Books by Will Eisner
The Plot: The Secret Story of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion
by Will Eisner
A work more disturbing than fiction from "the father of graphic novels" (New York Times). "The ultimate illustration of how absurdly comical and cancerous The Protocols has been to mankind."―Thane Rosenbaum, Los Angeles Times Book Review The Plot, which examines the astonishing conspiracy and the fabrication of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, has become a worldwide phenomenon since its hardcover publication, taught in classrooms around the globe. Purported to be the actual blueprints by Jewish leaders to take over the world, the Protocols, first published in 1902, have become gospel truth to international millions. Presenting a pageant of historical figures from nineteenth-century Russia to today's ideologues, including Tsar Nicholas II, Henry Ford, and Adolf Hitler, Will Eisner unravels and dispels one of the most devastating hoaxes of the twentieth century.
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The Plot: The Secret Story of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion
by Will Eisner
A work more disturbing than fiction from "the father of graphic novels" (The New York Times). "The ultimate illustration of how absurdly comical and cancerous The Protocols has been to mankind."–Thane Rosenbaum, Los Angeles Times Book Review The Plot, which examines the astonishing conspiracy and the fabrication of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, has become a worldwide phenomenon since its hardcover publication, taught in classrooms around the globe. Purported to be the actual blueprints by Jewish leaders to take over the world, the Protocols, first published in 1902, have become gospel truth to international millions. Presenting a pageant of historical figures from nineteenth-century Russia to today's ideologues, including Tsar Nicholas II, Henry Ford, and Adolf Hitler, Will Eisner unravels and dispels one of the most devastating hoaxes of the twentieth century.
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The Dreamer
by Will Eisner, Pam Muñoz Ryan
An extraordinary autobiography story from a legend in American comics. A roman a clef about Eisner's early years in the thriving comics industry prior to World War II―featuring new annotations that reveal comics pioneers such as Bob Kane and Jack Kirby who appear under pseudonyms.
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The Dreamer
by Will Eisner, Pam Muñoz Ryan
Pura Belpré Award Winner
A tender, transcendent, and meticulously crafted novel from Newbery Honoree, Pam Muñoz Ryan, and three-time Caldecott Honoree, Peter Sís!
From the time he is a young boy, Neftalí hears the call of a mysterious voice. Even when the neighborhood children taunt him, and when his harsh, authoritarian father ridicules him, and when he doubts himself, Neftalí knows he cannot ignore the call. He listens and follows as it leads him under the canopy of the lush rain forest, into the fearsome sea, and through the persistent Chilean rain on an inspiring voyage of self-discovery that will transform his life and, ultimately, the world.
Combining elements of magical realism with biography, poetry, literary fiction, and transporting illustrations, Pam Muñoz Ryan and Peter Sís take readers on a rare journey of the heart and imagination as they explore the inspiring early life of the poet who became Pablo Neruda.
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A Contract with God
by Will Eisner
The first graphic novel―a mesmerizing fictional chronicle of a universal American experience. Through a quartet of four interwoven stories, A Contract With God express the joy, exuberance, tragedy, and drama of life on the mythical Dropsie Avenue in the Bronx. This is the legendary book that launched a new art form and reaffirmed Will Eisner as one of the great pioneers of American graphics.
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life-force
by Will Eisner
“Eisner was not only ahead of his times; the present times are still catching up to him.”―John Updike Called “a masterpiece” by R. Crumb, A Life Force chronicles not only the Great Depression but also the rise of Nazism and the spread of socialist politics through the depiction of the protagonist, Jacob Shtarkah, whose existential search reflected Eisner’s own lifelong struggle.
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The Name of the Game
by Will Eisner
Four extraordinary autobiographical stories from a legend in American comics. Loosely based on the story of Eisner's wife's family, this epic tale spanning three generations of power and privilege explores wealth, marriage, and jealousy in a sprawling American dynasty.
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$17.95
Life on Another Planet
by Will Eisner
This powerful graphic novel confirms Will Eisner as a master of the genre. In this graphic novel, Will Eisner’s pen cuts an expansive swath through all aspects of the human condition. Life on Another Planet places American life within a broader perspective, chronicling the lives of scientists, politicians, spies, and nobodies as they come to terms with the discovery of extraterrestrial life: in reaching out to other galaxies, Eisner’s characters ultimately find themselves focusing within.
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Life, in Pictures: Autobiographical Stories
by Will Eisner
An intimate self-portrait of the American icon Will Eisner, and a chronicle of the career that launched a new art form. In what will be the closest thing Eisner fans will see to an autobiography, the great master and pioneer of American graphic arts presents the most intimate and personal perspective yet on his life as a writer, a professional, and an artist. “The Dreamer” and “To the Heart of the Storm” describe Eisner’s gritty early life and career, while “The Name of the Game” chronicles a personal history of his wife’s family. Finally, two shorter pieces illuminate the bookends of a legendary career: “The Day I Became a Professional” ―which will appeal to any hopeful young artist―describes Eisner’s first rejection from a potential publisher, and “A Sunset in Sunshine City” provides a poignant portrait of Eisner in old age. The book features famous characters from the world of comics (under pseudonyms, of course) and other historical figures and family members, all drawn with Eisner’s characteristic mastery and technique.
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Will Eisner's New York: Life in the Big City
by Will Eisner
"An American storyteller, like Ray Bradbury, like O. Henry."―Neil Gaiman With an unparalleled eye for stories and expressive illustration, Will Eisner, the master and pioneer of American comics art, presents graphic fiction's greatest celebration of the Big Apple. No illustrator evoked the melancholy duskiness of New York City as expressively as Eisner, who knew the city from the bottom up. This new hardcover presents a quartet of graphic works (New York, The Building, City People Notebook, and Invisible People) and features what Neil Gaiman describes as "tales as brutal, as uncaring as the city itself." From ancient buildings "barnacled with laughter and stained with tears" to the subways, "humorless iron reptiles, clacking stupidly on a webbing of graceful steel rails," Will Eisner's New York includes cameo appearances by the author himself; several new illustrations sketched by Eisner, posthumously inked by Peter Poplaski; and three previously unpublished "out-takes"―a treasure for any Eisner fan, and sure to become a collectible. Introduction by Neil Gaiman.
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The Contract with God Trilogy: Life on Dropsie Avenue (A Contract With God, A Life Force, Dropsie Avenue)
by Will Eisner
Published quietly in 1978, Will Eisner's revolutionary literary work A Contract With God marked the invention of the modern graphic novel, took on a life of its own, and inspired a generation of "sequential artists." Will Eisner (1917–2005) saw himself as "a graphic witness reporting on life, death, heartbreak, and the never-ending struggle to prevail." The publication of A Contract With God when Eisner was sixty-one proved to be a watershed moment both for him and for comic literature. It marked the birth of the modern graphic novel and the beginning of an era when serious cartoonists could be liberated from their stultifying comic-book format.
More than a quarter-century after the initial publication of A Contract With God, and in the last few months of his life, Eisner chose to combine the three fictional works he had set on Dropsie Avenue, the mythical street of his youth in Depression-era New York City.
As the dramas unfold in A Contract With God, the first book in this new trilogy, it is at 55 Dropsie Avenue where Frimme Hersh, the pious Jew, first loses his beloved daughter, then breaks his contract with his maker, and ends up as a slumlord; it is on Dropsie Avenue where a street singer, befriended by an aging diva, is so beholden to the bottle that he fails to grasp his chance for stardom; and it is there that a scheming little girl named Rosie poisons a depraved super’s dog before doing in the super as well.
In the second book, A Life Force, declared by R. Crumb to be "a masterpiece," Eisner re-creates himself in his protagonist, Jacob Shtarkah, whose existential search reflected Eisner’s own lifelong struggle. Chronicling not only the Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression but also the rise of Nazism and the spread of left-wing politics, Eisner combined the miniaturist sensibility of Henry Roth with the grand social themes of novelists such as Dos Passos and Steinbeck.
Finally, in Dropsie Avenue: The Neighborhood, Eisner graphically traces the social trajectory of this mythic avenue over four centuries, creating a sweeping panorama of the city and its waves of new residents―the Dutch, English, Irish, Jews, African Americans, and Puerto Ricans―whose faces changed yet whose lives presented an unending "story of life, death, and resurrection."
The Contract With God Trilogy is a mesmerizing, fictional chronicle of a universal American experience and Eisner’' most poignant and enduring literary legacy.
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A Contract with God: And Other Tenement Stories (The Will Eisner Library)
by Will Eisner
The revolutionary work of graphic storytelling that inspired a new art form.
Will Eisner was present at the dawn of comics. In the 1940s, he pushed the boundaries of the medium with his acclaimed weekly comic strip The Spirit, and with the publication of A Contract with God in 1978, he created a new medium altogether: the graphic novel. It was unlike anything seen before, heralding an era when serious cartoonists were liberated from the limiting confines of the comic strip. Eisner’s work was a shining example of what comics could be: as inventive, moving, and complex as any literary art form.
Eisner considered himself “a graphic witness reporting on life, death, heartbreak, and the never-ending struggle to prevail.” A Contract with God begins with a gripping tale that mirrors the artist’s real-life tragedy, the death of his daughter. Frimme Hersh, a devout Jew, questions his relationship with God after the loss of his own beloved child. Hersh’s crisis is intertwined with the lives of the other unforgettable denizens of Eisner’s iconic Dropsie Avenue, a fictionalized version of the quintessential New York City street where he came of age at the height of the Depression.
This centennial edition showcases Eisner’s singular visual style in new high-resolution scans of his original art, complete with an introduction by Scott McCloud and an illuminating history of Eisner’s seminal work. Now readers can experience the legendary book that launched a unique art form and reaffirmed Will Eisner as one of the great pioneers of American graphic storytelling.
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New York: The Big City (Will Eisner Library (Hardcover))
by Will Eisner
One of four extraordinary graphic novels celebrating the Big Apple, from the master of American comics art. Before the Lower East Side was cool, there was the grit and grime of Avenue C, a world filled with street musicians, overflowing sewers, and peeping toms, all recalled in Eisner’s unforgettable style.
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City People Notebook (Will Eisner Library (Hardcover))
by Will Eisner
One of four extraordinary graphic novels celebrating the Big Apple, from the master of American comics art. Character sketches and timeless snapshots of the eccentric denizens of the American city that perfectly capture Eisner’s genius and powers of observation.
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$16.95
Expressive Anatomy for Comics and Narrative: Principles and Practices from the Legendary Cartoonist (Will Eisner Library (Hardcover))
by Will Eisner
The final volume of Will Eisner’s celebrated instructional trilogy explores the critical principle of body grammar in comics storytelling. Designed and outlined by Will Eisner before his death in 2005, this posthumous masterwork, the third and final book in the Will Eisner Instructional Series, finally reveals the secrets of Eisner’s own techniques and theories of movement, body mechanics, facial expressions, and posture: the key components of graphic storytelling. From his earliest comics, including the celebrated Spirit, to his pioneering graphic novels, Eisner understood that the proper use of anatomy is crucial to effective storytelling. His control over the mechanical and intuitive skills necessary for its application set him apart among comics artists, and his principles of body grammar have proven invaluable to legions of students in overcoming what is perhaps the most challenging aspect of creating comics. Buttressed by dozens of illustrations, which display Eisner’s mastery of expression, both subtle and overt, Expressive Anatomy for Comics and Narrative will benefit comics fans, students, and teachers and is destined to become the essential primer on the craft.
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Michael Chabon's The Escapist: Pulse-Pounding Thrills
by Michael Chabon, Will Eisner, Matt Kindt, Howard Chaykin
Golden-Age superhero, the Escapist--master of elusion, champion of liberation--was conceived in the fictional world of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. This comic book anthology contains a variety of the Escapist's exploits, and details on the history of the character.
Master of elusion and foe of tyranny, from his secret headquarters beneath the majestic Empire Theater, the Escapist and his associates have been defeating the crooked and coming to the aid of those in need for generations. From obstructing the endeavors of post-war Nazis, to protecting the innocent from an attack on the World's Fair, to infiltrating behind enemy lines to free prisoners of war in Vietnam, and even to stymieing a hypnotizing saxophone player, the Escapist does not suffer oppression of any kind. A multitude of the Escapist's pulse-pounding adventures are collected here along with details of the publishing history of Joe Kavalier and Sam Clay's creation. This volume also contains a story torn straight from the pages of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay: written by Michael Chabon, the tale of the mysterious Mr. Machine Gun. Also featured, from another Kavalier & Clay classic publication, Weird Date, are two stories of romance, crime, and mystery. This collection features comic book creators of legend, including Will Eisner (The Spirit), Eduardo Barreto (Batman), Jeffrey Brown (Star Wars: Darth Vader and Son), Howard Chaykin (American Flagg, Star Wars), Paul Gulacy (Master of Kung Fu), Jeff Parker (Bucko), Marv Wolfman (The Tomb of Dracula), Thomas Yeates (Prince Valiant), and so many more!
Containing a total of twenty-two tales, along with three never-before-collected stories, this volume also contains five never-before-published stories, as well as a robust gallery of pinups celebrating the world of the Escapist from artists including Gabriel Bá (The Umbrella Academy, Casanova) Brian Bolland (Judge Dredd), Bill Morrison (The Simpsons), Fábio Moon (Serenity, Casanova), Tim Sale (Batman, Superman), and many more!
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Robert's Rules of Order The Standard Guide to Parliamentary Procedure
by Will Eisner
This definitive edition of the original "Robert's" presents rules of order, motions, debate, conduct of business, and adjournment. All problems of conducting a successful meeting smoothly and fairly are resolved.
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PS Magazine: The Best of the Preventive Maintenance Monthly
by Will Eisner, Eddie Campbell, Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker USA (Ret.)
A portable, digest-sized volume collects top-selected entries from the influential comic-book creator's lesser-known, 227-issue series and offers insight into a formative period in Eisner's career as well as his views about the educational capacity of comic-style publications. 15,000 first printing.
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Comics and Sequential Art: Principles and Practices from the Legendary Cartoonist (Will Eisner Instructional Books)
by Will Eisner
"Comics and Sequential Art is a masterwork, the distillation of Will Eisner's genius to a clear and potent elixir."―Michael Chabon, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. Will Eisner is one of the twentieth century's great American artists, a man who pioneered the field of comic arts. Here, in his classic Comics and Sequential Art, he refines the art of graphic storytelling into clear, concise principles that every cartoonist, comic artist, writer, and filmmaker meeds to know. Adapted from Eisner's landmark course at New York's School of Visual Arts, Comics and Sequential Art is an essential text filled with invaluable theories and easy-to-use techniques. Eisner reveals here the fundamentals of graphic storytelling. He addresses dialogue, anatomy, framing, and many other important aspects of the art form. Fully updated and revised to reflect current practices and technology, including a section on digital media, this introduction to the art of comics is as valuable a guide as it was when first published.
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The Best of the Spirit
by Will Eisner
Presents a collection of twenty-two Spirit stories from 1940-1950, featuring the adventures of Eisner's famous crime fighter.
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The Collected Will Eisner's John Law
by Will Eisner
Wherever men live, be they nomads or city dwellers, there they must have law and a man to enforce it.
Meet Detective John Law of Crossroads City. Strong, decent, hardworking and hard-nosed. He’s a man who believes in the law and order. He’s the last of a dying breed.
In 1948, Will Eisner produced the first issue of “John Law Detective”, which he intended to add to a line of self-published comics. However, after Eisner's “Baseball Comics”, “Kewpies”, and “Pirate Comics” failed to find an audience, John Law never made it to the newsstand and was quietly dropped, with much of the original artwork reworked in 1950 for his most famous creation, The Spirit.
Featuring original stories by Will Eisner, Gary Chaloner’s award-winning reboot from 2004, including a previously unpublished John Law Story, and a foreword by long-time Eisner publisher Denis Kitchen, this is a must-have for not just Eisner fans but comic collectors of all ages.
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