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January 4th, 2005
03:42 pm - Will Eisner, RIP
Hello everyone-
It was with deep sadness that I learned that creator of the Spirit and spiritual father of the modern graphic novel, Will Eisner, died last night following complications from heart surgery.
I was incredibly lucky to not only hear Mr. Eisner speak last year when he visited the University of Massachusetts, but to be able to share a meal with him, Dennis Kitchen, and Chris Couch, a longtime comics scholar and collaborator with Mr. Eisner on his recently-completed and soon-to-be-published graphic novel The Plot. I found him to be startlingly vital and engaged for a man of his advanced age, and could not have asked for a more entertaining look into the inner workings of the earliest days of comics. Mr. Eisner told with great humor the story of how he sent the creators of Superman packing and advised them to come back when they'd polished their work up a bit, along with many other anecdotes of his journey from his early studio days through the creation of the Spirit and his evolution as a graphic novelist with the publication of Contract With God. I deeply regret that he will never be able to make his promised return visit.
For an authoritative obituary with an overview of Mr. Eisner's career, please refer to this initial article on ICv2:
Eisner Obituary on ICv2
I'm sure there will be many, many articles written on his career and the unprecedented impact he had on the art form in the coming weeks. In the meantime, we extend our condolences to his family, friends, and collaborators, in particular Chris Couch, an occasional visitor to our store.
Mr. Eisner was always an outspoken advocate of comics retailers. It's no mistake that the comics awards that bear his name invite retailer participation and that there is a separate Eisner Award recognizing excellence in comics retailing. We'll continue to strive to honor his faith that comics can become an accepted and valued part of mainstream American literary culture, and hopefully someday be worthy of the honor of having at least a little bit of his good name rub off on us.
Mr. Eisner's final work, The Plot, is a "rebuttal" to the Russian Tsarist propaganda screed The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, still making the rounds in modern anti-Semitic circles as proof of a sinister Jewish world-domination conspiracy. It should see print in late spring or early summer of this year. Most of Mr. Eisner's back catalog is available from DC Comics, and have always been in stock at our store and will continue to be for as long as they are in print and available.
Thanks for your attention. See you in the store.
-Jim Crocker, Manager
Current Mood: Sad
Current Music: Morrissey
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