On Saturday at New York Comic-Con 2008, writer/director Frank Miller, star Eva Mendes and producers Deborah Del Prete and Michael Uslan were on hand to talk about the upcoming big screen adaptation of Will Eisner's "The Spirit," and CBR News was there. MTV's Kurt Loder moderated the "Spirit" panel, and touted Will Eisner as one of the pioneers who invented modern comics as we know them. Frank Miller himself was influenced by Eisner.

VCU Libraries is honored to present these rare examples of the incomparable art work of the late Will Eisner. In an effort to encourage soldiers to keep better care of their equipment, the US Army hired Eisner's American Visuals Corporation to do a digest-sized publication focusing on preventive maintenance. Each issue consisted of a color comic book style cover; eight pages of four color comic continuity story in the middle; and a wealth of technical, safety, and policy information printed in two color. Eisner drew and was artistic editor for PS Magazine from its inception in 1951 until 1972. Presented here are complete scans for 145 regular issues, 3 special issues, and 14 index issues.

Because so much interest is being concentrated on Eisner's work this year - and because it is a personal interest of my own, I've invited a trio of experts on PS Magazine to join me for a conversation about "The Unknown Eisner": Cindy Jackson is Archival Assistant for Comic Arts & Digital Collections in the Special Collections & Archives Department of the James Branch Cabell (rhymes with rabble) Library at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. Paul Fitzgerald is a retired journalist who spent 10 years at PS Magazine where he worked alongside Will Eisner and formed a life-long friendship. Paul's first book, Will Eisner and PS Magazine, will be published in May 2008. Stuart Henderson joined the PS staff in August of 1993, and he has been production manager of the magazine since March of 2002. He is also the Army magazine's unofficial historian.

Joining my wife Jeanette (no, not Jenette Kahn) and I around the table for the toast (and a fine dinner) were Ann Eisner and a sizeable contingent of Will's family, including nephew Carl Gropper, who now has the high honor of leading Will Eisner Studios. From the DC side, we brought the team responsible for the ARCHIVES creatively, including Richard Bruning (who launched the series so long ago), Georg Brewer, Bob Harras, Robbin Brosterman and current SPIRIT ARCHIVES editor Scott Nybakken, plus the original designer of the series, Amie Brockaway-Metcalf. Representing the business side of THE SPIRIT ARCHIVES was Bob Wayne, whose passion for the program began when the first possibility of the project emerged. And equally importantly, we had a key contingent of the people who have kept THE SPIRIT alive: Dennis Kitchen, who has been friend, agent, provocateur and publisher to Will, accompanied by his family (including daughter Alexa fresh from signing a graphic novel contract that afternoon); Judy Hansen, literary agent for the property; THE SPIRIT film producer Michael Uslan and director Frank Miller (armed with a set photo from my cameo moment).