Why Is Everyone Interested in Will Eisner?
by Gary Scott Beatty
gary@comicartistsdirect.com.
Minor Miracles is the first original work for DC Comics by master storyteller Will Eisner, following the Last Day in Vietnam graphic novel from Dark Horse. Why are so many fans and comic companies interested in Will Eisner?
The debut of Will Eisner's Spirit in 1940 was unusual in itself - instead of reprinting comic strips in comic book form, Eisner, the copyright holder and the distributor brought the comic book to the newspaper as a Sunday supplement.
But what fans remember are the wonderful plots and beautiful artwork. The art was stunning. Soon other artists were studying his page setups and inking. In an interview for the magazine Witzend, Eisner said, "Comics before that were pretty much pictures in sequence, and I was trying to create a thing, an art form." The Spirit comic book probably had the largest circulation of any comic book, ever, reaching an enormous audience through newspaper distribution.
I'm a big fan of expert inking and Eisner is a master with a number two brush. His splash pages were always interesting, often spelling out The Spirit as paper blowing by in the wind or oddly shaped buildings.
Aside from all of these quality touches and visual tricks, Eisner was - and still is - a great storyteller. His series of novellas done for Kitchen Sink Press in the mid-eighties met with critical and financial success. Here was a man who could tell real, human stories in drawn panel form without superheroes, stories people who have never picked up a comic book can enjoy.
Most of these stories involve the tenements and streets of the New York City he knows so well. My favorites involve older people in major roles as they live their current lives and remember their past. What other comic stories can you think of with older, real person heroes? Eisner's graphic storytelling is simply the best.
That is why so many companies are interested in him. DC is starting a Will Eisner Library. Minor Miracles is a 112-page, black and white (that inking!) graphic novel offered in softcover and hardcover, available in October.
Or, visit your favorite back issues outlet and try out Eisner in less expensive forms. All fans who wonder why comic books don't have a wider audience should be pushing Eisner on friends and relatives!
All artwork is copyright © 2005 by its respective artists and publishers.