Will Eisner (50 page)

 174   “I had this notion”: Interview with Denis Kitchen.

CHAPTER TEN: RESURRECTION

 175   Epigraph: R. C. Harvey, “An Affectionate Appreciation,”
Comics Journal #267
.

 176   “This is fun”: Letter from Will Eisner to Denis Kitchen, November 2, 1972.

 177   “
The Spirit
seemed”: Cat Yronwode, “Will Eisner Interview (Part One),”
Comics Journal #46
.

 177   “I’m gonna arrest”: and “For what”: Will Eisner, from the cover art in
Snarf #3
, Kitchen Sink Enterprises, 1973.

 178   “Ebony White”: Will Eisner, “The Spirit,”
The Spirit #1
(
Underground Spirit
), Kitchen Sink Enterprises, 1972.

 179   “When the feature began”: Dave Schreiner, “Stage Settings: Killer ships, dogs, birds, and rays”:
The Spirit #22
(CB).

 181   “Stan wanted something”: Interview with Roy Thomas.

 182   “I really wanted”: Interview with Stan Lee.

 182   We had a long”: Harvey, “An Affectionate Appreciation.”

 183   “I felt better”: “Catch the Spirit,”
Four Color
, January 1987.

 183   “He thinks”: Interview with Denis Kitchen.

 183   “heartbroken”: Ibid.

 184   “It is apparent”: Letter from Denis Kitchen to Will Eisner, October 16, 1973.

 184   “We’ll do something”: Interview with Denis Kitchen.

 185   “Just think”: Yronwode, “Will Eisner Interview (Part Two),”
Comics Journal #47
.

 186   “Jim had a different”: Jon B. Cooke, “A Spirited Relationship,”
Comic Book Artist
2, no. 4 (1999).

 186   “circus colors”: Andelman,
Will Eisner: A Spirited Life
, p. 199.

 186   “Over my dead body” and “The cover”: Cooke, “A Spirited Relationship.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN: A CONTRACT WITH GOD

 187   Epigraph: Mike Barson, Ted White, and Mitch Berger. “… And I Threw In a Hat … ,”
Heavy Metal
, November 1983.

 187   “Are you kidding”: Interview with Denis Kitchen.

 187   “There is no doubt”: Denis Kitchen, journal entry, July 5, 1974.

 188   “If I devoted”: Letter from Will Eisner to Denis Kitchen, December 9, 1976.

 188   “I would expect”: Letter from Denis Kitchen to Will Eisner, April 8, 1977.

 189   “rather lightweight”: Letter from Will Eisner to Denis Kitchen, March 16, 1977.

 189   “It was a hodgepodge”: Interview with Denis Kitchen.

 190   “They had to”: Interview with Ann Eisner.

 191   “I said to him”: Interview with Denis Kitchen.

 192   “I always read”: Interview with Batton Lash.

 192   “In the catalogue”: Maggie Thompson, “Will Eisner,”
Golden Age of Comics #2
.

 193   “I had been dealing”: Will Eisner,
Comics and Sequential Art
(New York: Poorhouse Press, 1985), p. xii.

 193   “paint-splattered” and “one of amusement”: Interview with John Dilworth.

 193   “He appeared to be”: Ibid.

 194   “sort of like”: Interview with Batton Lash.

 194   “He was interested”: Ibid.

 194   “One day, he said”: Interview with David Mandel.

 195   “He taught us”: Interview with John Walker.

 195   “If you screwed up”: Ibid.

 195   “In the process”: Barson et al., “… And I Threw In a Hat …”

 196   “If I don’t”: Ibid.

 196   “The creation of this story”: Eisner,
The Contract with God Trilogy
, p. xvi.

 196   “My grief”: Ibid.

 198   “In the telling”: Will Eisner,
A Contract with God
(New York: Baronet Press, 1978), unpaginated.

 199   “Every one of the”: Cat Yronwode, “Will Eisner Interview (Part Two),”
Comics Journal #47
.

 200   “a combination of”: Eisner,
The Contract with God Trilogy
, p. xviii.

 200   “a story built around”: Ibid., p. xvii.

 200   “in a wine-soaked” and “With this book”: Ibid., p. xvi.

 200   “a Park Avenue publisher” and “No offense, Denis”: Interview with Denis Kitchen.

 200   “I looked at it”: “Will Eisner,”
The Onion (A.V. Club)
, September 27, 2000.

 200   “It’s a graphic novel”: Jon B. Cooke, “Will Eisner: The Creative Life of a Master,”
Comic Book Artist
2, no. 6 (November 2005). All other direct quotations from this conversation are from this source.

 201   “I thought I had invented”: Will Eisner, “Keynote Address from the 2002 ‘Will Eisner Symposium.’”

 201   “limited term,” “graphic literature,” and “graphic story”: Andrew D. Arnold, “The Graphic Novel Silver Anniversary,”
Time
, November 14, 2003.

 202   “The drawings without”: Harvey,
The Art of the Comic Book
, p. 106.

 203   “Whatever the graphic novel”: Ibid., p. 109.

 203   “Graphic novels”: Stephen Weiner,
Faster Than a Speeding Bullet: The Rise of the Graphic Novel
(New York: Nantier, Beall, Minoustchine, 2003), p. xi.

 203   “Eisner is credited”: Interview with Michael T. Gilbert.

 204   “Eisner was one”: N. C. Christopher Couch, “Will Eisner and the Graphic Novel: The Semiotics of Publishing,” unpublished essay.

 205   “When Eisner turned”: Ibid.

 205   “a near masterpiece”: Dennis O’Neil, “Winners & Losers: Harsh Memories from Will Eisner,”
Comics Journal #46
.

 205   “What did you do”: R. C. Harvey, “Will Eisner on the Future of Comics,”
Comic Book Artist
2, no. 6 (November 2005). All direct quotations in this passage are from this source.

CHAPTER TWELVE: OUTER SPACE, THE CITY—NO LIMITS

 207   Epigraph: Maggie Thompson, “Will Eisner,”
Golden Age of Comics #2
.

 208   I’m gonna let it happen”: Cat Yronwode, “Will Eisner Interview (Part Two),”
Comics Journal #47.

 208   “There has been”: Letter from Denis Kitchen to Will Eisner, May 11, 1979.

 208   ”In view of information”: Letter from Will Eisner to Denis Kitchen, May 16, 1979.

 208   “I knew instinctively”: Interview with Denis Kitchen.

 209   Dave Schreiner: Interviews with Denis Kitchen, Lesleigh Luttrell, N. C. Christopher Couch.

 209   “You get to know”: Schreiner,
Kitchen Sink Press
, p. 6.

 210   “equal parts” and “It gave me”: Ibid.

 211   “When I was reprinting”: Interview with Denis Kitchen.

 211   “He often referred”: Interview with James Vance.

 212   He did it”: Interview with Denis Kitchen.

 212   “Don’t tell me”: Ibid.

 212   “Dave would say”: Ibid.

 213   “Just call me”: Paul E. Fitzgerald, “Every Picture Tells a Story,”
Washington Post
, June 3, 2004.

 214   “worm’s-eye view”: Mike Barson, Ted White, and Mitch Berger. “… And I Threw In a Hat … ,”
Heavy Metal
, November 1983.

 214   “We’re used to seeing”: Cat Yronwode and Maggie Thompson, “Will Eisner, Part II,”
Golden Age of Comics #2
(1982).

 214   “Once you get”: Dave Schreiner, “Stage Settings: Some ‘What If …’ stories,”
The Spirit #28
.

 215   “Will Eisner never threw”: Yronwode and Thompson, “Will Eisner, Part II.”

 217   “He was an amazing”: Interview with Tom Heitjes.

 217   “What was interesting”: Ibid.

 217   “I saw him”: Interview with Robert Pizzo.

 218   “We were surprised”: Ibid.

 218   “I have a house”: Interview with Ann Eisner. All other citations in this passage are from this source.

 218   “He’d say”: Interview with John Walker.

 219   “I’m not using”: Ibid. All other quotations in this passage are from this source.

 220   “It’s the bear”: Ibid. All other quotations in this passage are from this source.

 220   “stingy boss”: Jules Feiffer, introduction to Eisner,
The Art of Will Eisner
, p. 6.

 220   “Oh, that’s true”: Interview with Denis Kitchen.

 220   “His brother must have”: Ibid.

 221   “Despite being newly wed”: Interview with Eliot Gordon.

 221   “I’m still offended”: Interview with Robert Weil.

 221   “I wouldn’t say”: Interview with John Walker.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: A LIFE FORCE

 223   Epigraph: Eisner and Miller,
Eisner/Miller
, p. 88.

 223   “sands of the hourglass”: Interview with John Walker.

 223   “The debate over”: Eisner,
The Contract with God Trilogy
, p. xviii.

 224   “You, being only”: Will Eisner,
A Life Force
(Princeton, WI: Kitchen Sink Press, 1988), pp. 17–18.

 224   “When Jacob talked”: Dave Schreiner, “Notes from the Perimeter,”
Will Eisner’s Quarterly #6
.

 227   “We have two”: Ibid.

 227   “Robert told me”: Interview with Denis Kitchen.

 227   “It’s really an uplifting”: Postcard from R. Crumb to Denis Kitchen, undated (postmarked August 4, 1988), as reprinted in Schreiner,
Kitchen Sink Press
, p. 86.

 227   “Look at those gams”: Interview with Denis Kitchen.

 227   “He knew that Crumb”: Ibid.

 228   
Signal from Space
: Eisner would use this title only once, for the color version of the book. He was never satisfied with the color version, and after signing on with DC, he reprinted it in black and white, restoring its original
Life on Another Planet
title.

 229   “Eisner’s work”: Untitled press release,
Ohio State University News
, December 6, 1984.

 229   “After all”: Will Eisner, “A Sunset in Sunshine City,”
Will Eisner Reader
(Princeton, WI: Kitchen Sink Press, 1991), unpaginated.

 230   “That was his”: Interview with Ann Eisner.

 230   “There was a silence”: Interview with Denis Kitchen.

 230   “Will, that’s not”: Ibid.

 230   “He wanted her opinion”: Ibid.

 231   “one more year”: Interview with Ann Eisner.

 231   “To me, they were”: Interview with Denis Kitchen.

 231   “It was so funny”: Interview with Jackie Estrada.

 231   “carbon monoxide fix”: Interview with Ann Eisner.

 232   “Dave Schreiner and I”: Interview with Denis Kitchen.

 232   “At the end”: Barry Wolborsky, “An Interview with Will Eisner,”
Gray Haven,
n.d., online.

 233   “We were so frustrated”: Interview with Denis Kitchen. Kitchen eventually wrote a lengthy annotative appendix to
The Dreamer
, providing the real names and stories behind Eisner’s novella, for
Life, in Pictures
, the posthumously published gathering of Eisner’s autobiographical works.

 234   “I couldn’t find”: Jon B. Cooke, “Will Eisner: The Creative Life of a Master,”
Comic Book Artist
2, no. 6 (November 2005).

 235   “While each of”: Eisner,
Comics and Sequential Art
, p. xi. Eisner updated this book from the time of its publication until, finally, a posthumous edition was issued by W. W. Norton in 2008. The Norton edition was used for this book.

 235   “I said”: Interview with Dennis O’Neil.

 237   “
The Spirit
was”: Andrew D. Arnold, “The Graphic Novel Silver Anniversary,”
Time
, November 14, 2003.

 237   “This represents an example”: Eisner,
Comics and Sequential Art
, p. 114.

 237   “That was his art”: Interview with Dennis O’Neil.

 238   “a turning point” and “From then on”: Weiner,
Faster Than a Speeding Bullet
, p. xi.

 239   “When I began”: “V.A. Club: Art Spiegelman,”
The Onion
, December 29, 2004.

 240   “The superhero largely”: Arie Kaplan, “Looking Back,”
Comics Journal #267
.

 241   “I wanted to write”: Interview with Neil Gaiman.

 242   “I became obsessed”: Henrik Andreassen, “Timeless Insights: An Interview with Will Eisner,”
Seriejournalen #19
(spring 1995); reprinted in
Comic-Con International
, 2005.

 243   “thought provoking” and “You’ve stressed”: Letter from Dave Schreiner to Will Eisner, November 20, 1986.

 243   “somehow absorb[s] the radiation”: Will Eisner, introduction to
The Building
(Princeton, WI: Kitchen Sink Press), p. 4.

 244   Eisner/Groth feud: Gary Groth, “Will Eisner: Chairman of the Board,”
Comics Journal #267
; interviews with Ann Eisner and Denis Kitchen.

 244   “frivolous and tepid”: Groth, “Chairman of the Board.”

 244   “The review was harsh”: Ibid.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: WINNERS AND LOSERS

 246   Epigraph: Mike Jozic, “Will Eisner: The Godfather of Comics,”
Meanwhile
(online), interview conducted March 7, 2000.

 246   “it was also”: Denis Kitchen, “Origins of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund,” unpublished manuscript.

 248   “I got up”: Interview with Neal Adams. All other citations in this passage are from this source.

 248   Siegel and Shuster: Jones,
Men of Tomorrow
, pp. 319–323;
The Comic Book Makers
, pp. 108–109; interviews with Neal Adams and Jerry Robinson.

 250   “The first
Superman
movie”: Interview with Jerry Robinson. All other direct quotations in this passage are from this source.

 252   “This matter has gone”: Will Eisner, “An Open Letter to Marvel Comics,”
Comics Journal #110
.

 252   Jack Kirby’s legal struggles: Ro,
Tales to Astonish
, pp. 217–241; interview with Mark Evanier.

 253   “A whole new generation”: Eisner, “Open Letter to Marvel.”

 254   “I asked him”: Tom Heintjes, “Stage Settings: The beginning of the end,”
The Spirit #84
(CB).

 255   “I will be interested”: Dana Jennings, “Will Eisner in France,”
Comics Journal #89
.