Will Eisner (51 page)

 256   “It made my toes curl”: Interview with Denis Kitchen.

 256   “They have about”: Letter from Will Eisner to Denis Kitchen, June 19, 1986.

 256   
Spirit
movie: In 2008, a theatrical motion picture directed by Frank Miller was released. Although stylish, visually interesting, and filled with homages to Eisner and inside jokes about comics history, it was an unqualified critical and box office disaster. The difficulties in bringing the Spirit to the big screen, Eisner hinted in an interview with Tom Heintjes seventeen years earlier, might have stemmed more from the character’s unique makeup than from others’ efforts to bring him to the screen: “There’s always been a great disparity between what I felt made
The Spirit
work and what other people thought, with a couple of exceptions like Jules Feiffer, who was able to understand my approach almost intuitively … We’ve talked about many recent stories where the writers—and the artists, too—were not able to get inside the head of the characters and write stories that seemed plausible, given the characters’ personalities. That same disparity also existed when people outside comics tried to handle
The Spirit
” (Heintjes, “The Beginning of the End”).

 256   Miller, in an interview for this book, though clearly in disagreement with the movie’s harshest critics about
The Spirit
’s merits, seemed to agree with Eisner that the many complexities of the Spirit’s character, as well as Eisner’s personal investment in the character, made the Spirit difficult to translate to the screen. “He lived through
The Spirit
when he did it,” Miller said. “One of the challenges of adapting his work was trying to capture all those different aspects, which is kind of like trying to catch a church of flying glass, the stained glass windows, because there was so much dimension to it.”

 257   “At first”: Interview with Ann Eisner.

 257   “I felt that”: Ibid.

 258   “Dave and Will”: Interview with Jackie Estrada.

 258   “It is to me”: Eisner,
Will Eisner’s Shop Talk
, p. 284.

 258   “We mail out”: Interview with Jackie Estrada.

 260   “We’ve got to get”: Ibid.

 260   “You know, you get”: Sarah Boxer, “Will Eisner, a Pioneer of Comic Books, Dies at 87,”
New York Times
, January 5, 2005.

 260   “the most influential”: Will Eisner, introduction to
City People Notebook
(Princeton, WI: Kitchen Sink Press, 1989), p. 4.

 261   “While it is true”: Letter from Will Eisner to Dave Schreiner, June 29, 1988.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN: THE HEART OF THE MATTER

 262   Epigraph: “AV Club: Will Eisner,”
The Onion
, September 27, 2000.

 262   “standing naked”: Shawna Ervin-Gore, “Will Eisner,”
Darkhorse News
, n.d., online.

 262   “When I was younger”: Ibid.

 263   “To write about”: Henrik Andreassen, “Timeless Insights: An Interview with Will Eisner,”
Seriejournalen #19
(spring 1995); reprinted in
Comic-Con International
, 2005.

 263   “When I showed”: Ervin-Gore, “Will Eisner.”

 264   “I think it’s”: Letter from Dave Schreiner to Will Eisner, July 19, 1989.

 264   “on the whole”: Ibid.

 264   “Would you consider”: Ibid.

 265   “Ambiguity and ambivalence”: Letter from Dave Schreiner to Will Eisner, August 1, 1989.

 265   “Enclosed”: Letter from Will Eisner to Dave Schreiner, September 4, 1990.

 265   “In 1942”: Letter from Dave Schreiner to Will Eisner, September 10, 1990.

 265   “My major misgiving”: Ibid.

 265   “This is your strongest”: Ibid.

 266   “My gratitude”: Eisner,
To the Heart of the Storm
, p. 2.

 266   “schmaltzy,” “melodramatic,” and “a vivid”: “To the Heart of the Storm,”
Publishers Weekly
, March 22, 1991.

 266   “This is an outstanding”: Don Thompson, “Graphic-Album Autobiography Catches Era’s Spirit,”
Comics Buyer’s Guide
, March 29, 1991.

 267   “is a major skill”: Will Eisner,
Invisible People
(Princeton, WI: Kitchen Sink Press, 1993), p. 10.

 267   “I grew up”: Ibid., p. 9.

 268   “In relating”: Ibid., p. 85.

 268   “I expect I’ll be”: Letter from Will Eisner to Dave Schreiner, November 5, 1991.

 268   “You have to let”: Letter from Dave Schreiner to Will Eisner, January 31, 1992.

 268   “Still flailing”: Letter from Will Eisner to Dave Schreiner, December 26, 1991.

 271   “I developed”: “AV Club: Will Eisner.”

 271   “After I finish”: Tom Heintjes, “Interview with Will Eisner,”
HA
(
Hogan’s Alley
), n.d.

 272   “mausoleum”: Christopher Irving, “A Whole Lotta Spirit,”
Richmond Comix
(online), n.d.

 273   “to be sure”: Ibid.

 273   “It was a little”: Tom Heintjes, “Interview with Will Eisner.”

 273   “I did not”: Interview with Neil Gaiman.

 274   “He was determined”: Ibid.

 274   “I had this”: Ibid.

 275   “I’m coming to”: R. C. Harvey, “Will Eisner on the Future of Comics,”
Comic Book Artist
2, no. 6 (November 2005).

 276   “It was pure, unadulterated”: Interview with Frank Miller.

 276   “I didn’t know”: Interview with Denis Kitchen.

 277   “As you know”: Letter from Will Eisner to Dave Schreiner, May 12, 1999.

 277   “I see no”: Letter from Will Eisner to Dave Schreiner, August 26, 1999.

 279   “The stories in this work”: Will Eisner,
Minor Miracles
(New York: DC Comics, 2000), p. 1.

 279   “These orders guide”: Interview with Diana Schutz.

 280   “It’s an innovation”: Ervin-Gore, “Will Eisner.”

 280   “It only works”: Harvey, “Will Eisner on the Future of Comics.”

 280   “I wanted to keep”: Ervin-Gore, “Will Eisner.”

 282   “ ‘A Purple Heart for George’”: Eisner,
Last Day in Vietnam
, p. 1.

 283   Eisner and Miller: Interviews with Frank Miller, Charles Brownstein, Diana Schutz, and Mike Richardson.

 283   “It didn’t go”: Interview with Mike Richardson.

 283   “It was mild”: Interview with Frank Miller.

 284   “I’ve been concerned”: Letter from Will Eisner to Dave Schreiner, June 30, 1998.

 284   “I know this will lead”: Letter from Dave Schreiner to Will Eisner, July 18, 1998.

 285   “strong book”: Letter from Dave Schreiner to Will Eisner, October 13, 2000.

 286   “crude and noisy” and “intelligent, resourceful”: Will Eisner,
The Name of the Game
(New York: DC Comics, 2001), p. 4.

 286   “There were bad marriages”: Ibid, p. 2.

 287   “We’ll pretend”: Ibid., p. 165.

 287   “You show”: Letter from Dave Schreiner to Will Eisner, October 13, 2000.

 287   “If Aron cheats”: Ibid.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN: POLEMICS

 289   Epigraph: David Hajdu, “Good Will,”
Comic Book Artist
2, no. 6 (November 2005).

 289   “proudest possessions”: Letter from Michael Chabon to Will Eisner, October 19, 1995.

 290   “I want to understand”: Ibid.

 290   “I interviewed”: Michael Chabon, from “Paying Homage,”
Comic Book Artist
2, no. 6 (November 2005).

 290   “I gave him”: Scott Tobias, “AV Club: Michael Chabon,”
The Onion
, November 22, 2000.

 292   “Everybody needs validation”: Interview with Jules Feiffer.

 292   “Writing with images”: Will Eisner,
Dropsie Avenue: The Neighborhood
(Northampton, MA: Kitchen Sink Press, 1995), unpaginated.

 293   “Neighborhoods have life spans”: Eisner,
Dropsie Avenue
.

 293   “We’re in a visual”: “Will Eisner,”
The Onion
(
A.V. Club
), September 27, 2000.

 295   “Upon examining”: Will Eisner, foreword to
Fagin the Jew
(New York: Doubleday, 2003), p. 3.

 295   “Actually I am not”: Letter from Will Eisner to Dave Schreiner, March 12, 2002.

 296   “ ‘Tarry a bit’”: Eisner,
Fagin the Jew
, p. 5.

 296   “A Jew is not”: Ibid., p. 114.

 297   “This book was intended”: “The Grand Daddy of the Graphic Novel—A Talk with Will Eisner,”
Bookselling This Week
, October 22, 2003.

 297   “One man”: Paul E. Fitzgerald, “Every Picture Tells a Story,”
Washington Post
, June 3, 2004.

 299   “He was immediately”: Interview with Jon B. Cooke.

 299   “He was incredibly gracious”: Interview with Andrew Cooke.

 300   “This is an industry”: Interview with Jon B. Cooke.

 300   “I was amazed”: Steven Lee Beeber, “Wrath of a Pulp Patriarch: Will Eisner Draws a Rebuttal to the Notorious ‘Protocols,’”
New York Times
, February 23, 2004.

 302   “I remember being angry”: Will Eisner, preface to
The Plot
(New York: W. W. Norton, 2005), p. 1.

 303   “Am I trespassing”: David Hajdu, “Good Will.”

 304   “I submitted his book’s”: Interview with Judith Hansen.

 304   “We worked”: Interview with Robert Weil.

 305   “I need your opinion”: Letter from Will Eisner to Dave Schreiner, August 21, 2008.

 306   “Will’s quest”: Interview with Paul Levitz.

 308   “We discussed”: Interview with Robert Weil.

 308   “He was tired”: Ibid.

 308   “Will be sending”: E-mail from Robert Weil to Denis Kitchen, January 3, 2005.

 308   “It was about”: Interview with Ann Eisner.

 309   “His seriousness”: Sarah Boxer, “Will Eisner, a Pioneer of Comic Books, Dies at 87,”
New York Times
, January 5, 2005.

 309   “His final book”: Andrew D. Arnold, “A ‘Plot’ to Change the World,”
Time
, May 14, 2005.

 310   “It is a testament”: Jonathan Dorfman, “Poison, Penned,”
Boston Globe
, June 26, 2005.

 310   “an unprecedented, pioneering”: R. C. Harvey, “The Plot Uncovered,”
Comic Book Artist
2, no. 6 (November 2005).

 310   “In this whole process”: Will Eisner,
Expressive Anatomy for Comics and Narrative
(New York: W. W. Norton, 2008), p. xi.

 311   “I wish I had”: Interview with Peter Poplaski.

 312   “I never felt”: Interview with Neil Gaiman.

 312   “The wonder of Eisner”: Interview with Frank Miller.

B I B L I O G R A P H Y

BOOKS

Andelman, Bob.
Will Eisner: A Spirited Life.
Milwaukie, OR: M Press, 2005.

Beaty, Bart.
Fredric Wertham and the Critique of Mass Culture.
Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 2005.

Bell, Blake.
“I Have to Live with This Guy.”
Raleigh, NC: TwoMorrows Publishing, 2002.

Buhle, Paul.
Comics in Wisconsin.
Madison, WI: Borderland Books, 2009.

Cabarga, Leslie.
The Fleischer Story.
New York: Da Capo Press, 1976; updated 1988.

Cardy, Nick, with John Coates.
The Art of Nick Cardy.
Vanguard Productions, 2001.

Cassell, Dewey, Aaron Sultan, and Mike Gartland, eds.
The Art of George Tuska.
Raleigh, NC: TwoMorrows Publishing, 2005.

Chabon, Michael.
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay.
New York: Random House, 2000.

Couch, N. C. Christopher, and Stephen Weiner.
The Will Eisner Companion.
New York: DC Comics, 2004.

Diehl, Digby.
Tales from the Crypt.
New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1996.

Eisner, Will.
The Art of Will Eisner.
Edited by Cat Yronwode (Princeton, WI: Kitchen Sink Press, 1982).

———.
Bringing Up Your Parents.
New York: Scholastic, 1980.

———.
The Building.
Princeton, WI: Kitchen Sink Press, 1986.

———.
The Christmas Spirit
. Northampton, MA: Kitchen Sink Press, 1994.

———.
City People Notebook.
Princeton, WI: Kitchen Sink Press, 1989.

———.
Comics and Sequential Art.
Tamarac, FL: Poorhouse Press, 1985.

———.
A Contract with God.
New York: Baronet Press, 1978.

———.
The Contract with God Trilogy.
New York: W. W. Norton, 2006.

———.
Dating and Hanging Out.
With Wade Hampton and Keith Diazun. New York: Scholastic Books, 1986.

———.
The Dreamer.
Princeton, WI: Kitchen Sink Press, 1986; reprinted by DC Comics, New York, 2000.

———.
Dropsie Avenue: The Neighborhood.
Princeton, WI: Kitchen Sink Press, 1995.

———.
Edge of Genius.
New York: Pure Imagination Publishing, 2007.

———.
Expressive Anatomy for Comics and Narrative.
New York: W. W. Norton, 2008.

———.
Fagin the Jew.
New York: Doubleday, 2003.

———.
A Family Matter.
Northampton, MA: Kitchen Sink Press, 1998.

———.
Gleeful Guide to Communicating with Plants to Help Them Grow.
New York: Poorhouse Press, 1974.

———.
Gleeful Guide to Living with Astrology.
With Ivan Klapper. New York: Poorhouse Press, 1974.

———.
Gleeful Guide to Occult Cookery.
With Ivan Klapper. New York: Poorhouse Press, 1974.

———.
Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narrative.
Tamarac, FL: Poorhouse Press, 1996; reprinted in revised, updated edition by W. W. Norton (New York), 2008.

———.
Hawks of the Seas.
Princeton, WI: Kitchen Sink Press, 1986.

———.
How to Avoid Death & Taxes … and Live Forever.
New York: Poorhouse Press, 1975.

———.
Incredible Facts, Amazing Statistics, Monumental Trivia.
Edited by Ivan Klapper. Research by Jason Hanson. New York: Poorhouse Press, 1974.

———.
Invisible People.
Princeton, WI: Kitchen Sink Press, 1993.

———.
Last Day in Vietnam.
Milwaukie, OR: Dark Horse Comics, 2000.

———.
The Last Knight: An Introduction to Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes.
New York: Nantier, Beall, Minoustchine, 2000.

———.
A Life Force.
Princeton, WI: Kitchen Sink Press, 1988.

———.
Life, in Pictures.
New York: W. W. Norton, 2007.

———.
Minor Miracles.
New York: DC Comics, 2000.

———.
Moby Dick: By Herman Melville, Retold by Will Eisner.
New York: Nantier, Beall, Minoustchine, 1998.

———.
The Name of the Game.
New York: DC Comics, 2001.

———.
New York: The Big City.
Princeton, WI: Kitchen Sink Press, 1986.

———.
101 Outer Space Jokes.
New York: Baronet, 1979.

———.
The Outer Space Spirit.
With Jules Feiffer and Wallace Wood. Princeton, WI: Kitchen Sink Press, 1983.

———.
The Plot.
New York: W. W. Norton, 2005.

———.
The Princess and the Frog by the Grimm Brothers, Retold by Will Eisner.
New York: Nantier, Beall, Minoustchine, 1999.

———.
Robert’s Rules of Order.
New York: Bantam Books, 1986.

———.
Signal from Space.
Princeton, WI: Kitchen Sink Press, 1983.

———.
The Spirit Archives.
New York: DC Comics, 2001.

———.
The Spirit Casebook.
Princeton, WI: Kitchen Sink Press, 1990.

———.
Spirit Jam.
Northampton, MA: Kitchen Sink Press, 1998.

———.
Star Jaws.
With Barry Caldwell and Keith Diazun. New York: Baronet, 1978.

———.
Sundiata: A Legend of Africa, Retold by Will Eisner.
New York: Nantier, Beall, Minoustchine, 2003.

———.
To the Heart of the Storm.
Princeton, WI: Kitchen Sink Press, 1991.

———.
Will Eisner Color Treasury.
With Cat Yronwode. Princeton, WI: Kitchen Sink Press, 1981.

———.
Will Eisner Reader.
Princeton, WI: Kitchen Sink Press, 1991.

———.
Will Eisner Sketchbook.
Northampton, MA: Kitchen Sink Press, 1995.

———.
Will Eisner’s Shop Talk.
Milwaukie, OR: Dark Horse Comics, 2001.

———.
Will Eisner’s Spirit Casebook of True Haunted Houses and Ghosts.
New York: Tempo, 1976.

Evanier, Mark.
Kirby: King of Comics.
New York: Abrams, 2008.

Eisner, Will, and Frank Miller. Interview conducted by Charles Brownstein.
Eisner/Miller.
Milwaukie, OR: Dark Horse Books, 2005.

Feiffer, Jules.
Backing into Forward.
New York: Doubleday, 2010.

———.
The Great Comic Book Heroes.
New York: Dial Press, 1965; updated 1977.

Fingeroth, Danny.
Disguised as Clark Kent: Jews, Comics, and the Creation of the Superhero.
New York: Continuum, 2007.

Fitzgerald, Paul E.
Will Eisner and PS Magazine.
Fincastle, VA: Fitzworld.US, 2009.

Goulart, Ron.
Ron Goulart’s Great History of Comic Books.
Chicago: Contemporary Books, 1986.

———.
The Great Comic Book Artists.
New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1986.

———.
The Great Comic Book Artists, Volume 2.
New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1989.

Greenberger, Robert.
The Library of Graphic Novelists: Will Eisner.
New York: Rosen Publishing Group, 2005.

Groth, Gary, and Robert Fiore, eds.
The New Comics.
New York: Berkley Books, 1988.

Hajdu, David.
The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America.
New York: Farrar, Straus, & Giroux, 2008.

Harvey, Robert C.
The Art of the Comic Book: An Aesthetic History.
Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 1996.

Heer, Jeet, and Kent Worcester, eds.
Arguing Comics: Literary Masters on a Popular Medium.
Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 2004.

Inge, M. Thomas.
Comics as Culture.
Jackson: MS: University Press of Mississippi, 1990.

Jacobs, Frank.
The Mad World of William M. Gaines.
Secaucus, NJ: Lyle Stuart, 1972.

Jones, Gerard.
Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book.
New York: Basic Books, 2004.

Kitchen, Denis.
The Oddly Compelling Art of Denis Kitchen.
Milwaukie, OR: Dark Horse Comics, 2010.

Lupoff, Dick, and Don Thompson, eds.
All in Color for a Dime.
New York: Ace Books, 1970.

———.
The Comic-Book Book.
New Rochelle, NY: Arlington House, 1973.

McCloud, Scott.
Making Comics.
New York: HarperCollins, 2006.

———.
Understanding Comics.
New York: Paradox Press, 2000.

Nyberg, Amy Kiste.
Seal of Approval: The History of the Comics Code.
Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 1998.

O’Sullivan, Judith.
The Great American Comic Strip.
Boston: Bulfinch Press, 1990.

Pustz, Matthew J.
Comic Book Culture: Fanboys and True Believers.
Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 1999.

Ro, Ronin.
Tales to Astonish: Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, and the American Comic Book Revolution.
New York: Bloomsbury, 2004.

Robbins, Trina.
The Great Women Cartoonists.
New York: Watson-Guptill Publications, 2001.

Rosenkranz, Patrick.
Rebel Visions: The Underground Comix Revolution 1963–1975.
Seattle, WA: Fantagraphics Books, 2002.

Schreiner, Dave.
Kitchen
Sink Press: The First 25 Years.
Northampton, MA: Kitchen Sink Press, 1994.

Simon, Joe, with Jim Simon.
The Comic Book Makers.
Lebanon, NJ: Vanguard Productions (rev. ed.), 2003.

Steranko, James.
The Steranko History of Comics,
vol. 2. Reading, PA: Supergraphics, 1972.

Talon, Durwin S.
Panel Discussions.
Raleigh, NC: TwoMorrows Publishing, 2003.

Waugh, Coulton.
The Comics.
New York: Macmillan, 1947; reprinted by University Press of Mississippi.

Weiner, Stephen.
Faster Than a Speeding Bullet: The Rise of the Graphic Novel.
New York: Nantier, Beall, Minoustchine, 2003.

Wertham, Fredric.
Seduction of the Innocent.
New York: Rinehart, 1954.

Witek, Joseph.
Comic Books as History: The Narrative Art of Jack Jackson, Art Spiegelman, and Harvey Pekar.
Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 1989.

FILM, VIDEO, AND DVD

Stan Lee Presents: The Comic Book Greats: Will Eisner,
vol. 11. Livonia, WI: Stabur Home Video, 1992.

Will Eisner: Portrait of a Sequential Artist.
Produced and directed by Andrew D. Cooke and Jon B. Cooke. Montilla Pictures,
Comic Book Artist
, and Schackman Films, 2007.

Will Eisner: Profession: Cartoonist.
Produced and directed by Marisa Furtado de Oliveira and Paulo Serran. Scriptorium, 1999.