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You could see Eisner as the big bang.
He didnt want to rest on his laurels.
John L. White/Sun-Sentinel/AP
He would often joke that all he really wanted was to win Most Promising Newcomer.
I think that pretty much sums up his approach to art in life.
It contains in miniature a lot of the stuff that would follow.
John L. White/Sun-Sentinel/AP
But were looking at several decade-span there.
He talked about being inspired by seeingCitizen Kanein a movie theater.
He often had characters together without even panel borders, just as if they were standing on a stage.
Will Eisner
It was more about people, and less about genre trappings or film noir.
It has a more modest construction to it, but its quite vivid as human theater.
Its a fascinating approach that he took.
Will Eisner
One of the things that struck me was just how emotional and expressive a lot of it is.Exactly.
Almost operatic at times.
Hes really terrific at capturing the quality of emotion that shows through.
Even in something as simple as they way somebody bites their lower lip, or squints into the sun.
He loved to celebrate the particularity of individual characters.
Even incidental characters, characters that might only show up for a page or two were unique.
Many cartoonists of his era and younger tended towards a cookie cutter approach to character design.
Did his work have an immediate impact on artists at the time?No, actually.
It gathered momentum over time.
It became more and more the norm to look at comics in that way.
That didnt fit into any market niche.
That feels almost beside the point as the market churns on.
But then those are the works that gradually change an art form.
We have to remember that he didA Contract with Godas he was retiring from the Army.
Thats when he began this second career that then lasted until he was 87 years old.
Shouldnt there be hundreds of comics that look just like this?
Why is that not true?
The meat and potatoes.
We had a running debate about webcomics and the internet.
He was very forward-looking, generally, and he was very patient, too.
He put younger artists like me on a longer clock.
He had allies, basically.
The centennial anniversary version of Will EisnersA Contract with Godis currently available for purchase.Order it here.
