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 (Photo by Pete Eisner) eNewsletter No. 17 Author, Will Eisner: A Spirited Life
€ Eisner to be Remembered on ABC-TV¹s This Week with George Stephanopoulos, Sunday, Jan. 9, 9 a.m. EST € Editor¹s Note € More Links for Remembering Will € The Plot: A Clarification € Reader Tributes Pour In, Part III € Will Eisner Links EISNER REMEMBERED ON ABC-TV¹s ³THIS WEEK WITH GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS² Denis Kitchen reports that the Sunday morning political chat show, ³This Week with George Stephanopoulos² will include a legacy tribute to Will Eisner in the last 20 minutes of the program. For more information: http://abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/story?id=132448&page=1 EDITOR¹S NOTE I spent much of the last three years submerged in the life and work of Will Eisner. The deeper I became, the more convinced I was that Will might be one of the most beloved and influential characters to emerge from 20th Century American culture. As sad as his passing this week was, the incredible outpouring of admiration and recognition for his body of work and humanity can¹t be ignored. With 70 years of extraordinary work to his credit ‹ and so many acts in his multifaceted career ‹ Will was fortunate to be recognized and appreciated for his accomplishments in his lifetime. He knew the high esteem with which he was held within and beyond the comics and graphic industries, although he would never acknowledge it with more than a smile and a shrug. This week was a blur. I am only now beginning to truly grieve for a man I will always think of as a friend and inspiration. I¹m forever grateful to Judy Hansen and Denis Kitchen for having enough confidence to introduce me to Will and Ann. The first time Will and I got together to discuss a book, I was to help him write an autobiography. I had the foresight to drag my wife and daughter to lunch with me that day, something I never did with a potential collaborator before. As Will, Mimi and I talked over lunch about how such a project might unfold, Rachel ‹ then 5 ‹ turned over her placemat and drew a snowman in a blizzard. ³This is for you, Mr. Eisner,² she said, handing it over. ³I¹m an artist, too!² Will laughed ‹ it was all snow, no snowman to be seen ‹ and complimented her on the cleverness of it. ³You come back to my studio after lunch and I¹ll draw something for you, too,² he said. This was before I knew that Will had long since stopped doing sketches, that when fans approached him with sketchpads in hand his drawing arm would disappear into the sleeve of his sport coat. Anyway, Will drew a sketch of The Spirit saying hi to Rachel (you can see a picture of them together holding the sketch at http://www.luckysday.com/gallery1.html). A few months later, once the autobiography had morphed into an authorized biography (³Autobiography is too hard,² Will complained. ³If I spend all my time writing about my career, I won¹t have any time for my career!²), I bought a fully articulated Spirit action figures at Jay & Silent Bob¹s Secret Stash in Red Bank, NJ. Rachel, who hadn¹t yet read any Spirit stories, couldn¹t wait to tear into the package and play with it. For some reasons, she took one look at Mist¹ Spirit, found some string and tied him up. I laughed out loud, knowing she had no idea how common it was for Denny Colt to find himself trussed up in just that way. I told Will about it in our next interview and he asked her to draw The Spirit for him. When I delivered it to him a few weeks later, it received a permanent place of honor on his studio¹s bulletin board. A dad couldn¹t be any prouder than that. And this week my daughter, now 8, couldn¹t help but share all of our pain. MORE LINKS FOR REMEMBERING WILL Thanks for gathering and sharing the tributes that have come in to you. Jamie Riehle and Katy Garnier have added a blog to Will's official web site where fans and friends can also share their thoughts and remembrances. It's... http://willeisner.tripod.com/condolences/ Denis Kitchen USA Today: http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2005-01-04-will-eisner-obit_x.htm Seattle Times: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/books/2002143520_comicswatch07.html Tom Spurgeon¹s Comic Report has a more complete list of great Eisner tribute and obit links from the past week than I could compile: http://www.comicsreporter.com/index.php/industry_mourns_loss_of_will_eisner/ THE PLOT: A CLARIFICATION Dear Mr. Andelman: My colleagues and I at Norton appreciate your recent updates about Will Eisner and the wealth of information you have provided about him through your newsletter. It goes without saying that we were all shocked and saddened by Mr. Eisner's death. I just wanted to let you know, for your future reference, that THE PLOT: The Secret Story of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, which Norton will release in May of 2005, is not a graphic novel, as described in the first sentence of eNewsletter 15. It is a work of nonfiction, and I believe that it is Mr. Eisner's first book of history. It is a graphic history, in other words, which exposes and unravels one of the most pernicious hoaxes of the past century. I hope this information will be useful. Please let me know if I may be of any further help. Sincerely, Louise Brockett Director of Publicity, W. W. Norton & Company READER TRIBUTES POUR IN, Part III In Brazil Will Eisner has been loved and celebrated as the big star he was. His work has been published here since 1940. He influenced every one in the field of Sequencial Art, as well as in many other artforms. His obtuary appeared in the front page of the biggest newspaper O GLOBO (5 th Jan), and also he had articles in his honor (7th) in Jornal do Brasil (8th) in O Globo again (see it at http://www.oglobo.com.br/cultura). This is in Rio, not mentioning São Paulo, Recife, Belo Horizonte, and many other cities he had visited, and all the news papers around the country. The documentary I have produced and directed about him is a tremendous success in Brazil. For that film, we received a prize voted by our National Cartoon Society. Will came here for it¹s launching and again for the Home-video in 1999 and 2001. The Documentary had a great acceptance around the world. It has been shown in 36 countries since its launching in 1999, including France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Poland, as many others. Surprisingly, it has never appeared in England or USA, yet. But it¹s great international success is the proof of Eisner¹s immense charisma, cleverness and sophisticated art. He was a sunny man in contrast of his shady stories. A dearly beloved friend. I miss him deadly and send all my prays to Ann, John and Denis. Marisa Furtado de Oliveira Will Eisner...A true gentleman and a great human being .. I had the privilege of working with Will for several years on PS magazine. Prior to meeting the man ...I knew nothing about Will Eisner the comic book artist...however I was familiar with PS magazine... As an illustrator in the Marine Corps I had copied his drawings for training aids for many years..So being hired by Will to work on the magazine seemed like an easy job . Copying a mans work does not give you an insight into what is behind it... Will had a sensitivity and an amazing power of observation that few artist possess ... He spent many hours standing over my shoulder as I sat at my drawing board....white shirt and tie with his sleeves rolled up.. pipe in hand... peering over his glasses ... and scratching his bald head..trying to instill in me " Know your character ... feel what he feels...every drawing is a message...make it clear and simple"... At the time I didn't know how much this man was teaching me...but as the years passed I realized how much this great man had done for me. Many times over I thanked him for it ... and with the ever present twinkle in his eye... peering over his glasses and scratch his head... he would say " What kind of a businessman would I be if I hired a man that couldn't do the job?" I seldom put pencil to paper without thinking of Will Eisner. Today I fell his presence more than ever...standing over my shoulder... Thanks again Will I love ya' Mike Ploog Artist, PS Magazine/Will Eisner Studio, Man-Thing Sadly, veteran cartoonist and WWII vet, Will Eisner has died. This shakes me up a bit. Will was a man I admired deeply, for his insight, his intellect, his artistic abilities, and his amazing ability to inspire. He certainly inspired me. He was one of the prime reasons I fell in love with comics at all. As a youngster I happened upon his work in my local library quite by accident. I was reading tomes on comics and Sunday strips from the 1940s. Strips like Flash Gordon, Mutt and Jeff, Agent X-9, etc. And then I saw it. The strip that would blow my mind and change my life forever, "The Spirit" by Will Eisner!!! "The Spirit" stood out as an exciting spoof on the genre of pulp detective novels. The women looked like Lauren Bacall, the Spirit himself looked like Clark Kent sporting a domino mask. The fight scenes were genuinely thrilling and well thought out, the artwork always spoke volumes to me for its campiness, and overall moodiness. Will often employed tricks-of-the-trade for commerical artists. His layouts were always superb! For example, one image that comes to mind is the spirit pulling himself out of the river and onto a small wooden dock. He is visibly wet, he is angry, his eyes have a riveting stare which tells you they want blood! And yet, if you look beyond all that you'd notice the very dock itself was actually the logo "The Spirit" designed right into the panel!!! Wow!!! Back in 1992 when I was attending college here in Madison, Wisconsin, I had a wonderfully terrific opportunity thrust upon me. It came to my awareness at the time, that Will Eisner would be passing through our part of the country,(He lived in and around New York), and the clever staff at my school had talked him into a giving a lecture since they knew his agent, Denis Kitchen! My only problem was I had an exam for a typography course during Mr. Eisner's speech! Rats! What to do? Well...it really would be a once in a lifetime opportunity for me, so what do you think I did??? I bet you guessed it: I flew uncaringly through my boring old exam in about ten minutes, tucked my copy of a Will Eisner/Spirit artwork anthology book I had owned for years under my arm, and literally ran down the hallways of my school to the Television Studio (in the school which was MATC aka: Madison Area Techincal College) To hear Mr. Eisner's speech. Oh, but I did have a different motive also. I planned to meet him, and talk with him! Would this work out? Hmmm.... It was winter, and I had a bad cold, I coughed a lot, through Mr. Eisner's wonderful turn at the podium and drawing easel. I coughed so much that the audience kept "hush"ing me, and a fellow behind me gave me a hard candy to suck on. I struggled to the end of the lengthy question and answer segment. Most of the audience were only there to get a class credit for the visual communications program and had very little interest in Will Eisner at all. So the bulk of the crowd got up to leave. I saw my chance! Mr. Eisner was standing there all by himself! The next thing I knew, I wasn't alone anymore because I standing in an anxious line of comic book geeks(yeah! proud to be a geek!) like myself that also wanted to meet Will Eisner! Most of them had Spirit comic book issues forhim to sign if he would. The failed television pilot for "The Spirit" television series had aired just a few years before, starring 80s "Flash Gordon" star, ex-football player, Sam Jones. I wanted to talk to Will about that pilot, and tell him how much I had enjoyed it, seeing his characters come to life. My moment came, and I calmly began speaking to Will, about how much I admired him, and told him that he was the main reason I was attending that college, to become a commerical artist also! He was graciously taken aback by this. We spoke of modern trends in comic art, and how classic art forms will always prevail. I told him I had loved "The Spirit" pilot movie made for TV. Will told me he had hated the pilot movie because they modernized his characters so much that it changed them too dramatically from his original vision of them. Will loved seeing my book of his collected "The Spirit" work! He immediately set about signing it for me. I nearly fainted! On the inside cover Mr. Eisner wrote with my pen, "To Bruce, Best Wishes, Will Eisner" and his signature matched the 'logoed version of it that was part of the cover design. At that time Will Eisner was seventy-three years old! I will miss Will Eisner very much. I am glad I was able to share a few moments of his time. It is something I will never forget, ever. Bruce W. Cashman Bruce Studios 68 It was with a very heavy heart that I read the beautiful tribute to Will Eisner on Newsarama.com. Despite the fact, that it's been ten years since I was deeply involved in the comic book industry, I feel as though I've lost a dear friend. Among my favourite memories of Will, is a conversation we had about the state of the industry--a serious, heartfelt discussion held in the middle of a loud, publisher-hosted party during a San Diego convention. Regardless of the hustle and bustle of music and dancing and laughter and schmoozing going on around us--we were focused on the subject and on each other. He had already long-since won my enthusiasm and imagination with his talent; that night he won my heart with his caring, sensitive, insightful encouragement. He was a great advocate for comics retailers and as such, became a personal hero of mine. In fact, one of my most prized possessions, is a small piece of marble adorned with a brass plate that reads: "Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award 1994--Finalist." I didn't even technically win that award--I was merely a finalist. But I have that beautiful keepsake, and as pointed out by J. Michael Straczynski, when you are handed your award by the man whose name it bears, you have to think: "How freakin' cool is this?" The only thing I treasure more from my comic book retailing days, is my sketchbook, which contains many amazing things, including a quintessential Eisner 'Spirit' sketch. My life is richer for having known this wonderful man. My thoughts and prayers are with Ann and John, and those many other folks to whom Will was so very special. He will be missed, but never, ever forgotten. Marita Beth www.awardrobeintime.com I only had the chance to interview Will once, but it was a really great experience. I think the whole thing lasted about 3 hours and Will was always patient and willing to answer anything I threw at him. That same year I had the opportunity to meet him at the San Diego ComiCon in 2000 where I literally bumped into him while he was standing at the DC booth. I was wandering around, looking for something to do when I saw him. "Holy crap," I thought. "That's Will Eisner." So I introduced myself, shook his hand and asked him to sign my Spirit Archive Vol. 1, which he did without a second thought. I was going to try and start a conversation up with him, but in the time it took for that small exchange to happen, a line had started behind me out of nowhere and I had to clear out in a hurry or be mauled by other signature hunters. Anyway, I just wanted to give a shout out to Will and write a few words about him. He managed to touch many lives with his work, and I include myself as one of them. Wherever you are, Will, thanks for the wonderful body of work and the well of inspiration you provided for so many of us. Mike Jozic Saskatoon, SK Canada My sincerest condolences on the passing of Will Eisner. I am not a writer or artist, just a longtime reader and admirer of comic books and the graphic novel form. I remember reading the Spirit when it was reprinted in the 70's and fell in love with the artwork and layouts. I was a novice and was not aware if these strips were being written now or reprinted from before. I enjoyed them immensely and the story lines and artwork were involving, real, hilarious and moving. In a word, genius. He will be missed. Rick Beckham Mesquite Texas So touching and inspiring to read how Will touched so many lives. What a great gift. I think it's so important for all of us to read these many stories of how one person can make such a difference in so many people's lives. Best wishes, Heidi MacDonald If you¹d like to subscribe to Will Eisner: A Spirited Life eNewsletter, send an e-mail to subscribe@aspiritedlife.com |