It's Andy Fish!

Will Eisner was a rare individual- a cartoonist who was also a business man, you don’t often find that combination.

Will broke into comics in the 1930s after graduating DeWitt Clinton High School where he worked on the high school paper with fellow cartoonist and soon to be creator of Batman, Bob Kane.

Eisner was not content to “just” be a cartoonist– seeing the potential of the medium in a larger scope as publishers of these new comic books scrambled to attain new material so at only 19 years old he partnered with Jerry Iger to form an artists studio where he hired the likes of Kane, future Marvel Comics legend Jack Kirby, George Tuska, Wallace Wood and countless others who would go on to themselves have very successful careers in comics.

Eisner sold his share of the studio to Iger in 1939 when Quality Comics offered him a unique opportunity to create a comic book that would be inserted into Newspapers all across the country. Seeing the potential for a huge readership base, Eisner jumped at the chance.

In 1940 Eisner created THE SPIRIT which would become his most notable creation- part inky film noir, part adventure and part comedy The Spirit ran in Eisner’s newly minted newspaper comic book insert and it gained readership that rivaled CAPTAIN MARVEL and SUPERMAN.

Drafted into WWII Eisner turned The Spirit over to a team of “ghosts” who continued the series in his absence.

Returning to the strip in 1945 it really hit its stride, now a bit more mature and with an endless imagination Eisner took The Spirit into storylines and styles unseen in the comic industry blazing a trail of advanced storytelling that made all other artists take notice.

Eisner ended The Spirit in 1952 causing him to leave “traditional” comics for a career in educational and advertising comic stories which continued up until the 1970s when collectors who were forming Comic Cons contacted him in the hopes of getting him to make personal appearances. Eisner thought fans no longer cared about him or The Spirit but soon learned otherwise.

Underground Comics fascinated Eisner, although he found much of the content which pushed the envelope of good taste shocking, he embraced the idea of self distribution they survived on, and soon The Spirit was reborn in the form of Reprints of classic material which were embraced by modern readers.

Eisner’s influence was so strong that when Stan Lee was looking for his Editorial replacement at Marvel Comics when Lee was tasked to head to Hollywood to attempt to generate interest in Marvel Properties he offered the job to Eisner- who considered it but eventually declined, saying he knew little of superheroes.

Eisner picked up his brushes and pens again and began doing independent graphic novels. My personal favorite of his, THE DREAMER, tells his story of the early days of working in the industry and the challenges they faced.

March 1st – 6th is designated EISNER WEEK at libraries and comic shops across the country– March 6th being his birthday. Eisner also spent many years teaching at the School of Visual Arts in New York where I got to know him and learned the true art of storytelling.

This week on the blog we’ll be celebrating Eisner Week in a number of posts detailing the Master’s influence with some personal anecdotes thrown in for good measure.