RIP Will Eisner

"[C]omic legend Will Eisner died Monday evening, due to complications from heart surgery performed on December 22nd. Eisner had undergone quadruple bypass surgery, and was last reported to be recovering well.

Eisner was 87 years old, and was still actively working. His latest graphic novel, The Plot is due to be released later this year by W.W. Norton."

http://www.newsarama.com/pages/Eisner.htm

In the 80's when I started reading CEREBUS, the one guy who Dave Sim seemed to respect the most was Will Eisner. Sim told a story about meeting him at a convention and addressing him as "Mr. Eisner." Eisner told him that the only people who call him that are people who owe him money.

Sim responded that considering how much everyone in comics owes Eisner, that was perfectly appropriate.

When I moved to Paris in 1989 I started collecting Kitchen Sink reprints of THE SPIRIT comic. I was just getting out of superheroes at the time, and to see the techniques and storytelling styles that Eisner used in those comics from the 40's opened my eyes as much as anything I'd seen.

His graphic novels A CONTRACT WITH GOD, TO THE HEART OF THE STORM and (my personal favorite) DROPSIE AVENUE show an incredible gift for evoking emotions, combining the best talents of an actor and a director with a true talent for creating a story.

He was one of the greats.

Jeff