On Will Eisner

                  I read The Spirit, and it holds up to time, a testament to Will Eisner’s skill and expertise in the medium of comic books. I noticed that ebony is a blatantly racist depiction of an African American. Through the lens of someone reading it at the time though, it might not have been so apparent.

                  And so, looking past those stereotypes, the comic is a fun adventure altogether. The Spirit, from what I can see, barely counts as a costumed hero. He’s more of a private eye with a small mask. I presume this might have been a product of the age, when costumed heroes perhaps started to sell well, after the official debut of Superman in 1933.

                  Part of Will Eisner’s genius is the importance of story over art. His ego as an artist doesn’t carry through, although that is not to say he isn’t great. On the contrary, he’s an amazing artist to look at, particularly if one is interested in the ways in which emotion can be conveyed effectively in the comic medium. He relies mainly on body language to tell us how a character is feeling, be it joy, anger or sadness. Eisner is a writer first and foremost, and his stories were a joy to read. Like Hergé, his panels are very regular in size; the camera angles are consistent too.

                  It stood out to me that splash pages are usually used as an eye catcher, as opposed to comics today, where they are used for dramatic effect. The more dramatic panels in The Spirit have slightly larger panels, but the heights are kept consistent.

                  I remember working on comic pages for Mr. Barker a while ago, and he gave me his copy of the Will Eisner textbook. Today, I still refer to it from time to time, and it’s just as relevant now as it ever was. The images and diagrams Eisner provides make the experience that much more accessible. It reminds me of some history books I read as a kid, which were more enjoyable due to the occasional comics inside. On the other hand, there is my current history textbook, which attempts to make up for the lack of images with descriptions like, “The right hand’s index finger points upwards, as the middle finger is placed upon the thumb”. Even the orange I’m currently munching on could tell which is a better read. In the spirit of Will Eisner, I must agree then, that comics make for a good entryway into reading