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Will Eisner (1917-2005), American Master of Graphic Narrative

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The following is a guest post by Martha Kennedy, Curator of Popular and Applied Graphic Arts, Prints and Photographs Division.

One of the great innovators in the world of comic art, Will Eisner forged a legendary, multi-faceted career that spanned the birth of the comic book through the rise of the graphic novel. The Library of Congress joins art schools, libraries, universities, and museums across the nation in celebrating his legacy during Will Eisner Week, March 1-7, 2015, which also marks the 75th anniversary of The Spirit, one of his signature creations. The following images give glimpses of this artist’s remarkable versatility and pioneering achievements in his chosen medium.

Born in Brooklyn, Eisner grew up in the Bronx, and began drawing comics in an era that brought forth classic comic book heroes with super powers, Superman in 1938, and Batman in 1939. In 1940, Eisner unveiled a new kind of hero in The Spirit (below, left). Denny Colt had no super powers, but in marshalling his wits and human strength to fight crime, he appealed to both adult and young readers.

In 1940, Eisner unveiled a new kind of hero in The Spirit. Denny Colt had no super powers, but in martialing his wits and human strength to fight crime, he appealed to both adult and young readers.
The Spirit, Winter issue, no. 7, 1945. Comic book cover from a drawing by Will Eisner. [Comic book held by Serial & Government Publications Division] Artwork © Will Eisner Studios, Inc. WILL EISNER and THE SPIRIT are Registered Trademarks of Will Eisner Studios, Inc. Used with permission. http://lccn.loc.gov/sf96093418
Poster shows a man in keffiyeh and robe riding on a camel in the desert as Joe Dope studies a vehicle repair handbook next to his broken-down armored vehicle.
“Don’t be a dope! Handle equipment right! The sheik thinks it terribly strange these American Rangers don’t range . . .” Poster by Will Eisner, 1942. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2014645418/

During World War II, Eisner designed posters (above, right) for the U.S. Army that stressed safe handling of equipment through the comic bumbling of G.I. Joe Dope. An example from the Prints & Photographs collections shows the cartoonist’s flair for creating humorous visual/verbal instruction, a skill that he also applied in postwar educational comics.

In A Contract With God (1978), Eisner introduced his then newly evolved kind of visual storytelling, grounded in his experience of city life. A title page drawing from a later story collection, Collisions, (below, left) contains elements often seen in his mature approach: a strong sense of time and place, a single incident that sets off several story lines, well-defined characters, and figures who observe and narrate.

Drawings showing the title page for a story called "Collisions" in Will Eisner's graphic novel, City People Notebook. Drawings depict the events following a traffic accident and the effect the accident has on the characters involved.
[Original drawings for a story called “Collisions” published in City People Notebook] Drawing by Will Eisner, [1989]. Artwork © Will Eisner Studios, Inc. WILL EISNER and THE SPIRIT are Registered Trademarks of Will Eisner Studios, Inc. Used with permission. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2006683284/
Comic book illustration showing a TV set exploding while broadcasting a view of Ground Zero, at the World Trade Center terrorist attack in New York City, September 11, 2001. A man sitting in front of the TV is covered in debris. The red image overlay shows blood spilling from the TV monitor onto the floor.
Reality 9/11. Drawing by Will Eisner, September 11, 2001. Artwork © Will Eisner Studios, Inc. WILL EISNER and THE SPIRIT are Registered Trademarks of Will Eisner Studios, Inc. Used with permission. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2002717263/

Eisner’s remarkable ability to craft compressed narrative can be seen in a work of his late maturity, one of his creative responses to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 (above, right). His haunting depiction of a dejected Everyman viewing a broadcast image of Ground Zero demonstrates the narrative and expressive capacity of the single-panel genre, which, he said, “enables people to talk with images.”*

Learn more:

* Cartoon America: Comic Art in the Library of Congress, edited by Harry Katz. New York: Abrams, 2006, page 300. [Library of Congress Catalog record][Cartoon America: table of contents]

Comments

  1. Pulp fiction in it’s greatest form.

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