The Will Eisner Companion [Hardcover]

N.C. Christopher Couch (Author), Stephen Weiner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 17, 2004

Will Eisners career spanned the entire history of comic booksfrom his formative days in the 1930s through the 1940s, when he revolutionized narrative sequential art with his internationally famed series THE SPIRIT, to the 1970s, when he created the contemporary graphic novel form with A Contract With God. THE WILL EISNER COMPANION is the first comprehensive overview of his work. Divided into two sectionshis Spirit work and his graphic novelsthis authorized companion features all-new critical and historical essays by noted comic book historians Chris Couch and Stephen Weiner, as well as alphabetical listings relating to all aspects and characters in his oeuvre. Also includes a chronology, a bibliography and suggested-reading lists.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Early in this work, co-author Weiner explains that when he realized how little comics criticism there was, he decided to do a serious study of the works of Will Eisner. One of comic books' founding fathers, Eisner created in 1940 the Spirit, a masked crimefighter whose series became a dazzling showcase of visual storytelling virtuosity. From 1978 to his recent death, Eisner pioneered the contemporary graphic novel as a vehicle for significant, often autobiographical themes. But Couch and Weiner's attempts at scholarly critiques merely skim the surface. Still, this companion provides a valuable history of Eisner's long career. "The Spirit: A to Z" section, a mini-encyclopedia of the series, should revive happy memories for "Spirit" aficionados. Another section recounts the plots of Eisner's graphic novels through biographies of their characters. Nearly every page in the book features panels from Eisner's work, demonstrating his unique blend of caricature and realism, and his command of chiaroscuro effects. Two complete "Spirit" stories are included, but the first, a 1966 retelling of the Spirit's origin, fails to transcend its melodramatic cliches. The second, however, is the 1948 classic "Gerhard Shnobble," a fable about an apparent nobody who briefly succeeds in flying. Marred by its sentimental ending, the story is nonetheless a fine example of Eisner's mastery of the comics medium. This is a solid overview of Eisner work, even though it lacks in-depth analysis.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School–This book is part mini-biography and part summary of the major works of the man who invented and reinvented the art of the graphic novel. Eisner's desire to bring a new sense of realism to comics started in the 1940s and developed in a unique strip, The Spirit, working in more realistic characters and problems of day-to-day life alongside the standard action stories. Companion includes a useful character and plot guide and a wonderful full-color reproduction of the first strip from the series. The final two thirds of the book focus on the artist's creation of and experimentation with sequential art. After several decades away from the medium of comics, Eisner returned in the 1970s with A Contract with God, a complex and character-driven story that tackled serious issues of faith, religion, and modern life. Over the next 30 years, he created more titles, each one playing with and expanding on his chosen medium and using different styles and subjects. The authors explain the themes of character, religion, and social awareness so integral to Eisner's stories, doing a fair job in short, "Cliffs Notes"-type entries on characters, plot, and theme. Numerous black-and-white examples of Eisner's art are included, adding to the understanding and appreciation of his work as a whole. Although this book does not offer expansive criticism, it is an effective and useful introduction.–Matthew L. Moffett, Northern Virginia Community College, Annandale
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: DC Comics (November 17, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401204228
• ISBN-13: 978-1401204228
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,655,768 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fitting tribute to the true King of Comics., February 16, 2005

By 

A wiser than usual reader (In the racks) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Will Eisner Companion (Hardcover)

I purchased this book the night before Will Eisner passed away so this book was even more meaningful to me when I read it.

This a great book to get if you like works written on comics creators. Why? If Will Eisner hadn't existed comics would be a very different medium today.

Graphic Novels might not exist, or might not be available for sale outside a comic shop if not for him.

Devices like the splash page might not have come to be if it were not for this man.

He gave Jack Kirby and many other industry notables some of their first professional assignments.

His list of accomplishments goes on and on. Eisner truly helped to shape the world of comic books as we know it.

This hardcover even contains a couple of his Spirit stories as well as many illustrations that show why this man was so talented.

They say that Jack Kirby was the King of Comics but if it wasn't for Eisner there might not have been the great Kirby works of the '60s and '70s. If it wasn't for Eisner many classic sequential art stories might have been told very differently.

If you like comics you owe it to yourself to pick up this book and other works by and about the amazing Will Eisner.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good reference work for any Eisner fan, May 25, 2005

By 

The Comics Maven (Kansas City, KS USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Will Eisner Companion (Hardcover)

The book is very good but it isn't perfect. On the positive side it orgainizes and presents a pile of information in a lucid and straight forward manner. The sections on the Spirit are fairly comprehensive and I'm sure that I'm going to be using the A to Z listing for years to come. The section on Eisner's post-Spirit work does a nice job of informing old and new readers alike not only to content of the GN's but also to the wide variety of material that's available. However, there are a couple of things that come down on the negative side. Why was the typeface so small? For that matter why was the book so small to begin with? And I don't know about any one else but I found the index page to be so damn small that it was rendered useless. However, it still remains a usefull reference work for any Eisner fan.