Legendary comics and graphic novel artist and writer Will Eisner died last night, Monday, January 3, 2005, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, at the age of 87, following complications from quadruple heart bypass surgery.

Will Eisner didnıt create Superman, Batman, Spider-Man or even Archie and Jughead. Some comic book fans may scratch their heads when asked to describe his work. But every artist and writer in comic books, as well as graphic artists across the entire spectrum of modern illustration, television and film, owes a debt to him.

In 1940, Eisner created a goofball detective named Denny Colt who died (not really) and was reborn as ³The Spirit,² the cemetery-dwelling protector of the public ‹ and pretty girls in particular. The Spirit possessed no superpowers. He couldnıt see through his girlfriendıs clothing the way a curious alien like the Man of Steel might scientifically investigate Lois Lane. And he wasnıt a brilliant technologist like Batman, imagineering hokey gadgets and psychedelic compounds for all-night parties with the Joker.

The Spirit broke so many molds:

€ Eisner was the stripıs artist and writer, a feat that is still rare today.

€ The Spirit was published and distributed as an insert in Sunday newspapers, ala Parade magazine. It was seen weekly by as many as 5-million people from 1940 to 1952.

€ No two Spirit sections looked alike. Although most commercial operations ­ from Superman to Pepsi-Cola ­ spend millions of dollars testing, proving and marketing their logos, Eisner thought it was more challenging to change The Spiritıs masthead every week ­ for 12 years.

€ The Spirit was a fun, mature read, aimed at adults but accessible to kids.

For all of these reasons, The Spirit was published and reissued in various forms almost uninterrupted for 60 years. Its look, feel and smartass humor is timeless, which accounts for the countless revivals.

Eisner, who went to high school with ³Batman² creator Bob Kane, provided first jobs in the comics business to everyone from Jack Kirby (co-creator of ³Captain America² and the ³Fantastic Four²) to Pulitzer-winning writer and artist Jules Feiffer.

If not for Eisnerıs influence, Pulitzer Prize winner Art Spiegelman might never have published his graphic novel Maus: A Survivorıs Tale (Eisner is credited with popularizing ‹ if not inventing ‹ the medium of the graphic novel with the 1978 publication of his graphic story collection, A Contract With God) and fellow Pulitzer Prize-winner Michael Chabonıs The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay would have been missing quite a few Eisner-inspired tales.

For comic book professionals, the highest honor in the industry is either an Eisner Award, named for Eisner and given out every summer at Comic-Con International in San Diego, or a Harvey Award, named for Eisnerıs late friend Harvey Kurtzman, the creator of Mad magazine and Playboyıs ³Little Annie Fanny,² given every April in Pittsburgh. Kurtzman, who discovered talents as diverse as R. Crumb and Gloria Steinem, passed away in 1993, making Eisner the last man standing.

Literally.

At every Eisner Awards ceremony, each recipient was handed his or her award by the man himself.

Several years ago, a big red velvet chair was put on stage for Eisner. The Eisner Awards promoters said, ³Come on, Will, you shouldnıt have to stand up all this time; here, have a seat.² Eisner sat on it briefly, got a laugh out of it, but then he stood up again, and stayed on his feet the rest of the night. Eisner demonstrated his strength of character and enduring physical wherewithal by standing on stage throughout the entire presentation, shaking hands and personally congratulating the winners. Because there is a different presenter for each award, no one else stood for as long as Eisner.

Thatıs why, when Eisner handed the 2002 Eisner Award for Best Serialized Story (Amazing Spider-Man #30-35: ³Coming Home²) to writer J. Michael Straczynski and artists John Romita Jr. and Scott Hanna, Straczynski thrust the award in the air and remarked, ³You know, you get the Emmy, you donıt get it from ŒEmmy.ı You win the Oscar, you donıt get it from ŒOscar.ı How freakinı cool is this?²

Published in November 2004, DC Comicsı The Will Eisner Companion is the first comprehensive, critical overview of the work of this legendary writer/artist. Divided into two sections ‹ his Spirit work and his graphic novels ‹ this authorized companion features all-new critical and historical essays by noted comics historians N.C. Christopher Couch and Stephen Weiner, as well as alphabetical indexes relating to all aspects and characters in his oeuvre. Also includes a chronology, a bibliography and suggested reading lists, as well as an introduction by Dennis O'Neil.

A new generation of comics fans learned about the man in the 1970s when underground comix publisher Denis Kitchen began reprinting ³The Spirit² stories and eventually produced new stories of the character by top comic book talent including Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons and Neil Gaiman. Kitchen became one of Eisnerıs closest friends and confidants, as well as his personal representative and literary agent (with Judith Hansen). (Kitchen can be reached via email at denis@deniskitchen.com.)

More recently, ³John Law,² a 56-year- old Will Eisner character, was given fresh life and adventures in 2002 by Australian artist and writer Gary Chaloner as an online comic book hero at ModernTales.com. In December 2004, Law returned to print in IDW Publishingıs ³Will Eisner's John Law² hardcover trade paperback. These stories were the first original John Law adventures published since Eisner worked on the character in 1948. This edition includes both new material and classic John Law tales by Eisner himself.

And Eisnerıs final ‹ and likely most controversial ‹ graphic novel, The Plot, finished last summer, will be published this spring by W.W. Norton.

Will Eisner was the wizard behind the curtain, except in his case, the magic was real.

There will be no funeral service, per Willıs wishes. ³Will and I hated funerals,² his wife, Ann, said the morning after his death. ³We made plans long ago to avoid having them ourselves.² He will be buried next to his late daughter, Alice, who died in 1969. Surviving Will are his wife, Ann, and his son, John.

Cards may be sent to:
Will Eisner Studios
8333 W. McNab Road
Tamarac, FL 33321

Unofficially, in lieu of flowers, you might consider a donation in Willıs name to the American Cancer Society ‹ his daughter died of cancer ‹ or the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, which Will was known to have supported.

On a personal note, I am crushed. Will and I started working on what began as an autobiography and morphed into an authorized biography three years ago this month. His friendship and camaraderie was like none other. (Will Eisner: A Spirited Life will be published in July for Dark Horse Comicsı new M Press imprint.)

Today is a very sad day for the the world of arts and letters.

MEDIA: You may quote freely from this obituary, as long as credit is given to Bob Andelman, author of the forthcoming authorized biography, Will Eisner: A Spirited Life, to be published Summer 2005 by Dark Horse/M Press.

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