|  Legendary
comics and graphic novel artist and writer Will Eisner died
Monday, January 3, 2005, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, at
the age of 87, following complications from quadruple heart
bypass surgery.
Will Eisner didn’t create Superman, Batman, Spider-Man
or even Archie and Jughead. Some comic book fans may scratch
their heads when asked to describe his work. But every artist
and writer in comic books, as well as graphic artists across
the entire spectrum of modern illustration, television and
film, owes a debt to him.
In 1941, Eisner created a goofball detective named Denny
Colt who died (not really) and was reborn as “The
Spirit,” the cemetery-dwelling protector of the public
— and pretty girls in particular. The Spirit possessed
no superpowers. He couldn’t see through his girlfriend’s
clothing the way a curious alien like the Man of Steel might
scientifically investigate Lois Lane. And he wasn’t
a brilliant technologist like Batman, imagineering hokey
gadgets and psychedelic compounds for all-night parties
with the Joker.
The Spirit broke so many molds:
• Eisner was the strip’s artist and writer, a feat
that is still rare today.
• The Spirit was published and distributed as an
insert in Sunday newspapers, ala Parade magazine.
It was seen weekly by as many as 5-million people from 1941
to 1952.
• No two Spirit sections looked alike. Although most commercial
operations – from Superman to Pepsi-Cola – spend
millions of dollars testing, proving and marketing their
logos, Eisner thought it was more challenging to change
The Spirit’s masthead every week – for
12 years.
• The Spirit was a fun, mature read, aimed at adults
but accessible to kids.
For all of these reasons, The Spirit was published
and reissued in various forms almost uninterrupted for 60
years. Its look, feel and smartass humor is timeless, which
accounts for the countless revivals.
Eisner, who went to high school with “Batman”
creator Bob Kane, provided first jobs in the comics business
to everyone from Jack Kirby (co-creator of “Captain
America” and the “Fantastic Four”) to
Pulitzer-winning writer and artist Jules Feiffer.
If not for Eisner’s influence, Pulitzer Prize winner
Art Spiegelman might never have published his graphic novel
Maus: A Survivor’s Tale (Eisner is credited
with popularizing — if not inventing — the medium
of the graphic novel with the 1978 publication of his graphic
story collection, A Contract With God) and fellow
Pulitzer Prize-winner Michael Chabon’s The Amazing
Adventures of Kavalier & Clay would have been missing
quite a few Eisner-inspired tales.
For comic book professionals, the highest honor in the industry
is either an Eisner Award, named for Eisner and given out
every summer at Comic-Con International in San Diego, or
a Harvey Award, named for Eisner’s late friend Harvey
Kurtzman, the creator of Mad magazine and Playboy’s
“Little Annie Fanny,” given every April in Pittsburgh.
Kurtzman, who discovered talents as diverse as R. Crumb
and Gloria Steinem, passed away in 1993, making Eisner the
last man standing.
Literally.
At every Eisner Awards ceremony, each recipient was handed
his or her award by the man himself.
Several years ago, a big red velvet chair was put on stage
for Eisner. The Eisner Awards promoters said, “Come
on, Will, you shouldn’t have to stand up all this
time; here, have a seat.” Eisner sat on it briefly,
got a laugh out of it, but then he stood up again, and stayed
on his feet the rest of the night. Eisner demonstrated his
strength of character and enduring physical wherewithal
by standing on stage throughout the entire presentation,
shaking hands and personally congratulating the winners.
Because there is a different presenter for each award, no
one else stood for as long as Eisner.
That’s why, when Eisner handed the 2002 Eisner Award
for Best Serialized Story (Amazing Spider-Man #30-35:
“Coming Home”) to writer J. Michael Straczynski
and artists John Romita Jr. and Scott Hanna, Straczynski
thrust the award in the air and remarked, “You know,
you get the Emmy, you don’t get it from ‘Emmy.’
You win the Oscar, you don’t get it from ‘Oscar.’
How freakin’ cool is this?”
Published in November 2004, DC Comics’ The Will
Eisner Companion is the first comprehensive, critical
overview of the work of this legendary writer/artist. Divided
into two sections — his Spirit work and his graphic
novels — this authorized companion features all-new
critical and historical essays by noted comics historians
N.C. Christopher Couch and Stephen Weiner, as well as alphabetical
indexes relating to all aspects and characters in his oeuvre.
Also includes a chronology, a bibliography and suggested
reading lists, as well as an introduction by Dennis O'Neil.
A new generation of comics fans learned about the man in
the 1970s when underground comix publisher Denis Kitchen
began reprinting “The Spirit” stories and eventually
produced new stories of the character by top comic book
talent including Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons and Neil Gaiman.
Kitchen became one of Eisner’s closest friends and
confidants, as well as his personal representative and literary
agent (with Judith Hansen). (Kitchen can be reached via
email at denis@deniskitchen.com.)
More recently, “John Law,” a 56-year- old Will
Eisner character, was given fresh life and adventures in
2002 by Australian artist and writer Gary Chaloner as an
online comic book hero at ModernTales.com. In December 2004,
Law returned to print in IDW Publishing’s “Will
Eisner's John Law” hardcover trade paperback. These
stories were the first original John Law adventures published
since Eisner worked on the character in 1948. This edition
includes both new material and classic John Law tales by
Eisner himself.
And Eisner’s final — and likely most controversial
— graphic novel, The Plot, finished last summer,
will be published this spring by W.W. Norton.
Will Eisner was the wizard behind the curtain, except in
his case, the magic was real.
There will be no funeral service, per Will’s wishes.
“Will and I hated funerals,” his wife, Ann,
said the morning after his death. “We made plans
long ago to avoid having them ourselves.” He will
be buried next to his late daughter, Alice, who died in
1969. Surviving Will are his wife, Ann, and his son, John.
Cards may be sent to:
Will Eisner Studios
8333 W. McNab Road
Tamarac, FL 33321
Unofficially, in lieu of flowers, you might consider a donation
in Will’s name to the American Cancer Society —
his daughter died of cancer — or the Comic Book Legal
Defense Fund, which Will was known to have supported.
On a personal note, I am crushed. Will and I started
working on what began as an autobiography and morphed into
an authorized biography three years ago this month. His
friendship and camaraderie was like none other. (Will
Eisner: A Spirited Life will be published in July for
Dark Horse Comics’ new M Press imprint.)
In the days to come, if you’d like to share a story
or a thought about Will and need an outlet, I’ll make
this newsletter available to anyone who’d care to
contribute. Just reply to ASpiritedLife@tampabay.rr.com
and I’ll share your words with an international audience
of Eisner fans and media.
Today is a very sad day for the the world of arts and letters.
~
Bob Andelman, author, Will Eisner: A Spirited Life
LINKS
|
