My Small Tribute to Will Eisner

Today would have been Will Eisner's 95th birthday. (If you don't know who Will Eisner was, [1] Shame on you; [2] Go visit his official website.) I had the honor to meet the great man several times, and when he died on January 3, 2005, it was a blow. I got to pay Will back in a small way when Jon B. Cooke asked me to help him out a bit on a special tribute issue of his magazine, Comic Book Artist. I helped proofread the issue, for which Jon generously gave me the credit "Special Contributing Editor."

This issue of CBA was double-sized, and chock-full of features on and testimonials to Eisner. On this, the anniversary of his birth, I felt compelled to rummage through the attic and find that issue again; I'll be reading it tonight and for the next several days. Anyway, here's what I had to say about Mr. Eisner in November of 2005.

Will Eisner: An Appreciation
Gene Kannenberg, Jr.
published in Comic Book Artist 2.6 (November 2005), page 151

My first exposure to Will Eisner and The Spirit was in Jules Feiffer’s The Great Comic Book Heroes. The Spirit didn’t exactly fit into my eleven-year-old mind’s conception of what “comic books” were — back then, if someone wasn’t wearing a garish costume, the story wasn’t a “real” comic book to me. Still, I read that Spirit story over and over again, and it has stayed with me ever since. Prophecies, exotic locations, violence… and that silent panel in which the beggar erases his sand-drawing of “the man with the hidden face”: the story wasn’t as flashy as the others in the book, but it was moody, deliberate, affecting. And looking at the story again, now, I can see and admire the careful craft behind the narrative.

Many years later (after “giving up” comic books not once but twice), I wrote my Ph.D. dissertation on comics; and like any good graduate student, I decided I need to read everything in the critical literature. (And back then, it was almost possible to do that, at least for the English-language writing on comics.) If Eisner’s Comics and Sequential Art wasn’t the first book about comics that I read and obsessed over at that time, it was certainly in the top five.

And it was a book that I returned to continuously. Eisner’s clear, direct essays about storytelling were eye-opening; intended as a collection of lessons for would-be cartoonists, the book let me, a non-artist, peek inside the creative process and gain valuable insight from the experience. Eisner helped me think about comics as comics. Though I never studied with him formally, I consider him one of my formative teachers and mentors — his work, both creative and critical (and for him, the distinguishing line is thin at best) has been a part of my thinking for decades.

I was lucky enough to meet the man a handful of times. The most memorable was at a meeting of the Popular Culture Association in 1998, where he was a special guest of honor for the Comic Art and Comics Area. Not only did he give an evening talk (which was attended by hundreds of folks, including many who only knew of Eisner from reading The Spirit in their newspapers in the 1940s and 50s), but he also attended many sessions, participating from the audience when he wasn’t on the dais.

For one of those panels, I was honored to serve as the moderator. I got to sit at the same table as Will Eisner. Right next to him! And on my birthday! The only thing marring the experience was a cold I had trouble shaking, so I probably looked more than a bit queasy up there. Which, I suppose, covered up for the fact that I otherwise would have spent most of the time grinning like an idiot. “I’m sitting next to Will Eisner!”

The topic was “Comics and Technology,” and he was an active, thoughtful participant. Hell, he was more invested in the possibilities of technology than practically anyone else in the room, with an enthusiasm augmented by a lifetime of experience with change. He knew that nothing was static, and he wanted to make sure he would never be left behind. (As if that were possible.)

He shook my hand as the session ended; being too old at this point to consider “never washing that hand again,” I managed to do something more permanent (and meaningful): I liberated the piece of paper on which Eisner had been doodling. Being an impecunious academic, I own very little original art; this doodle is one of the few pieces in my “collection,” and a precious one.

Will Eisner’s art was inspiring, his work ethic was inspiring — his whole life was (and continues to be) inspiring.

[Caption: "Above: While attending a conference together, Will Eisner doodled on a piece of hotel stationery and Gene Kannenberg, Jr. snagged it before Will threw it away. Art © 2005 the Estate of Will Eisner."]

I miss you, Mr. Eisner, but you live on through your work.

CFP: Studies in Comics (journal; September 1, 2009)

Last night we posted the initial announcement for the new journal Studies in Comics. Here's their first CFP.

Call for Papers

Papers are invited for Studies in Comics, a new international and interdisciplinary academic journal that aims to describe the nature of comics, to identify the medium as a distinct art form, and to address its formal properties. The inaugural edition will launch our investigations with a selection of world-class academic articles that explore the formal properties of comics, advancing their own theory of comics or responding to an established theoretical model. We also welcome reviews of new comics, scholarship, criticism and exhibitions, as well as unpublished creative work.

We are now inviting the following submissions:

Articles of 4,000-8,000 words from any discipline. These should have a strong critical focus and seek to apply hitherto unexplored theoretical approaches to the medium of comics or respond to published theories about the medium’s formal properties. Possible areas include:

• Comics and visual language in the context of communications theory
• The grammar of comics
• Narrative structure
• The relationship between panel, page, and the multiframe
• Composition and panel transitions
• The treatment of time and space
• Responses to published theorists such as Scott McCloud, Will Eisner, Thierry Groensteen

We also welcome reviews of new publications and exhibits and short creative work of 1-5 pages in length. Creative work should be relevant to some aspect of comics, although there are no other thematic or stylistic restrictions. Metafictional submissions that deal with the processes and theories of comics creation are encouraged.

Please send all submissions to studiesincomics@googlemail.com.

Article submissions: please send 300 word abstracts and include the word ARTICLE in the subject heading. Submissions should be received by 1 September 2009 in the first instance. Please indicate the intended word count of the article. Completed papers will be required by 30 October 2009. All submissions will be peer reviewed. Papers must be submitted in English.

Reviews of publications and exhibitions: please include the words REVIEW PUBLICATION or REVIEW EXHIBITION in the subject heading.

Creative submissions: please include the word CREATIVE in the subject heading.

Reviews and creative work must be received by the same deadlines indicated above (1 September 2009 for statements of intention, 30 October 2009 for final work).

Submissions are welcome from both scholars and enthusiasts. Contributors are encouraged to approach comics from any discipline and to turn their attention to comics from all countries and in all languages. So whether you’re a semiotician, philosopher, scientist, historian, enthusiast, cultural, literary or film critic – Studies in Comics welcomes you!

Julia Round and Chris Murray (Editors)

M. Thomas Inge and Dean Chan (Associate Editors)
Paul Gravett (Review and Exhibitions Editor) and Roger Sabin (Consulting Editor)
Douglas Noble (Creative Submissions Editor)

Image credit: Cover to Studies in Comics, v1 no1, courtesy of editor Chris Murray. Artwork by Chris Ware.

Comic Book Artist's Will Eisner Tribute: Some Things are Worth Waiting For

Thanks both to a phone call from pal The joey Zone and the fine folks at the Will Eisner Discussion List, I learned yesterday that the long-awaited Will Einser tribute issue of Comic Book Artist magazine was now available in finer comics shops.

Eisner, who passed away January 3, 2005, was one of the most important and influential cartoonists this country has produced, with a career spanning the growth of the modern comic book. From his 1940s creation of the newspaper comic-book insert, featuring The Spirit, to his later kick-starting the "graphic novel" movement in the 1970s, and beyond, Esiner's impact on comics can't be overstated. Rather than go into detail here, I'll point you to his website's short but comprehensive biography. More information about Eisner may be found at my ComicsResearch.org; watch for even more there soon.

Kate and I caught a glimpse of the issue at one of Houston's Bedrock City Comics shops, and believe me, this looks like a true "must-have" for anyone interested in Eisner's work or even in comics in general. It's chock-full of interviews with - and essays & artwork by - dozens and dozens of cartoonists, writers, editors, publishers, friends, students, disciples, and more.

Full disclosure: Thanks to editor Jon B. Cooke's prodding, I've got a page-long essay in this tome myself; I also helped out a bit in the editing department, for which I was amazed to learn that Jon rewarded me with the title "Special Contributing Editor." Yowza!

I'll post a more in-depth review once I've received my own copy; but I wanted to alert folks here about it now, since it's sure to disappear from the shelves quickly. At nearly 200 pages (including several gorgeous color sections) for only about $15, it's a steal - or a sound investment, depending on your temperament. Pick up a copy at your local comics shop, or order on-line via Top Shelf Comix. And several books written, edited, or worked on by Messr. Cooke are available via Amazon.com.

Above: Dave Gibbons' beautiful, respectful cover to CBA v2 no6.