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Will Eisner finishing the last page of his final graphic novel at his studio in South Florida, May 5, 2004.
(Photo by Bob Andelman)
eNewsletter
No. 25
An occasional source of
information about
legendary artist and writer Will Eisner
Watch for publication of the new authorized biography, Will
Eisner: A Spirited Life, by Bob Andelman, debuting in limited galley pre-release at Book Expo America (BEA) in New York City June 3-5, at San Diego¹s Comic-Con International July 14-17, 2005 and in bookstores on September 9, 2005 from Dark Horse Comics¹ M press. But in the meantime, this newsletter and the official web site, http://www.aspiritedlife.com (which includes graphics) -- delivers the latest news about Eisner, his
projects and his press clippings.
IN THIS ISSUE:
• What¹s in Will Eisner: A Spirited Life?
• Subsidiary Rights Information for A Spirited Life
• Eisner¹s Rare Wonder Man Comic Reprinted in Alter Ego #48
• Documentary Filmmakers Looking for Rare Eisner Film or Video
• First Ever, Authorized Eisner Career Retrospective Opens at NYC¹s Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art (MoCCA)
• Missed the Official Eisner Memorial? Now You Can Read All About It
• Following Cerebus No. 4 is a TRibute to Will Eisner
• Eisner¹s Dropsie Avenue Comes to Brazilian Stage
• Eisner/Miller Book Reviewed in Variety
• International Interest in The Plot
• Reviews of Eisner¹s Final Graphic Novel, The Plot
• The Comics Journal #267 Offers Tribute to Eisner
• Will Eisner Links
WHAT¹S IN WILL EISNER: A SPIRITED LIFE?
Will Eisner is a founding father of two American mediums: comic books (The Spirit) and graphic novels (A Contract With God). Will Eisner: A Spirited Life is the biography of this master¹s life and work, often told in his own words and family photos.
Eisner trained some of the world¹s greatest comic art talent: Bob Kane (Batman); Jack Kirby (Fantastic Four); Jules Feiffer; Dave Berg (Mad); and Joe Kubert (Tarzan). Eisner also inspired generations of modern artists and writers, including Frank Miller (Sin City) Harlan Ellison, Brad Bird (The Incredibles) and Art Spiegelman (Maus).
Michael Chabon, whose Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay was influenced by Eisner¹s career, wrote the stirring introduction for Will Eisner: A Spirited Life. Neal Adams also contributed an appreciation of his friend Eisner.
Author Bob Andelman conducted almost weekly interviews with Will Eisner. The book includes interviews with dozens of other familiar names in popular literature and graphic arts. Among those who spoke about either their personal experience with Eisner or the way in which he touched their careers were: Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons, Neil Gaiman, Denis Kitchen, Joe Kubert, Jim Warren, Stan Lee, Dave Sim, Patrick McDonnell.
SUBSIDIARY RIGHTS TO WILL EISNER: A SPIRITED LIFE
International and Foreign Language Rights: Send inquiries to
Lance Kreiter.
Excerpt, First Serial Rights: Send inquiries to
Kelly Macsisak.
Film, Video, Television and Multimedia Rights: Send inquiries to
Denis Kitchen.
Audiobook Rights: Send inquiries to
Michael Bourret.
EISNER¹S RARE WONDER MAN REPRINTED IN ALTER EGO #48
The new issue of former Marvel Comics¹ editor Roy Thomas¹ Alter Ego magazine (No. 48) is a tribute to Will Eisner. What sets this Two Morrows publication apart from other industry tributes is the presence of the 14-page reprint of Wonder Man, the Superman knock-off that Victor Fox commissioned the Eisner & Iger Studio to do. The hero only appeared once because National Comics (now DC) sued.
DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKERS LOOKING FOR RARE EISNER FILM OR VIDEO
Andrew Cooke, the director of the documentary, Will Eisner: The Spirit of an Artistic Pioneer, is putting out a call for any unique film or video of Will. If you have any such footage and are interested in being a part of the documentary, please contact Andrew at acooke@montillapictures.com.
FIRST EVER, AUTHORIZED EISNER CAREER RETROSPECTIVE OPENS AT NYC¹S MUSEUM OF COMIC AND CARTOON ART (MoCCA)
On May 21st, 2005, the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art in New York City launched a traveling exhibition honoring the life and work of Will Eisner. The exhibit features original artwork spanning Eisner¹s long career, including two complete Spirit stories from 1947. The show runs all summer, through September 19, before going on the road.
MoCCA is selling a softcover Eisner catalogue ($24.95) and a bound, signed and numbered hardcover ($49.95), which can be ordered at the museum's web site.
NPR offered an appreciation of Will Eisner on May 23, 2005 in response to the opening of the Eisner retrospective at MoCCA. Listen to it here.
MISSED THE OFFICIAL EISNER MEMORIAL? NOW YOU CAN READ ALL ABOUT IT
If you couldn¹t make it to the Will Eisner memorial service for the comic book industry sponsored by DC Comics on April 7, 2005 in Lower Manhattan, you can now read every word said there (including my own eulogy), thanks to Charles Brownstein, executive director of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and author of the new book, Eisner/Miller. Go to Newsarama!
But wait there¹s more. In his weekly ³Comics in Context² column for IGN.con, Peter Sanderson captures many of the same spoken words but adds his own incisive commentary. Read all about it here!
FOLLOWING CEREBUS NO. 4 IS A TRIBUTE TO WILL EISNER
Following Cerebus #4 is a special tribute issue to Will Eisner. It includes Cerebus creator Dave Sim¹s article recounting his last meeting with Will Eisner in 2004; a reprint of the Eisner/Sim Cerebus jam comic; and a 1984 Eisner/Sim panel discussion on storytelling. Order Following Cerebus #4 here!
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO... BUMPER ROBINSON?
... And what does he have to do with Will Eisner? Bumper Robinson was the child who played ³Eubie² in the 1987 ABC-TV unsold pilot film for a proposed series based on Eisner¹s The Spirit. So, you¹re asking, who is ³Eubie² in the Spirit mythos? Well, my P.C. friends, it was decided in Œ87 that calling the Spirit¹s African-American sidekick ³Ebony² was just asking for trouble so the character¹s name was changed to ³Eubie.²
As for Robinson, he¹ll be 31 years old on June 19 and just landed a co-starring in a fall sitcom called ³20 Things to Do Before You¹re 30² from Touchstone TV. It stars another familiar genre actress, Liz Vassey (³The Tick²).
EISNER¹S DROPSIE AVENUE COMES TO BRAZILIAN STAGE
³Rain over the Cityscape²
By Felipe Hirsch
The day I arrived in São Paulo for the Avenida Dropsie ( Dropsie Avenue ) season, it was pouring raining. I passed by the front of the Teatro Popular do SESI building, and it was gushing lead as if it was melting. From the window of the 19 th floor of my hotel, São Paulo seems, as Will Eisner said, like any huge city in the world. From up here, I can't hear the Jews in Bom Retiro, the Northeast immigrants downtown, the Japanese in Liberdade...
Keep reading here!
More Dropsie Avenue Reviews:
"I hadn't seen such an interesting and original play in a long time (...) Amazing. But that's not even the best part it's set designer Daniela Thomas, it's the performance of the eight actors who look like there're sixteen, it's the soundtrack, it's the lighting. And it is, above all, the direction by Felipe Hirsch."
(Zuenir Ventura for the No Mínimo website)
"If director Felipe Hirsch is called a visionary at the end of his most recent show, the praise will be relevant."
(Rodrigo Fonseca in the newspaper Jornal do Brasil, Rio de Janeiro)
"With its profusion of unforgettable images, Avenida Dropsie ("Dropsie Avenue") is a must-see."
(Sérgio Salvia Coelho in the newspaper Folha de São Paulo, São Paulo)
"A charming homage to daily life in the big city (...) Touching narration by Gianfrancesco Guarnieri"
(Ubiratan Brasil in the newspaper O Estado de São Paulo, São Paulo)
"Here's a tip: catch a plane, take a bus, hop on a train, grab a bike, do anything, but go to São Paulo and watch Avenida Dropsie ("Dropsie Avenue") (...) on of the most striking shows in Brazilian Theater in the last years (...) My highest ratings for Daniela Thomas, who can do anything. Even make it rain. One of the most arresting moments is when a storm crashes on stage, creating an unforgettable image. Is it theater or magic? (...) In fact, the contemporary Brazilian Theater is all there, but in a generous way, as the contemporary Brazilian Theater never learned (...) at the end of the performance, the audience roared and hollered, the likes of which we thought only to hear in rock concerts."
(Artur Xexéo for the newspaper O Globo, Rio de Janeiro)
"Don't miss it. It transfers the enchantment of the comics to the stage."
(magazine Isto É, São Paulo)
"Scenographic dazzle."
(magazine Veja, São Paulo)
"Everything is faithfully true to the master's universe. Excellent."
(AOL website)
"A visual banquet. A must-see. The wonderful team of actors proliferates into a veritable crowd."
(newspaper Agora, São Paulo)
"There's nimbleness, humor, and melancholy, all at once. And with the excellent cast from Sutil Cia. de Teatro."
(magazine Bravo!, São Paulo)
EISNER/MILLER REVIEWED IN VARIETY
³A Talk with the Masters²
Eisner/Miller by Charles Brownstein
May 12, 2005
Dark Horse Books, 352 pages, $19.95
Reviewed by Tom McLean
So? Following in the tradition of ³Hitchcock/Truffaut² comes this massive, rambling conversation about the art and business of comics between two giants of the field. And the results are fascinating as the conversation ‹ recorded in 2002 at Eisner¹s home in Florida ‹ veers from the sexiness of inking to Stan Lee to navigating the business of comics. That two greats can disagree as often as these two do and still be respectful and great friends testifies to the respect these two have earned from each other and their audiences. Anyone who¹s a fan of either artist or comics in general will find a treasure trove of fascinating material in these discussions, such as the creative process in which Eisner, who works page by page, is fascinated by the multiple passes Miller took at the pages of ³Sin City: Family Values.² Miller is influenced most by cinema; Eisner by theater. Both see amazing potential in the medium and its future. With the book nicely illustrated with examples of each artist¹s work and photos of their conversation, this is an essential addition to the bookshelf of any comics fan. Grade: A+
INTERNATIONAL INTEREST IN THE PLOT
³Eisner's 'Plot' Draws Rights, Media Interest²
by Calvin Reid
Publishers Weekly
4/21/2005
As the May publication approaches for The Plot, the late Will Eisner's study of the anti-semitic tract The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, W.W. Norton reports strong foreign and subsidiary rights sales of the graphic nonfiction work. But the house is also coping with the loss of a pioneering artist just when media and consumer interest in his final work is peaking.
Norton executive editor Bob Weil, Eisner's editor for The Plot, reports book club sales to the Quality Paperback Club and Reader Subscription. First serial rights sold to the New York Times Book Review, and Weil said foreign language rights to The Plot have been sold for Germany, France, Holland, Portugal, Italy, Britain and Australia. In addition, he says there's strong interest from publishers in Greece, Romania and Japan.
Norton publicity director Louise Brockett lamented Eisner's passing just as mainstream news media and book publishers had discovered his pioneering legacy. "There's much interest in reviewing the book and interest in Eisner's shift to nonfiction," says Brockett. Norton, she says, has been contacted by more than 17 publications with plans to cover the book, among them The New York Times,USA Today, The Jewish Forward and Salon.com.
REVIEWS OF EISNER¹S FINAL GRAPHIC NOVEL, THE PLOT
Saturday, May. 14, 2005
A "Plot" to Change the World
TIME.commix
By ANDREW D. ARNOLD
Will Eisner's last book, The Plot: The Secret Story of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, (W.W. Norton; 148 pages; $20) arrives in bookstores early next week, just a few months after he died at age 87. A key figure in the development of graphic literature, Eisner worked in "the biz" for over 60 years. He set new standards for the form's possibilities with his cinematic weekly Spirit series during the 1940s, and then again in the late twentieth century, with his tireless boosterism for long-form "graphic novels." His final book combines literary biography and criticism into an activist work striking a blow against anti-Semitism. Though not without flaws, The Plot carries through Eisner's ambitious legacy to the end.
³Eisner's 'The Plot' speaks to history²
May 1, 2005
By Carlo Wolff
Chicago Sun-Times
Will Eisner's The Plot is the graphic novel as polemic. Impassioned rather than provocative, it is sure to provoke discussion -- one of Eisner's aims. His final work, an attempt to combat The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion, a forgery that has fueled anti-Semitism for more than a hundred years, is noble, purposeful and well researched. It's also an ambitious blend of graphic, Eisner's primary strength, and history. If at times it is too much novel and not enough graphic, in the end its esthetic balance matters less than its effect. It is a loud shout against The Protocols and a reminder that prejudice is hydra-headed, particularly in the age of the Internet.
Canada.com
Review by Marcus Eliason
Associated Press
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is 100 years old and still waiting for a stake to be driven through its heart. All serious research has confirmed it is a hoax, yet it continues to feed all manner of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.
Now comes a debunking from a different quarter in an unusual format a "comic book" by the master of the genre, Will Eisner, called The Plot: The Secret Story of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
Entertainment Weekly/CNN.com
By Marc Bernardin
His lines are still strong, his figures still possessed of an elegant, deft humanity. Will Eisner, acknowledged father of the graphic novel, still had it when, just before his Jan. 3 death at age 87, he finished The Plot: The Secret Story of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. The story is true: In the late 19th century, scheming Russian politicians persuaded an ineffectual czar to put down a rebellion by blaming the uprising on Jewish dissidents. Then, to fan the flames of hate, they got a forger to hatch the Protocols, an allegedly ancient document laying out a Jewish plot for world domination. Since then, the Protocols have been used by everyone from the Third Reich to the Klan to Islamic fundamentalists to justify their own particular brand of anti-Semitism. While The Plot is impeccably researched and certainly heartfelt, Eisner neglects to make his characters more than mere orators. As a result, Eisner's swan song reads like a beautifully illustrated textbook.
³The lie that lives on²
Jerusalem Post
4/22/2005
By Calev Ben-David
Will Eisner's greatest creation - Denny Colt a.k.a the Spirit - outfoxed the Grim Reaper with a full bodily resurrection in his origin tale, hence his alter-ego moniker. Unfortunately Eisner himself, widely and rightly acclaimed as the greatest comic book writer/artist of all time, has so far failed to turn a similar trick since passing away in January.
Will Eisner's greatest creation - Denny Colt a.k.a the Spirit - outfoxed the Grim Reaper with a full bodily resurrection in his origin tale, hence his alter-ego moniker. Unfortunately Eisner himself, widely and rightly acclaimed as the greatest comic book writer/artist of all time, has so far failed to turn a similar trick since passing away in January.
Despite that, he has still managed to cheat death to some degree with the posthumous publication this spring of his final work, The Plot. Although not one of his strongest works, this history and refutation of the infamous anti- Semitic text The Protocols of the Elders of Zion told in "graphic novel" form, still makes a fitting coda to Eisner's storied career.
Born the son of European Jewish immigrants on New York City's Lower East Side in 1917, he was one of the (largely Jewish) founding fathers of the comic book form. In 1936 Eisner took part in establishing a comic art studio that gave a start to many of the practitioner's top talents (most notably Captain America co-creator Jack Kirby), a tale in part retold and embellished in Michael Chabon's novel The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay.
The most notable among Eisner's own contributions to the field was the Spirit, whose syndicated adventures appeared as a self-contained comic book in the Sunday comics pages of newspapers across the United States for a dozen years beginning in 1940. His artwork for the Spirit, which looked like story-boards for the greatest film noir never made, set a standard of graphic excellence still unmatched to this day.
Although there was never anything explicitly Jewish about the Spirit, there's no question that Eisner's stories - often bittersweet semi-comic tales of losers and schlemiels, shot through with a strong sense of irony and fatalism - reflected his roots.
As one of his artistic heirs, Maus creator Art Spiegelman, noted a few years ago: "There are some artists who happen to be Jewish and eventually can somehow make a case that they've made a Jewish contribution to the arts by being born in the right tribe. That's not the case with Eisner. The Spirit's name might have been Denny Colt. But he was clearly circumcised."
Eisner's Jewishness emerged full-blown when after several decades away from the comics field, he returned in 1978 with what is now considered the first true graphic novel, A Contract with God. In that work and the several that followed it, Eisner drew deeply on his ethnic background, especially the years growing up in various Jewish neighborhoods across New York City.
The genesis for his final work came a few years ago when he was trolling the Internet and came across an English translation of the Protocols, which he read in full for the first time. Eisner was alarmed to learn how many other copies of the Protocols were to be found on the Internet, and how it has continued to gain new credibility and exposure, especially in the Islamic world. A 1999 newspaper article on new research into the origins of the Protocols provided Eisner with an outline for the Plot.
He begins his story back in the Paris of 1864, where a political pamphleteer named Maurice Joly wrote a polemical attack on the reign of Napoleon III titled "A Dialogue in Hell between Machiavelli and Montesquie." The narrative then skips forward 34 years, at a time when reactionary elements in Imperial Russia were looking to stir up anti- Semitism among the masses as a means of combating the wave of liberal reform beginning to chip away at the reign of Czar Nicholas II.
The Okhrana, the Russian secret police, utilized the talents of Mathieu Golovinski, a talented forger and provocateur based in its Paris bureau, to come up with an inflammatory tract against the Jews. Golovinski drew liberally on Joly's work, altering it enough to convert it into a supposed blueprint for world supremacy crafted by a secret international council of rich and powerful Jews.
Eisner shows how early on in the history of the Protocols there were serious attempts, most notably by The Times of London in 1921, to prove the Protocols were a complete fake. But he goes on to show how that didn't stop anti-Semitic interests the world over, from Henry Ford's Dearborn Independent newspaper, and later the Nazi propaganda machine of Josef Goebbels, to continually revive the Protocols for their nefarious uses.
Eisner ends his own story on an ironic note, with him handing in the manuscript of The Plot to his publisher, who responds: "So, we can finally say this is the end of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion."
The next page is a drawing of a synagogue set ablaze, followed by actual newspaper clippings detailing the growing wave of global anti-Semitism of the past two years, and a coda that notes the Protocols is still widely available in bookstores across the world.
In his foreword to this work, Eisner notes: "For me, The Plot represents a departure from pure graphic storytelling. It marks an effort to employ this powerful medium address a matter of immense personal concern."
Indeed, it would be unfair to compare The Plot in terms of pure artistic quality with his earlier work, especially the wonderful Spirit stories which I came to know and love when they were widely reprinted in magazine form during the 1970s. This is a project driven more by emotional and educational imperatives than creative inspiration. A good chunk of it, for example, simply runs the original text of Joly's work next to Golovinski's reworked passages of it in the Protocols, in order to prove conclusively the latter's unauthentic origins.
Nonetheless, The Plot is still an impressive achievement for a man in his late 80s, and this is a worthy and necessary project for Eisner to have devoted to it his final years. As Umberto Eco writes in his introduction: "I believe that - in spite of this courageous, not comic but tragic book by Will Eisner - the story is hardly over. Yet it is a story very much worth telling, for one must fight the Big Lie and the hatred it spawns."
Copyright 2005 Jerusalem Post. All Rights Reserved
³Opus posthumous: The legacy of cartooning genius Will Eisner²
Boston Phoenix
May 13, 2005
By Douglas Wolk
Call it the Ray Charles syndrome: when a beloved artist who repeatedly revolutionized his form dies and leaves behind one final big project, there¹s a natural tendency to see it as a last masterpiece, no matter how good it actually is. Will Eisner, who died last January at the age of 87, was a brilliant cartoonist ‹ he and the late Jack Kirby are arguably the two most important American comic-book artists ever, and Eisner¹s drawing, unlike Kirby¹s, never went into decline. His weekly comic book The Spirit was decades ahead of the game in the ¹40s ‹ Frank Miller¹s designs for Sin City owe a lot to it. In the ¹70s, Eisner¹s book A Contract with God was the first significant graphic novel (a term he popularized), and in the ¹80s, he published the first book of comics theory, Comics and Sequential Art. The comics industry¹s annual awards are called the Eisners, and the man himself always handed them to the winners, who universally adored him.
³The Truth Behind Jewish Propaganda²
Miami Herald
May 1, 2005
By Alex Segura Jr.
Fans sometimes have a hard time properly judging a noted writer's final work. It's hard to avoid high expectations. But while The Plot certainly has flashes of Eisner's legendary greatness, it's by no means his best book. It details the convoluted and shadowy history of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a much-reprinted, early 20th century forgery that purportedly outlined Jewish plans for world domination. In a series of vignettes, Eisner -- through his fluid linework and mastery of sequential art -- takes the reader back to the origins of the document. And while the puzzle-piece tale of backroom deals, suicide and anti-Semitism has all the elements of a great story, Eisner's execution misses the mark. Characters talk like notes scribbled on index cards, and plot development is sacrificed for a point-by-point historical narrative. Still, even when it's clear that Eisner is pushing a message, it's impossible not to marvel at his complete command of the craft. His versatile facial expressions and natural body movement, lush backgrounds and creative panel construction make the The Plot a quick and informative read, even if it's more Google search than graphic novel.
³Eisner's last stand: Anti-Semitic 'Protocols' graphically exposed²
May 15, 2005
By Tony Norman
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The holy writ of anti-Semites in the West is a nefarious 19th-century document known as the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion." It is a hate-filled pamphlet with a mangy intellectual pedigree that has, nonetheless, captured the imagination of mad dogs and rug chewers from Czar Nicholas II to Henry Ford to Louis Farrakhan.
If anti-Semitism is the "socialism of fools," as August Bebel suggested more than a century ago, then the "Protocols" is its "Das Kapital."
Bookviews
By Alan Caruba
An important book is The Plot: The Secret Story of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion by Will Eisner ($19.95, W.W. Norton) that exposes the lies behind the creation of this classic anti-Semitic book that is still in print and widely read in Middle Eastern nations and around the world. This 100-year-old document purports to be the actual blueprint of a plot by Jewish leaders to take over the world. It greatly appeals to those who would continue to denigrate Jews at a time when anti-Semitism appears to be on the increase. With an introduction by Umberto Eco and an afterword by Stephen Bronner, one can only hope that it will stimulate serious discussion of its impact on the ways Jews continue to be the subject of irrational hatred. A unique feature of this book is the artwork that enhances its text.
³A Late Pioneer Is Still Pushing Boundaries²
By Josh Lambert
April 22, 2005
The Forward
What's so comic, exactly, about comic books? As far back as the Golden Age, when the form flourished in the hands of mostly Jewish American young men, relatively few of the word-and-picture narratives to which we ascribe this label have been primarily concerned with humor. The dominant modes have been action, mystery, horror and romance. Still, silly as it sounds, even when they aren't the least bit funny they're known as comics.
It is for his attempts to address this problem, among many other achievements, that comic book pioneer Will Eisner will be remembered. He passed away in January at the age of 87, a grandfather figure in his industry. Creator of "The Spirit," a classic newspaper strip, and namesake of a prestigious set of industry awards, Eisner stood, throughout his long career, for the expansion of his field.
Stateman Journal
Salem, Oregon
May 8, 2005
The late Will Eisner was arguably the best comic book artist. He invented the graphic novel and ventured into fields and subjects most artists shied away from. He worked with Oregon's own Dark Horse Comics.
Here is his last work, one very dear to him. "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" is a spurious document supposedly exposing the plan of the Jews to take over the world. It is a fake, but it has been touted as truth and used to promote hate and murder for many years. Hitler used it as one of his tools to promote the extermination of the Jewish race. Eisner, realizing that the odious fake was again being used by anti-Semites and white supremacists in the 21st century, set out to expose its history in an accessible way. This book blends text and art that trace the history of the most pernicious piece of propaganda ever created. This is a disturbing but necessary book.
"Last piece in Eisner's legacy; Comics master debunks infamous 'Protocols'"
Reviewed by Laurel Maury
Sunday, May 15, 2005
San Francisco Chronicle
"The Plot," the final work by Will Eisner, the father of the graphic novel, who died in January, is not the misty world of Eisner's comic the Spirit, nor portraits of the common man that one finds in "The Believer" and "A Contract With God." Eisner's final project is nonfiction in graphic-novel form that debunks "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion," an infamous forgery that has persisted despite being exposed by the U.S. and Russian governments.
Still, Eisner's last work is not a departure. The comic book tradition is quietly rooted in the Jewish immigrant experience. The gritty cityscapes of Batman, the Fantastic Four and the Spirit are New York through the eyes of Jewish immigrants and their children.
And though it's barely out, Eisner's last work has already gained international notice. Publisher Norton reports that "The Plot" is being translated into French to be used in French schoolrooms to combat French anti- Semitism.
"Potential and pitfalls"
Washington Examiner
By Mark Molesky
Will Eisner, the legendary comic book artist who passed away in January at the age of 87, made a career of challenging the creative limits of his profession. Although he never fathered a comic icon of transcendent cultural fame like Batman or Superman, he did, through his teaching, writing and the sheer volume and range of his work, exert a greater influence on the field of sequential art (a term he coined) than arguably any other figure. It should therefore surprise no one that Eisner's final, posthumously published creation, "The Plot: The Secret History of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion," represents his boldest - and riskiest - attempt yet to redefine his beloved craft.
The superhero gets serious
Financial Times - London,England,UK (subscription)
... Graphic storytelling is put to a different, didactic use in The Plot, the last book written by Will Eisner, one of the legends of American comics, before he ...
"A Dark, Cruel, and Stupid Place"
New York Sun (subscription)
BY TIM MARCHMAN. Will Eisner, who died in January at the age of 86, was a genius. In a career that lasted 70 years, he played a role ...
Jewish Press - Brooklyn,NY
Will Eisner`s greatest creation ‹ Denny Colt a.k.a. the Spirit ‹ outfoxed the Grim Reaper with a full bodily resurrection in his origin tale. Unfortunately Eisner himself, widely and rightly acclaimed as the greatest comic book writer/artist of all time, has so far failed to turn a similar trick since passing away in January.
Despite that, he has still managed to cheat death to some degree with the posthumous publication this spring of his final work, The Plot. Although not one of his strongest works, this history and refutation of the infamous anti-Semitic text The Protocols of the Elders of Zion told in "graphic novel" form, still makes a fitting coda to Eisner`s storied career.
THE COMICS JOURNAL #267 OFFERS TRIBUTE TO EISNER
Selected excerpts from The Comics Journal No. 267 are available online. They¹re pretty good choices, too. The John Benson interview is one of the first ever done by a comics fanzine with Eisner and is noteworthy for its depth. In another interview, Mike Ploog recalls his years with Eisner drawing in the master¹s style for P*S Magazine. And Publisher Gary Groth¹s end piece, about how his criticism several years ago brutalized Eisner and drove a wedge between them is fascinating. Groth barely softens his attack with faint praise, somewhat ironic after he¹s given over an entire issue of his magazine to others singing about Eisner¹s strengths and influences.
PRE-ORDER WILL EISNER: A SPIRITED LIFE TODAY
Three years after starting on this book, it¹s exciting to announce that you can now pre-order the book on Amazon.com,BN.com, BooksaMillion.com and anywhere books are sold. Order two; they¹re small.
WILL EISNER LINKS
Will Eisner Official
Site; Who is Will Eisner?
http://www.willeisner.com
Order Will Eisner: A Spirited Life
Order Books By Will Eisner
Will Eisner: A Spirit Life Official Web Site
http://www.aspiritedlife.com
Will Eisner & The Spirit: Biography and History of a Comics Legend
http://deniskitchen.com/docs/bios/bio_will_eisner.html
The Comics Reporter¹s Eisner Page
http://www.comicsreporter.com/index.php/briefings/commentary/674/
Will Eisner¹s John Law, New Adventures Online
http://www.johnlaw.us.com
Wildwood Cemetery: The Spirit Database
http://www.angelfire.com/art/wildwood/
Will Eisner Original Art For Sale
http://deniskitchen.com/
DC Comics¹ Will Eisner Library
http://www.dccomics.com/graphic_novels/dc_category.html?cat=eisner
Dark Horse Comics
http://darkhorse.com
NBM Publishing
http://www.nbmpub.com/fairytales/eisner/eisnerhome.html
IMPACT Books (a division of F+W Publications)
http://www.artistsnetwork.com/impact_books/titles.asp
PODGallery: Fine Art Prints and Notecards of Will Eisner's work
http://www.podgallery.com/eisner
The Spirit Checklist
http://www.luckymojo.com/spiritchecklist.html
Rare Eisner: Making of a Genius
http://www.comicartville.com/rareeisner.htm
Fagin the Jew, Doubleday Books
http://www.randomhouse.com/doubleday/catalog/display.pperl?0385510098
Kitchen & Hansen Literary Agency
http://www.kitchenandhansen.com
Who is Bob Andelman, Anyway?
http://www.andelman.com
Will Eisner and authorized
biographer Bob Andelman at Eisner's studio in South Florida, August 2003.
(Photo by Pete Eisner)
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