Will Eisner: A Spirited Life

High-Res Will Eisner original Spirit pages (CHIUStream)

bob@andelman.com (Bob Andelman) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:30:01 PST

The website CHIUStream has high-res images from Will Eisner's "The Spirit" Sunday pages.

Check it out HERE!

Stephen King & Peter Straub Talk Comic Books (Newsarama)

bob@andelman.com (Bob Andelman) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 05:23:00 PDT

Newsarama: Who would you rather be drawn by: Jack Kirby or Will Eisner?

Peter Straub: Will Eisner.

Stephen King: Kirby.

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Permanent Damage by Steven Grant (Comic Book Resources)

bob@andelman.com (Bob Andelman) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:09:04 PDT

" Frank Miller's style, in his early DAREDEVIL work, could easily be dismissed as an amalgam of thefts from Will Eisner, Steve Ditko and Gil Kane..."

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Azzarello Pulps Up DCU With “First Wave” (Comic Book Resources)

bob@andelman.com (Bob Andelman) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 05:45:09 PDT

As a huge Doc Savage, Shadow, Avenger and, of course, Spirit fan, this story from ComicBookResources.com's Jeffrey Renaud sounds pretty exciting:

Art by Rags Morales

Besides Doc Savage and The Batman, other classic heroes inhabiting this world include The Spirit, the Avenger and Rima the Jungle Girl.

“The Avenger is dark. He’s a twisted character. His motivations come from… they don’t come from a good place,” explained Brian Azzarello. “And The Spirit is so much of that time. Will Eisner created that character and he was riffing on a lot of stuff. And with The Spirit, now we get to riff on some modern stuff.

“I’ve got the blessing of the Eisner estate to take The Spirit in a different direction. Not just The Spirit, but also Batman and Doc Savage and we’re tweaking all these characters to sort of make their stories work together in one universe.”

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Will Eisner Shows You How to Get a Job – Educational Comic Book Scans from 1969 (Cartoon SNAP)

bob@andelman.com (Bob Andelman) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 05:59:00 PDT

“You’re Hired” is an educational comic by The Spirit’s Will Eisner.

Click HERE to jump to the entire eight-page instructional epic, originally published in 1969.

Zapiro: 'My life as a political cartoonist' Shapiro: 'My life as a political cartoonist'

bob@andelman.com (Bob Andelman) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 15:02:00 PDT

Shapiro: 'My life as a political cartoonist'

21st century life

Thursday October 1st 2009

Jonathan Shapiro, better known as Zapiro, is South Africa’s top political cartoonist. At the age of 50 he has been awarded two honorary doctorates, a string of international awards and has been sued for R15 million (£1m) by president Jacob Zuma. In Johannesburg, Shapiro – a name which once landed him in jail – told David Beresford that his passion for cartoons dates back almost to the time he learned to walk.

"I applied for a Fulbright scholarship to the School of Visual Arts in New York and got it. I then decided I would hold a big exhibition, at the Baxter Theatre in Cape Town. On the night of the day that the exhibition came down the Branch came around and hauled me off to Pollsmoor Prison.

"This was in 1988, early July, at the time of the Mandela 70th birthday celebrations, the huge party at Wembley Stadium. There was a Mandela birthday committee to organise things here in South Africa. I only put two and two together during my first interrogation – I suddenly realised they thought I was on the Mandela birthday committee. I was an activist, but I wasn’t on the committee. They’d mixed me up with another Shapiro.

"I was taken to interrogation. I refused to answer any questions and was put in solitary for five days. I was lucky, I’m sure solitary can affect you badly if you’re in a bad space, but I was feeling mentally strong.

"They did release me in time to take up the Fulbright and I went to New York and there I studied under Will Eisner (one of the absolute greats); Harvey Kurtzman, who started Mad magazine; and Art Spiegelman, who did Maus, on the Holocaust, for which he got the Pulitzer prize for literature. He was the progenitor of the true graphic novel."

Click HERE to Keep Reading about Will Eisner student Zapiro!

The typography of Will Eisner (PulpHope)

bob@andelman.com (Bob Andelman) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 05:22:00 PDT

Baseline magazine's 1990 feature on the comics typography of Will Eisner. Baseline is an excellent design publication, I highly recommend it. They have long championed comics and poster art, every issue is good--some are amazing.

Click HERE to see examples of Eisner's typography!

Exhibition of Critically Acclaimed Long Form Comic Books set to Open at the Toledo Museum of Art

bob@andelman.com (Bob Andelman) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 08:46:00 PDT

TOLEDO, OH.- A new wave of critically acclaimed long form comic books, called graphic novels (a mostly grown-up version of the comic book), is the subject of a exhibition opening Oct. 2 at the Toledo Museum of Art.

Organized by the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Mass., LitGraphic: The World of the Graphic Novel examines the history, diversity and tremendous popularity of what is considered by many to be a comics renaissance.

The traveling exhibition features more than 146 artworks by 24 contemporary graphic novelists and historic artists in this ever-evolving art form.

LitGraphic looks at the development of sequential art through its practitioners. Their work continues to suggest new ways of seeing: wordless narratives by 1920s woodcut artist Lynd Ward and modern-day commentator Peter Kuper; revolutionary underground comix by R. Crumb and humorous, personal Girl Stories' by Lauren Weinstein; works by Mad Magazine co-creator Harvey Kurtzman and Breathtaker co-creator Marc Hempel, and the pioneering art of Will Eisner (Contract with God), Dave Sim (Cerebus) and Terry Moore (Strangers in Paradise).

Original book pages and studies, sketchbooks and videotaped interviews with graphic novelists are featured.

"Art and literature have a certain symbiosis that is epitomized in an art form like the graphic novel, which combines a strong narrative with arresting visual images," said Don Bacigalupi, director of the Toledo Museum of Art. "This exhibition explores the art and history of the graphic novel through the work of a talented new generation of visual storytellers."

For centuries, sequential imagery has been a direct, efficient means of communicating ideas and information. From the cave paintings of early man to the hieroglyphics of ancient Egypt and the ceiling of Rome's Sistine Chapel, pictures, when linked to convey an overarching narrative, have a unique ability to teach and inspire.

During the 19th century, Swiss artist Rodolphe Töpffer theorized about the creation of sequential picture stories and advised artists to "invent some kind of play, where the parts are arranged by plan and form a satisfactory whole." His experiments with strip-like works employing character action and the passage of time were revolutionary in his day and set the stage for the development of the modern-day comic strips and books.

The 20th century saw the rise of comics as a popular art form through the graphic albums of Europe, Japanese manga and the adventures of cultural icons such as Superman and Donald Duck.

Although beloved by millions of readers, comics were not without their detractors who regarded the medium as a juvenile form of literature. Underground comix, which originated during the counterculture of the 1960s, and the development of independent comic book publishers in the 1970s and 1980s, challenged this notion. These publications gave voice and depth to a full spectrum of characters, emotions and stories, opening up a new world of possibilities for this visual literary art form.

Some observers believe contemporary graphic novels, with their anti-heroes, visual appeal and edgy story lines are positioned to usurp the role that the novel once played.

Artists in the LitGraphic exhibition include Jessica Abel, Sue Coe, R. Crumb, Howard Cruse, Steve Ditko, Will Eisner, Brian Fies, Gerhard, Milt Gross, Marc Hempel, Niko Henrichon, Mark Kalesniko, Peter Kuper, Harvey Kurtzman, Matt Madden, Frans Masereel, Frank Miller, Terry Moore, Dave Sim, Art Spiegelman, Barron Storey, Lynd Ward, Lauren Weinstein, and Mark Wheatley.

Two related exhibitions, Storybook Stars: Award Winning Illustrations From the Mazza Collection and Word Play, open later in October at the Toledo Museum of Art.

Storybook Stars, Oct. 9, 2009 – Jan. 31, 2010 in the Works on Paper Galleries, will offer 120 enchanting illustrations from artists who have won major awards for their work in children's books. Word Play, Oct. 16, 2009 – Feb. 7, 2010 in Gallery 18, will examine contemporary artists' use of both text and graphics as a means of artistic expression.

Freddie E. Williams II, THE DC COMICS GUIDE TO DIGITALLY DRAWING COMICS artist: Mr. Media Radio Interview

bob@andelman.com (Bob Andelman) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 10:41:00 PDT

I am old enough to remember what a sensation Stan Lee and John Buscema caused back in 1978 when the book, How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way, was published.

That book promised to pull back the curtain and teach would-be comic book artists how the House of Ideas did things and how you could, too.

But that was then—this is now. In the digital age, knowing how to hold a pencil is so 1999. If you want to make it in comics today, you need a lot more technical skills and information. And that, no doubt, is why Freddie E. Williams II is going to do very well with his timely new instructional book, The DC Comics Guide to Digitally Drawing Comics.

Williams is already on a bit of a roll, having worked on the DC miniseries Countdown, as well as Robin, The Flash and others. You can check out his work at his own website, FreddieArt.com.

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The Spirit (Movie Review; The National, Abu Dhabi)

bob@andelman.com (Bob Andelman) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 15:26:00 PDT

Rating:

By Fatima Mulla

The National
August 24. 2009 6:17PM UAE / August 24. 2009

“Pardon me, but is there a point to all this?” the protagonist laments in one scene and the viewer can’t help but agree. How could 90 minutes be spent watching such a pointless movie? Here’s an explanation of how ludicrous the movie is: The Spirit (Gabriel Macht), a cop brought back from the dead, has an eerie obsession with protecting his city. With his idiosyncratic red tie, black mask and hat, The Spirit is well known around the city – especially among the women. He is also the obsession of his arch enemy, The Octopus (Samuel L Jackson). The hero and villain always put on a “dog-and-pony show” (as the police commissioner likes to put it) both suffering injuries yet always surviving in the end. During the end of a routine brawl, The Octopus appears to know the reason behind this immortality. The Spirit, curious to find out what he really is, searches the hideout of The Octopus to find some answers and end him once and for all. Meanwhile, The Octopus and his accomplice, Silken Floss (Scarlett Johansson), try retrieving an immortal-aiding substance from Sand Saref (Eva Mendes) who just happens to be The Spirit’s old flame. Based on the comic-book series by Will Eisner and produced by the creator of Sin City and 300, this movie, however, is an absolute waste of time with a ridiculous script filled with punning lines that lack humour. The real joke, surely, is the impressive cast. One can’t help but wonder how these actors ever considered taking part in such an ill-conceived story.

Free Comics!: Will Eisner’s Complete Run of PS Magazine (Comix 411)

bob@andelman.com (Bob Andelman) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:54:00 PDT

You’re probably familiar with Will Eisner‘s work on The Spirit, and maybe you’ve read The Contract With God trilogy, but are you familiar with his WWII panels for “Joe’s Dope Sheet”? Courtesy of Virginia Commonwealth University, 254 complete issues of Eisner’s work for PS magazine are available for viewing here. (Posted by Kris Madden, Comix 411)

Denis Kitchen, THE ART OF HARVEY KURTZMAN; UNDERGROUND CLASSICS co-author: Mr. Media Radio Interview

bob@andelman.com (Bob Andelman) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 19:33:00 PDT

In the world of comics, Denis Kitchen can do it all.

Cartoonist, editor, publisher, museum consultant—heck, he even produced a daughter, Alexa, who is rapidly developing into a word-class artist in her own right.

I’ve known Denis personally since 2002, when he vetted me as the guy who would eventually write the authorized biography, Will Eisner: A Spirited Life. It gives me great pleasure to bring him on the show today to talk about his two new books, The Art of Harvey Kurtzman: The Mad Genius of Comics, cowritten with Paul Buhle, and Underground Classics: The Transformation of Comics into Comix–with an X, co-authored with James Danky.

Next year, Dark Horse will bring out a monograph devoted to Mr. Kitchen’s own work, at which time we’ll have him come back and talk about that, too.

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Copyright 2009 Bob Andelman. Click here for copyright permissions!

Brendan Burford, SYNCOPATED cartoonist, King Features comics editor: Mr. Media Radio Interview

bob@andelman.com (Bob Andelman) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 19:31:00 PDT

If you read the comics in your daily newspaper, my guest today has probably touched your life.

Spider-Man, Hagar the Horrible and Curtis all report to him at his day job as comics editor for King Features Syndicate.

But by night—and weekends, no doubt—Brendan Burford is himself a cartoonist dedicated to the notion that comics are more than a 10-second entertainment. He believes in them as journalism, a different way of communicating the events of the day.

Burford recently published his fourth edition of Syncopated: An Anthology of Non-Fiction Picto-Essays. It is collection of illustrated stories that, at a few pages each, are longer than daily comics and shorter than a graphic novel. This latest edition of Syncopated includes work by Burford himself, as well as graphic artists including Nick Bertozzi, Josh Neufeld and many others.

If you’re interested in expanding your comics horizon, you’ll enjoy reading Syncopated.

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Copyright 2009 Bob Andelman. Click here for copyright permissions!

Jonathan Rosenberg, GOATS web cartoonist: Mr. Media Radio Interview

bob@andelman.com (Bob Andelman) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 19:30:00 PDT

Jon Rosenberg, you had me at the gray-skinned alien who said, “On our planet, people worship pancakes.”

That’s the point—it was page three, I believe—that I realized that Goats: Infinite Typewriters was spinning out of control and I loved it.

This first print collection of Rosenberg’s whack-a-doodle webcomic—maybe whack-a-mole would be more appropriate if he’d write a mole into the story—was my kind of strip. It’s got aliens, a chicken named Diablo, monkeys as assistant editors, bikers, alternate universes, good Hitler, a character coincidentally named Jon, and yes, even a goat.

Even better, it includes a stop at my exit of the New Jersey Turnpike—#9, for those who don’t know—and who isn’t excited about that?

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Copyright 2009 Bob Andelman. Click here for copyright permissions!

Gary Groth, Kim Thompson, THE COMICS JOURNAL, FANTAGRAPHICS editors: Mr. Media Radio Interview

bob@andelman.com (Bob Andelman) — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 19:28:00 PDT

Kim Thompson, Eric Reynolds and Gary Groth
Fantagraphics
------------------------

They are probably the best-known good cop/bad cop team in comics today.

“They” are Gary Groth, the founder of The Comics Journal, and his partner in Fantagraphics—and fellow editor—Kim Thompson.

Fantagraphics is a preeminent publisher of comics –related books and magazines, including the more than 30-year-old Comics Journal, as well as an extensive line of graphic novels, comics histories, underground comix—with an ‘X’ or two—and comic strip collections such as “Peanuts” and “Popeye.”

So who is the good cop and who is the bad cop?

It’s no secret actually. Groth, the founder of the company, is generally regarded as the bad cop, the guy who shoots acid from the lip and lets the cow chips fall where they may.

Thompson, therefore, is generally regarded as the good cop, the guy who evens out Groth’s rough edges.

That, as in any case, is the reputation of the two guys atop Fantagraphics. The truth, I suspect, is somewhere in-between.

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The new adventures of the Spirit (Eddie Campbell's blog)

bob@andelman.com (Bob Andelman) — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 08:37:59 PDT

Commissioner Dolan
Drawn by Eddie Campell

By Eddie Campbell
The Fate of the Artist

I've been waiting a few years for this one as it has periodically been on again and then off again, and finally this Wednesday, Fate willing, it will be here. I'm referring to Will Eisner's The Spirit: The New Adventures. This is entirely coincidental as I had no intention of devoting so much time to the venerable old chap as I have been doing here of late.

I've never been fond of the idea of lots of different artists taking a crack at an old comic strip. The best characters in the old days were like an artist's signature while the characters of today are well, meh. Do what you like with the modern lot, for I don't care a button or a fig. But you can't go messing with the grand old ones. When I first heard that Eisner was letting us whelps muck around with the Spirit, I thought it was a bad idea, and to an extent I still do. But then Neil Gaiman asked for me as the illustrator for the script he'd submitted, and Moore and Gibbons had turned in a real genius job for the first issue of March 1998, three connecting stories and all tipping a big fedora to the original. Gibbons has always been good at pastiches. He had elsewhere done very acceptable ones of Dick Sprang and Will Elder. Also, this was a reunion of the Watchmen guys! We were all off to Grandad's house to leave his 78s lying around.

Click HERE to Keep Reading!

Behind-The-Scenes Of Disney-Marvel Deal

bob@andelman.com (Bob Andelman) — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 11:44:01 PDT

By Nikki Finke
DeadlineHollywoodDaily.com

EXCLUSIVE: The first thing you should know is that Bob Iger has comic books in his blood. And the second thing you should know is that his ties to Marvel go back two generations. His late great-uncle (his grandfather's brother) was illustrator/cartoonist Jerry Iger, who partnered with illustrator/cartoonist Will Eisner back in the 1930s to create -- you guessed it -- the comic book packager Eisner & Iger Studios. I couldn't make up this stuff if I tried... (Blackthorne Publishing has released three compilations of Jerry Iger-related comics: The Iger Comics Kingdom, Jerry Iger's Classic Jumbo Comics, Jerry Iger's Classic National Comics, and Jerry Iger's Golden Features. Will Eisner is no relation to Michael Eisner.)

And their first hire was Jack Kirby, who as you know later became the co-creator of many of Marvel's best known characters with Stan Lee. So Bob Iger had an unusually rich appreciation for the comic book biz dating back to his childhood when his great-uncle would draw for him. Fast forward to Monday's Disney-Marvel deal, which I've learned was 10 years in conception, and three months in negotiation between Iger and Ike Perlmutter for the 7,000 Marvel characters -- that's right, 7,000, not the 5,000 number every media outlet keeps reporting including me.

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Nope, 'The Spirit' movie doesn't work in Zaire, either (Post Online)

bob@andelman.com (Bob Andelman) — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 11:33:00 PDT

All-star cast cannot save story
2009/09/04

BASED on the graphic novel by Will Eisner, this film is a prime example of the film makers spending too much on the visual effects and the cast’s salaries, and not paying enough attention to telling a decent story.

Given that it is directed by Frank Miller, the man behind Sin City and 300, you will know what to expect visually – although real actors are used, it has the feel of reading a graphic novel, complete with all the comic book violence.

Told in film noir style, it focuses on the rivalry between The Spirit (Gabriel Macht) and The Octopus (Samuel L Jackson), two immortals with super powers who regularly beat each other senseless, even if they are unable to kill each other. There’s also a sub-plot involving The Spirit’s childhood sweetheart Sand Seref (Eva Mendes) who has now turned evil and is seeking to get her hands on the Golden Fleece from ancient mythology.

At the same time The Octopus is trying to get the blood of Hercules. Don’t ask why, it doesn’t make much sense.

Click HERE to keep reading!

Josh Keaton, SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN, HERCULES voice actor: Mr. Media Radio Interview

bob@andelman.com (Bob Andelman) — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 19:26:00 PDT

I’ve been a fan of cartoons and superheroes for as long as I can remember—all the way back to the original "Space Ghost" cartoon in the ‘60s. Anybody else remember "Frankenstein, Jr." and "The Herculoids"?

Anyway, Josh Keaton is the voice of Disney XD’s “Spectacular Spider-Man, now in its second season and airing every Monday at 7:30 p.m. So of course I wanted him as a guest on Mr. Media.

In this latest cartoon incarnation of everyone’s favorite web-slinger, Keaton plays the teen-age Spidey. He’s still encountering and wisecracking with super-villains such as Doc Ock and Sandman, getting abused in high school by Flash Thompson and losing sleep over girls such as Betty Brant. And he still lives at home with dear old Aunt May.

For Keaton, who just turned 30, this isn’t even the role for which most people will recognize him. That would probably be “Hercules,” the Disney movie in which he played the God as a teen.

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Josh Neufeld, A.D.: NEW ORLEANS AFTER DELUGE graphic novelist: Mr. Media Radio Interview

bob@andelman.com (Bob Andelman) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 17:34:00 PDT

There are all kinds of journalistic storytelling styles, starting with your basic who/what/when/where and why.

There is also “if it bleeds, it leads.”

And let’s not forget the “New Journalism” class of the 1960s and ‘70s, exemplified by everyone from Tom Wolfe to Truman Capote it used dramatic literary techniques to add depth to the reader’s involvement.

These days, some bloggers and tweeters have taken short-form journalism to new highs—and lows.

But how many people think of comic book and graphic novel creators as part of journalism? I see a few hands raised, but not nearly enough.

I would suggest to you that a wave of artist and writers who once would have been relegated to the comic book ghetto are creating compelling journalism in hand-drawn pictures these days. A recent guest on this show, Brendan Burford (Syncopated), publishes a series of what he calls “nonfiction picto-essays”—essentially journalism in sequential art.

The latest example I can recommend to you is Josh Neufeld’s new book, A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge. It’s the story of a handful of very different residents of the Crescent City in the days leading up to and the months following the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Reading it, you’ll laugh, you’ll cry and you’ll come away with an informed perspective about the lives of average Americans dealing with extraordinary challenges.

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Copyright 2009 Bob Andelman. Click here for copyright permissions!

Will Eisner's The Spirit Archives--The New Adventures (Final Volume)

bob@andelman.com (Bob Andelman) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 12:15:00 PDT

In 1997, almost six decades after the character's first appearance in 1940, legendary artist and writer Will Eisner gave permission for a new series of stories to be commissioned featuring his signature creation, resurrected detective Denny Colt, also known as the Spirit, written and drawn by the most famous names in the comics industry. The call went out, and the response was nothing short of remarkable, with contributions from such creators as Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons (in one of their rare collaborations since Watchmen), Neil Gaiman (The Sandman), Paul Chadwick (Concrete), Eddie Campbell (From Hell), amongst others. With characters featured in Frank Miller's highly anticipated movie The Spirit, you will find in these pages new tales of Central City's protector versus familiar villains such as the Octopus and Sand Saref; witness his undying love for Ellen Dolan, daughter of Commissioner Dolan, the only man to know his secret identity; and glimpse what might be the Spirit's fate in an uncertain future.

Hardcover: 200 pages
Publisher: Dark Horse; 1st edition (September 2, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 156971732X
ISBN-13: 978-1569717325

Here's my favorite page in the book!

Book captures spirit of magazine cartoonist (Redstone Rocket)

bob@andelman.com (Bob Andelman) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 11:59:00 PDT

Legendary Will Eisner
illustrated PS Magazine

by Kelley Lane Sivley

Staff writer
kelleylanesivley@att.net

August 12, 2009 11:30 AM

As the Army's PS Magazine celebrates its 58th year in publication, a book about its history is hot off the presses.

The author, Paul Fitzgerald, tells the history of celebrated graphic novelist and artist Will Eisner, who spent 21 years bringing the material in PS Magazine to life.

"PS, the Preventive Maintenance Monthly has been in existence for over 58 years. In any organization that's been around that long, you run the risk of losing the institutional memories, the earliest anecdotes and stories, and the actual truth involved with your organization's origin," Stuart Henderson, production manager at PS Magazine, said. "None of our current staff members were with PS during those early years. I know of only four living people who were, and one of them is Paul Fitzgerald."

Fitzgerald served in the Army at the close of World War II. After his uniformed days were over, he went to West Virginia University and graduated in journalism. When one of his former professors took over editorship with PS Magazine, then located at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., he offered a newly created position to Fitzgerald.

"I was the managing editor of a weekly newspaper in Elkton, Md., which is about 20 miles north of Aberdeen Proving Ground," Fitzgerald said. "He reached out and recruited me as his managing editor. I was the first managing editor of PS Magazine."

Click HERE to Keep Reading!

Order Paul Fitzgerald's book only by clicking HERE!

Artist Eddie Campbell on Will Eisner and PS Magazine (The Fate of an Artist)

bob@andelman.com (Bob Andelman) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 10:45:00 PDT

Sunday, 30 August 2009

The usual summary of comic book artist Will Eisner’s career follows the formula that he drew the Spirit all through the 1940s except for the war years and a bunch of ‘graphic novels’ from 1978 till the end of his life in 2005. There’s a long missing period between 1951 and 1978 during which he packaged and adapted cartoon art to commercial purposes, which has not been readily available for our scrutiny or pleasure. It is sometimes summarily dismissed as being of little interest.

The last time I wrote about Will Eisner’s 'middle period,' was in defence of the artist in a letter to the Comics Journal (#270) following publisher Gary Groth’s piece in their big Eisner obituary issue (#267) which could only be explained as spiteful. I though it was unnecessary, not because it was an inappropriate time, but because it was… unnecessary. Not wanting to allow my comments to stand isolated, Gary hemmed them in with another batch of his own (much as I am doing here in return), from which I quote:

“I’ve seen the litany of banal explanations for Eisner’s abandoning of the art form for the world of business… I acknowledge that it’s eminently possible that we have reached the point where a training manual for the pentagon or an informational educational story arguing against national health care is indistinguishable from an artist’s exploration of the human condition, and refraining from lamenting this state of affairs is not so much uncivilized as a bourgeois evasion.”

I cannot see, as I get further and further from my eleven-year-old self who first read Eisner in 1966, how the cranking out of a weekly comic book for twelve years about a mask-wearing hero can be art of a sort but turning the same techniques to an instructional magazine about equipment maintenance for living, working soldiers, cannot be. I’m sure Eisner and most reasonable beings saw and see them both as commercial enterprises.

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Review: Will Eisner's "A Family Matter"

bob@andelman.com (Bob Andelman) — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 11:51:00 PDT

Publisher: WW Norton

2009, 72 pages, $15.95

By Ian Chant

A birthday. A reunion. A death in the family. These are the small stories captured so eloquently in A Family Matter, one of the last works of graphic fiction icon Will Eisner.

I learned to read on superhero comic books, and when I was still a kid they turned on me with a vengeance. The much maligned Spiderman ‘Clone Saga’ pushed me out of a lifetime of comics reading. But holed up in a public library one rainy northwest afternoon, Will Eisner brought me back to the fold. I picked up a copy of A Contract With God and got hooked all over again. Will Eisner’s stories of life in the tenements of New York proved that the funny pages of my youth could just as easily be a place for serious storytelling, for exploring, small, personal, everyday narratives with phenomenal grace and depth. A Family Matteris one of those stories, and while it doesn’t stand alongside the finest works in his catalog, Eisner’s evocative illustrations breathe real life into an otherwise banal story.

Like many of the tenement stories, A Family Matter is a melodrama, and it carries every burden that implies, occasionally bending under the weight of a storyline that can feel overwrought and dialogue that is frequently simplistic. The story moves along at a breakneck pace, and it is to its detriment that Eisner seems intent on covering too large a story in too brief a span. But it’s rendered gorgeously, the art work loosed from its traditionally paneled moorings, the images flowing naturalistically into one another. Scenes from the past and present collide, and the action of the tale occurs as much in the minds eye of its cast as it does in the here and now, a storytelling style that lends itself to Eisner’s flowing visuals. This loose, simultaneous storytelling brilliantly illuminates the unforgiven wrongs that lie just beneath the surface of too many family reunions. The wounds of the past constantly make themselves felt anew, forcing their way into the present against the wishes and better judgment of Eisner’s cast.

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SPIRIT Splashes

bob@andelman.com (Bob Andelman) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 11:46:00 PDT

If you've been hearing about Will Eisner famous "splash" pages for "The Spirit" but don't know what we're talking about, here's a link with five of them and a promise of more to come:

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Will Eisner: A Spirited Life

High-Res Will Eisner original Spirit pages (CHIUStream)

Stephen King & Peter Straub Talk Comic Books (Newsarama)

Permanent Damage by Steven Grant (Comic Book Resources)

Azzarello Pulps Up DCU With “First Wave” (Comic Book Resources)

Will Eisner Shows You How to Get a Job – Educational Comic Book Scans from 1969 (Cartoon SNAP)

Zapiro: 'My life as a political cartoonist' Shapiro: 'My life as a political cartoonist'

Shapiro: 'My life as a political cartoonist'

The typography of Will Eisner (PulpHope)

Exhibition of Critically Acclaimed Long Form Comic Books set to Open at the Toledo Museum of Art

Freddie E. Williams II, THE DC COMICS GUIDE TO DIGITALLY DRAWING COMICS artist: Mr. Media Radio Interview

The Spirit (Movie Review; The National, Abu Dhabi)

Free Comics!: Will Eisner’s Complete Run of PS Magazine (Comix 411)

Denis Kitchen, THE ART OF HARVEY KURTZMAN; UNDERGROUND CLASSICS co-author: Mr. Media Radio Interview

Brendan Burford, SYNCOPATED cartoonist, King Features comics editor: Mr. Media Radio Interview

Jonathan Rosenberg, GOATS web cartoonist: Mr. Media Radio Interview

Gary Groth, Kim Thompson, THE COMICS JOURNAL, FANTAGRAPHICS editors: Mr. Media Radio Interview

The new adventures of the Spirit (Eddie Campbell's blog)

Behind-The-Scenes Of Disney-Marvel Deal

Nope, 'The Spirit' movie doesn't work in Zaire, either (Post Online)

Josh Keaton, SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN, HERCULES voice actor: Mr. Media Radio Interview

Josh Neufeld, A.D.: NEW ORLEANS AFTER DELUGE graphic novelist: Mr. Media Radio Interview

Will Eisner's The Spirit Archives--The New Adventures (Final Volume)

Book captures spirit of magazine cartoonist (Redstone Rocket)

Legendary Will Eisnerillustrated PS Magazine

by Kelley Lane Sivley

Artist Eddie Campbell on Will Eisner and PS Magazine (The Fate of an Artist)

Sunday, 30 August 2009

Review: Will Eisner's "A Family Matter"

By Ian Chant

SPIRIT Splashes

Legendary Will Eisner
illustrated PS Magazine