic book professionals, leading illustrators and new artists. ''witzend'' was launched in 1966 by the wri ...
'' No. 6 (Spring 1969).
"Interview with Jerry Iger"
, ''Cubic Zirconia Reader'', 1985

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External links


WillEisner.com (archived 2011-03-19)
at WebCite (webcitation.org) * * *
The Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum: Will Eisner Collection Guide (primary source material)
*Villain Pape
"Fiction House The Spirit"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eisner, Will 20th-century American artists 21st-century American artists 20th-century American illustrators 21st-century American illustrators 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers American comics artists American comics writers American graphic novelists American male novelists Jewish American comics writers Jewish American comics artists Jewish American illustrators Jewish American non-fiction writers Jewish American novelists Jewish American humorists Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award winners Harvey Award winners for Best Cartoonist Harvey Award winners for Best Writer Golden Age comics creators Grand Prix de la ville d'Angoulême winners Inkpot Award winners School of Visual Arts faculty Reuben Award winners Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame inductees United States Army soldiers United States Army personnel of World War II DeWitt Clinton High School alumni People from Broward County, Florida Writers from Brooklyn Novelists from New York (state) Jews from New York (state) American people of Austrian-Jewish descent American people of Romanian-Jewish descent 1917 births 2005 deaths