From Scoop: http://scoop.diamondgalleries.com/scoop_article.asp?ai=7363&si=121Comic book pioneer Will Eisner passed away on January 3, 2005 at the age of 87. The creator of The Spirit, co-founder of the Eisner-Iger Studio, and one of the fathers (if not the father) of the modern graphic novel died following a December 22, 2004 quadruple bypass heart surgery.
Working early in the era when comic books changed from the reprints of newspaper strips they had been for their first five decades to featuring new material, Eisner became a pivotal figure in the industry, both as an influential creator and as a farsighted businessman.
"Eisner, who was born in New York on March 6, 1917, published his first comic in 1936 in a publication called
Wow, What a Magazine! There, he met Jerry Iger, and together they created a comic book outfit that employed, among other artists, Bob Kane, the creator of Batman, and Jack Kirby, one of the creators of the Fantastic Four and several other Marvel Comics heroes," wrote Sarrah Boxer of the New York Times. "Eisner also had the bad fortune of turning down a comic called Superman by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster."
After co-creating the popular characters Sheena, Queen of the Jungle and Blackhawk and others, Eisner sold his interest in the Eisner-Iger Studio to partner Jerry Iger and struck out on his own.
He developed his own comic magazine insert for newspapers, a collection of strips including his most famous creation, The Spirit. With his Spirit sections, which ran in newspapers across the United States from 1941 to 1952, Eisner reached up to about 5 million readers every Sunday. More importantly in terms of his influence, The Spirit stories from those sections are still considered revolutionary in their design. The non-standard Spirit logo was generally worked into the opening visual in a powerful way, and Eisner was not a prisoner of standard panel-per-page counts.
Eisner himself was absent from the strip between 1942 and 1945 while he served during World War II and again toward the end of the strip, when other creators such as EC's Wally Wood illustrated it. Although it ended in '52, the Spirit has regularly been reprinted as it finds appeal with successive generations.
"He addressed subjects considered unthinkable in comic books and rarely seen at the time in newspaper comics: spousal abuse, tax audits, urban blight and graft" John Pain wrote for the Associated Press.
Quality Comics published comic book versions of the material from 1944 to 1950, and then Fiction House did likewise from 1952 to 1954. After that, Harvey Comics printed the series 1966 - 1967. Kitchen Sink Press took up the Spirit 1973, was replaced by Warren Publications (1974 - 1976), and Kitchen Sink Press again published the character from 1977 to 1998. The material is now collected by DC Comics in a highly successful series of hardcovers.
Leaving behind the comics seen by most people did not mean leaving behind comics altogether for Eisner. He launched and supervised P.S. Magazine for the U.S. Army, a regular update on preventative maintenance that incorporated graphic storytelling with its presentation of the material. The Army continued to use his work through the '70s, when he returned to the comics field.
"Perhaps Eisner's most lasting legacy is the creation of the graphic novel with his 1978 publication of A Contract with God. This book launched what is now the fastest-growing genre in American publishing,"DC Comics said in a press release about Eisner's passing. He subsequently produced about twenty graphic novels, all of which noted for their lasting insights into the human condition and their artistic sensibilities.
"When someone of Will Eisner's caliber passes away after having lived a long, vital life of contributing to others, putting forth the best effort, teaching excellence, and exercising his God-given talents in a career of his own choosing, it's difficult to be entirely sad, particularly in light of the amazing legacy he's left to us. One of the great joys of my life has been the privilege to consider him a personal friend, and in that area it's impossible not to be simply devastated by the news of his passing. This sad event no doubt adds an even more special meaning to anyone fortunate enough to have won an award named after this wonderful and talented man. I know everyone here feels that way as well. I would like to express my thoughts and prayers for his wife, Ann, and his son, John, as well as his colleagues, and many friends," said Steve Geppi, President and Chief Executive Officer of Diamond Comic Distributors.
"Will Eisner didn't 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," wrote Bob Andelman in the Will Eisner: A Spirited Life eNewsletter.
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