Will Eisner Champion of the Graphic Novel ( PDFDrive )

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by other artists in Spirit stories Spranger, John SPX (Small Press Expo) Staton, Joe Steranko, Jim Stokes, Manning Lee Sturm, James Sundita (Eisner) “A Sunset in Sunshine City” (Eisner) Superman Sutton, Laurie SVA (School of Visual Arts) T Tantrum (Feiffer) Tarzan of the Apes (Hogarth) Telgemeier, Raina A Tenement in the Bronx (Eisner). See also A Contract with God and Other Tenement Stories (Eisner) tennis-themed calendar (Eisner) Terry and the Pirates Thimble Theatre Thompson, Craig Timely. See also Marvel Comics To the Heart of the Storm (Eisner) Töpffer, Rodolphe Tuska, George U

Uncle Sam Understanding Comics (McCloud) Updike, John Uslan, Michael V Varley, Lynn Verpoorten, John Vonnegut, Kurt W Wags tabloid Waller, Leslie Ward, Burt Ward, Lynd Ware, Chris Warren, Jim Watchmen (Moore and Gibbons) Wein, Len Weingarten, Ann. See Eisner, Ann Weingarten Weingarten, Melville Welles, Orson Wellman, Manly Wade Wertham, Dr. Fredric West, Adam “What Is His Name?” (Eisner) Wheary, Denis Wiacek, Bob Will Eisner Reader Will Eisner’s Quarterly Wilson, S. Clay witzend underground comic women characters

Wonder Man Wood, Wally Woolfolk, Bill

World War II Wow, What a Magazine! Wrightson, Berni Y Yang, Gene Luen Yitzhak, Rabbi Levi “You’re Hired!” (Eisner) yronwode, cat (Catherine Yronwode) Z Zapiro (Jonathan Shapiro) Zarate, Oscar



Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Levitz, Paul. Will Eisner : champion of the graphic novel / by Paul Levitz. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4197-1498-6 eISBN 978-1-61312864-0 1. Eisner, Will. 2. Cartoonists—United States—Biography. 3. Graphic novels—History and criticism. I. Title. PN6727.E4Z69 2015 741.5’092—dc22 [B] 2014038452 Text copyright © 2015 Paul Levitz Compilation copyright © 2015 Will Eisner Studios, Inc. and Paul Levitz Introduction copyright © 2015 Brad Meltzer Cover/title page lettering and chapter title typography/designs by Todd Klein THE SPIRIT and WILL EISNER are trademarks owned by Will Eisner Studios, Inc. and are registered in the U.S. Trademark Office. Illustrations/photographs provided by the Estate of Will Eisner and the collection of Denis Kitchen unless otherwise indicated below. The following illustrations/photographs are reproduced with permission: Cover, this page, this page: From the collection of Ronald S. Sonenthal. this page, this page: Copyright © 2001 Greg Preston. Used with permission. this page: The Estate of Harvey Kurtzman. this page: Jules Feiffer. this page, this page, this page (left), this page: From the collection of Charles Kochman. this page: Aquaman, The Flash, and Batman ™ and © DC Comics. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. this page: The Hulk ™ & © 2015 Marvel Entertainment, LLC and its subsidiaries. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. this page: From the collection of Bob Wiacek. this page (left): Spider-Man ™ & © 2015

Marvel Entertainment, LLC and its subsidiaries. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. this page (right): Zapiro cartoon from The Sunday Times copyright © 1998. Used with permission. For more Zapiro cartoons visit www.zapiro.com. this page: The Sinister House of Secret Love ™ & © DC Comics. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. this page (top): Tarzan copyright © 1972 and 2014 Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. All Rights Reserved. this page (bottom): The First Kingdom copyright © 1974 and 2014 Jack Katz and Caroline Gold. Currently available from Titan Books. this page: Harvey Kurtzman’s the Jungle Book copyright © 1959 and 2015, courtesy of the Estate of Harvey Kurtzman. this page: Tantrum copyright © 1979, courtesy of Jules Feiffer. this page (right): Alien: The Illustrated Story copyright © 1979 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. Currently available from Titan Books. this page: A Life Force copyright © 1988 the Estate of Will Eisner. Used with permission of W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. this page: Maus copyright © 1986 Pantheon Books, a division of Random House LLC.; from Maus: A Survivor’s Tale: My Father Bleeds History by Art Spiegelman. Used with permission of Pantheon Books, an imprint of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Random House LLC. All Rights Reserved. this page: Daredevil ™ & © 2015 Marvel Entertainment, LLC and its subsidiaries. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. this page: Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen ™& © DC Comics. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. this page (top): Courtesy of Jackie zEstrada. this page (bottom): Courtesy of Comic-Con International: San Diego. this page: To the Heart of the Storm copyright © 1991 the Estate of Will Eisner. Used with permission of W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. this page: Graphic Storytelling & Visual Narrative copyright © 1996 the Estate of Will Eisner. Used with permission of W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. this page: Dropsie Avenue copyright © 1995 the Estate of Will Eisner. Used with permission of W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. this page: The Name of the Game copyright © 2001 the Estate of Will Eisner. Used with permission of W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. this page: Minor Miracles copyright © 2000 the Estate of Will Eisner. Used with permission of W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. this page: Copyright © 2005 Craig Thompson. Used with permission. this page (left): Copyright © 2005 Shawn McManus. Used with permission. this page (right): Copyright © 2005 Everett Raymond Kinstler. Used with permission. this page: Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards statue courtesy of Comic-Con International: San Diego, photographed by Jonathan Beckerman. this page (right): Copyright © 2015 Seth Kushner. Original art and photographs scanned by the printer in November 2014.

Original art and photographs scanned by the printer in November 2014. For more about Will Eisner, visit willeisner.com. Published in 2015 by Abrams ComicArts, an imprint of ABRAMS. All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher. Abrams ComicArts is a registered trademark of Harry N. Abrams, Inc., registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Abrams ComicArts books are available at special discounts when purchased in quantity for premiums and promotions as well as fundraising or educational use. Special editions can also be created to specification. For details, contact [email protected] or the address below. 115 West 18th Street New York, NY 10011 www.abramsbooks.com EDITOR: Charles Kochman DESIGN DIRECTOR: John Lind DESIGNERS: C.S. Fossett & John Lind ART DIRECTOR: Chad W. Beckerman MANAGING EDITOR: Jen Graham PRODUCTION MANAGER: Alison Gervais

Pinback button, Famous Cartoonist Series no. 16, Krupp Comic Works, 1975. Naturally, Eisner was a prime pick among the fifty-four cartoonists Denis Kitchen chose to create original self-portraits for the collectors’ delight.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author would like to acknowledge the invaluable contributions of Merrilee Heifetz, Sarah Nagel, Lindsay Newton, and Albert Araneo at Writers House. Denis Kitchen, Stacey Kitchen, and Judy Hansen. Ann Eisner and Carl and Nancy Gropper at Will Eisner Studios. Charles Kochman, Chad W. Beckerman, Jen Graham, Nicole Sclama, and Alison Gervais at Abrams ComicArts. Todd Klein, John Lind, and C.S. Fossett. All of the above made this book possible … and Brad Meltzer, for starting it off so beautifully. To my predecessors in researching and writing about Eisner, whose work I have liberally drawn upon: Bob Andelman, John Benson, Charles Brownstein, N. C. Christopher Couch, Jon and Andrew Cooke, M. Thomas Inge, Michael Schumacher, Jim Steranko, and Stephen Weiner. To Wayne Smith, for his research assistance. And especially to Lucy Caswell and Jenny Robb, for guarding Eisner’s legacy at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum at the Ohio State University Libraries. For their contributions to scholarship that are incorporated into the book: James Coville, Randy Duncan, Danny Fingeroth, Andrew J. Kunka, Matthew Smith, Greg Preston, and Julia B. Ree. For sharing their memories of Will Eisner and the evolution of the graphic novel: Mitch Berger, Nick Cardy, Mike Carlin, Joey Cavalieri, Howard Chaykin, Jackie Estrada, Drew Friedman, Neil Gaiman, Joe Kubert, Batton Lash, Scott McCloud, Nick Meglin, Joe Quesada, Diana Shutz, Jeff Smith, Art Spiegelman, James Sturm, Raina Telgemeier, Len Wein, Bob Wiacek, and most especially Ann Eisner and Jules Feiffer. For sharing their views of Eisner and the graphic novel’s evolution, I must thank the literally thousands of people who have shared my journey from a fourteen-year-old comic book fan to now, especially Will himself. For their assistance in providing artwork or clearing rights for the book: Elizabeth Clementson, Tom Cooke, Amy Genkins, Bette Graber, Gary Groth, Sierra Hahn, Eric Ingram, Lene Hockstein-Baker, Joseph Izzo, Thomas King, Denis Kitchen, Stacey Kitchen, Beth Kleiber, Charles Kochman, Nick Landau, John Lind, Shawn McManus, Paul McSpadden, Rebecca Nagel, Gregory Pan, Melissa Quinn, Mike Richardson, Lauren Rogoff, Alex Saviuk, Gary Sassaman, C.S. Fossett, Jonathan Shapiro, Ronald S. Sonenthal, James Sullos, Jr., Craig Thompson, and Vincent Zurzulo. To conserve space, I’ve thanked people in only one category, but many folks

To conserve space, I’ve thanked people in only one category, but many folks have been valuable in multiple contexts. And my memory is far from perfect, so if I have omitted anyone, I apologize for the incomplete recognition. On a personal level, my deep thanks to Larry Tye, Jeremy Dauber, and Karen Green for guiding my journey. To Jeanette Cusimano, Nicole, Philip, and Garret Levitz for putting up with me. And to my parents, Alfred and Hannah Levitz. Finally, to Mark Hanerfeld, for my first taste of Eisner long ago, and for putting the words “graphic novel” on a cover for the first time, letting the genie burst out of the bottle.

Original art for the front cover of The Building, 1987.

Copyright © 2015 Seth Kushner Paul Levitz began his career while in high school, editing The Comic Reader, an award-winning fanzine. He started freelance writing in 1972 and spent thirty- eight years on staff at DC Comics, first as assistant editor and ending in 2010 as president and publisher. He wrote hundreds of comics, including an acclaimed run on Legion of Super-Heroes. After leaving his desk job, he began teaching, including Columbia University’s American Graphic Novel course, and Transmedia for Pace University’s MS in Publishing program. He continues to write comics and about popular culture, and his 75 Years of DC Comics: The Art of Modern Mythmaking (Taschen, 2010) won the Eisner Award, the Eagle Award, and the Peng Pris. Levitz is a lifelong New Yorker, and is proudly watching Nicole, Philip, and Garret, his three children from his marriage to Jeanette Cusimano, grow into their heroic identities. Follow him online at paullevitz.com and @paul_levitz. THIS PAGE Original art, ink on vellum, for interior page of A Contract with God and Other Tenement Stories, Baronet Press, 1978. THIS PAGE Original art for the back cover of A Contract with God, Kitchen Sink Press, painted in 1978.

Detail, original art for the cover of The Spirit no. 11, Kitchen Sink Press, August 1985.

Detail, original art for the back cover of New York: The Big City, painted in 1984.