Bra d Bird film director
Steph en R. Bissette artist/ writer/educator
Will Eisner is arguably the first comic book rebel. Most of the artists who labored over the earliest comic book stories aspired to having their own comic strips, or elevating themselves to betterpaying ranks of the well-heeled magazine illustrators of the day. Many more had resigned themselves to achieving little more than the meager living the comic page treadmill provided. But Eisner somehow knew the primitive comic books of the ’30s were only the beginning of his legendary career. …[With The Spirit] he had successfully negotiated control and rights to his own creation. Will Eisner was the first American comic book artist to do so. The Spirit immediately established Eisner as one of the medium’s true innovators, crafting a
TOP: ©2005 Gabriel Bá. BOTTOM RIGHT: Portrait of Will Eisner by Stephen R. Bissette, from Comic Book Rebels. ©2005 SRB.
Steve Bissette
In the 1940s, while every other comic book artist was playing around with wildly costumed crime-fighters, Will Eisner’s The Spirit was playfully reimagining every aspect of the medium, from its wildly inventive title pages to its unconventional narratives, many of which more closely resembled short stories than traditional comic books. While others were using grids and rudimentary action staging, Eisner was deconstructing his layouts, pushing the readers eye around the page, urging it to speed up or slow down. While others were struggling to make their images easy to read, Eisner was amping up the drama with spare light and dark shadows, making even more impact with what he wasn't showing you. His characters were unusually expressive, his draftsmanship impeccable, his storytelling cinematic. And in a business filled with unhappy endings for so many of its most famous creators, Eisner not only retained ownership of his work, he remained vital and active to the end of his long life. He may not be the most widely known comic book creator, but to me he is the most inspiring.
Gabriel Ba
With God, about one a year. Like Isaac Bashevis Singer, there were at times elements of magic to Will’s realism, in his chronicling of the Jewish “everyman” of the world he knew best, the immigrant family struggling to live in New York City in the first half of the 20TH century. The stories Will wrote and drew about were like stories about my grandparents’ and other relatives’ lives, and that common ground always drew me towards his work. I had admired Will from afar for many years, but our paths only crossed at the Eisner Awards where I got to shake his hand a number of times. I didn’t really get to know him until six years ago, when I had the honor to work with him on two of his books, Minor Miracles and The Name of the Game. It was hard not to be taken by Will, by his intelligence, his charm, his kindness, and his way with words. In that first meeting with him at the San Diego convention, I was immediately struck by the sparkle in his eye; his passion for life; his passion for his wife, Ann; and his passion for telling stories. Will’s genius as a writer and artist exemplified what comics are intrinsically about — the spoken and unspoken melding of words and pictures. His writing perfectly captured the heartbeat of the human experience, just as his expressions could evoke more than any words could say. Will was not only an incredible storyteller and innovator; he was an incredibly principled man, true to his convictions and his ideals. From early in his career, he did things his way. He never sold out to a big company when that was the only option available, which was unheard of at the time, and for decades to follow. He was also a tireless advocate for comics, but he made no apologies for it. He never questioned that you could produce comics that were considered literature; he always just believed it, and he was right. Working with Will was the one of the most memorable experiences of my career. Being with Will, was like being with family, mishpucha in Yiddish. He was the only artist that I ever worked with who set his own rigid deadlines, and he always, always met them… He liked to joke that he was just a young cartoonist trying to be break into comics, and he wanted to make a good impression. Boy, did he ever.
69 CBA V.2 #6