Eisnershpritz News Archive

Please join Storyopolis, in association with the Association of Booksellers for Children (ABC) and The Denis Kitchen Art Agency, on May 28th from 7:00 to 10:00 PM as we proudly present an extraordinary exhibit of the legendary art of graphic novel pioneer, Will Eisner. In conjunction with Book Expo 2008, this exclusive once in a lifetime gala will celebrate the groundbreaking 30th anniversary of the first American graphic novel with never before seen original works. Complete with hors d'oeuvres, beverages, and a chance to own a part of history, we invite you step into the rare and fantastical world of this legendary artist.

Read more here.

The Hollywood Reporter's Carolyn Giardina says Lionsgate has moved up the nationwide release of its comic adaptation "The Spirit" -- written and directed by Frank Miller -- to Dec. 25.

Continue reading "Hollywood Reporter: The Christmas Spirit! Movie release brought forward!" »

Variety's Marc Graser breaks the news that "Creative Artists Agency has landed the estate of comicbook creator Will Eisner as a client." With The Spirit movie already in production and getting a red-hot buzz happening long before its January '09 premiere, Eisner's other characters and concepts could be in demand as well. Besides his graphic novels like the ground-breaking A Contract With God and To the Heart of the Storm, other properties include John Law, Lady Luck and Mr. Mystic.

Read the Variety article here.

EW's Nisha Gopalan runs a few questions past The Spirit writer/director Frank Miller and producer Deborah Del Prete. Some juicy little bits are revealed about the upcoming film. Read the article here.

Comic Book Resources Contributing Writer Edward Carey fills us in on what was discussed at the New York Comic Con panel on The Spirit movie:

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.

A limited edition promotional poster was also available of Eva Mendes as Sand Saref, Denny Colt's childhood sweetheart all grown up. A full version of the poster is available to view after the jump.

Continue reading "CBR: The Spirit Movie panel with Miller and Mendes" »

Bob Andelman let's us know that The Virginia Commonwealth University has uploaded a huge archive of over 140 issues of Will Eisner's PS Magazine. This is a huge resource of rarely-seen Eisner material featuring 'Joe Dope' and 'Connie Rod', showcasing Eisner's practical foray into educational comics for US troops:

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.

Visit the Archive here.

Bob Andelman, author of the authorized biography Will Eisner: A Spirited Life, has hosted an online chat about Eisner's years on PS Magazine:

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.

You can listen to this interview here!

Or go here.

Here's the first look at the teaser movie poster for the Frank Miller-helmed feature film. Nice to see some Eisner-inspired use of type with the landscape.

A larger version is after the jump...

Continue reading "The Spirit movie Poster" »

Over at the Newsarama Blog, DC Comics publisher Paul Levitz writes an extensive piece on Eisner and the imminent completion of The Spirit Archives:

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).

... and further down the page, this interesting item about the remaining Archive volumes:

Editor's update: David Hyde at DC sent us an update on the release schedule of The Spirit Archives; currently there are three volumes in the works that haven't arrived in stores yet. They are:

-The color Sunday Spirit sections have all been collected in Will Eisner's The Spirit Archives Vols. 1-24 -- the section ended in October of 1952. (Paul referenced the last of these up top).

-From October 1941 to March 1944, there was also a daily, black and white newspaper strip of The Spirit, and Will Eisner's The Spirit Archives Vol. 25 will collect all of these strips.

-Everything that Eisner did with The Spirit after the end of the weekly section in 1952 will be collected in Will Eisner's The Spirit Archives Vol. 26, which will include his covers for the various Spirit reprints for Warren and Kitchen Sink.