Will Eisner: 1917-2005



One of the most important and influential creators in the history of comics passed away Monday night, January 3, 2005. Will Eisner, for whom the comic industry's Eisner Awards are named, died in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. He was 87. The cause of death was complications from quadruple heart bypass surgery.

Eisner's career in comics spanned nearly seventy years. He coined the term "sequential art" He was recognized internationally as a giant in the field of sequential art, a term he coined. "The world has lost a true original, a constant innovator, and a prolific and powerful storyteller who created till the end," said Denis Kitchen, Eisner's literary and art agent. "On a personal level, I have lost a mentor, and a surrogate father. There will never be another anything like him."

In 1936 Eisner was still a teenager when he worked on Wow, What a Magazine. He was there at the very beginning of the comic book industry. From 1936 to 1939 Eisner and Samuel "Jerry" Iger ran the Eisner & Iger Studio, which provided a steady supply of content to publishers. Their staff included such future luminaries as Jack Kurtzberg (later Jack Kirby), Lou Fine, Bob Kane, Mort Meskin and others. It was during this time that Eisner, in partnership with Jerry Iger, created Sheena, Queen of the Jungle, Dollman, Blackhawk and other characters.

In 1940, Eisner sold his interest in the packaging house to Iger and went on to create the legendary character, The Spirit. The Spirit was the lead feature in an unprecedented new format: a 16-page color comic book that was inserted in Sunday newspapers, which was only the first the first of many Eisner innovations. At its' peak, The Spirit insert appeared in twenty newspapers with a combined circulation of 5 million readers every Sunday, which quintupled the circulation of America's best-selling monthly comic book. Speaking of the series, Art Spiegelman said, "The Spirit still crackles with the energy of an artist consumed with the excitement of cascading new ideas. Inspired by the Hollywood noir movies of the period, Eisner brought something brand new into the world-not 'movies on paper' but picture-writing that keeps moving in your head."

Eisner served three years in the Army for three years during World War II. While there he produced educational cartoons and comic strips for the armed forces. After his discharge in 1945, Eisner returned to The Spirit and produced it until 1952, reaching heights of artistic accomplishment that have drawn comparisons between The Spirit and the films of Alfred Hitchcock. Eisner "retired" the Spirit in 1952, although the series has rarely been out of print since. The first comic book reprints were issued by Quality (from 1944-50), followed by Fiction House (1952-54), Harvey Comics (1966-67), Kitchen Sink Press (1973), Warren Publications (1974-76) and Kitchen Sink Press again (from 1977 to 1998). DC Comics has more than halfway through publishing the entire run of its' hardcover series, THE SPIRIT ARCHIVES.

Another of Eisners important innovations was the creation of the graphic novel. His 1978 publication of A Contract with God launched what is now the fastest-growing genre in American publishing. Eisner subsequently created nearly twenty graphic novels, roughly a book per year, inspiring countless fellow professionals to follow his lead. His most recent graphic novel, Fagin the Jew, a reinterpretation of the character in Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist, was published in 2003 by Doubleday.

From the early days of comic publishing, Eisner tirelessly promoted the potential of the art form. As a Pentagon-based Warrant Officer during World War II, Eisner pioneered the instructional use of comics. His combination of information with cartoon elements proved so effective that he continued to supply information in that form to audiences as diverse as the U.S. government and schools across America. He also taught comics classes for years at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, and authored two definitive instructional books on the medium, Comics and Sequential Art and Graphic Storytelling.

One of the comics industry's two most prestigious awards, The Eisner, is named after him. Will Eisner has modestly accepted several Eisner Awards over the years, as well as several Harvey's, named after his close friend, the late Harvey Kurtzman. In 2001 he made history by winning separate awards for works created sixty years apart, with THE SPIRIT ARCHIVES Volume 1 winning "Best Reprint" with material originally published in 1940, while his Last Day in Vietnam, published in 2000, won "Best Graphic Novel." Eisner has also won numerous international awards.

In May 2002 he was named "the most influential comics artist of all time" by Wizard Magazine. On June 3, 2002, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Federation for Jewish Culture, only the second such honor in the organization's history, presented by Pulitzer-prize winning cartoonist Art Spiegelman.

"Will was a multi-faceted treasure," said DC Publisher and President, Paul Levitz. "He was a pioneer as a cartoonist as well as a young entrepreneur at the dawn of comic books. He taught generations of creators in the studio, the classroom and by example. Best of all, to our delight as students and readers, he returned to the board to develop the nascent form of the graphic novel and establish himself as the cartoonist laureate of the immigrant Jewish experience in America. Any one of his accomplishments would be enough to honor a lesser lifetime; the sum of them, done by one man is astonishing. He was a friend, an advisor and an inspiration."

Marvel Editor in Chief Joe Quesada offered the following tribute: "Will Eisner was a true giant whose work and imagination will never be equaled. Though he is no longer with us, his art and creations will continue to inspire and enlighten us.
His credits will never do his accomplishments justice.
Words will never suffice to describe what he has meant to us.
His artistic genius will be missed."

For a full bio of Will Eisner, please see the website of Eisner's longtime literary agency, Kitchen & Hansen