Will Eisner, a Spirited Life

Book excerpt: Internationally recognized for his genre-busting 1940s art and storytelling style on The Spirit, Will Eisner's greatest legacy may be the graphic novels he championed and created. He was an American master whose work in comics permanently altered the face of global pop culture. A Spirited Life explores Eisner's amazing life, detailing a career that spanned 70 years and saw him educate several generations of Army soldiers in the innovative PS Magazine and create the first widely known graphic novel, A Contract with God. Eisner also introduced some of the world's greatest comics art talent: Bob Kane (Batman), Jack Kirby (Fantastic Four), Jules Feiffer, Dave Berg (MAD) and Joe Kubert (Tarzan). And he inspired generations of modern artists and writers, including Frank Miller (Sin City), Robert Crumb, Harlan Ellison, Neil Gaiman (Sandman, American Gods), Brad Bird (The Incredibles), Patrick McDonnell (Mutts) and Art Spiegelman (Maus). A Spirited Life also includes interviews with many of Eisner's contemporaries, such as Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons, Neil Gaiman, Denis Kitchen, Jim Warren, Dave Sim, Denny O'Neil and Stan Lee.