JewCE 2023: Will Eisner: The First Poet Laureate of the Jewish Graphic Novel

To go along with the Jewish Comics Experience exhibition, JewCE held a convention with numerous panels highlighting the history of comics and it connection to Jewish culture and history. Taking place in November, the convention has now released all of the panels for streaming and to watch on demand.

Will Eisner was a ground-breaking comics creator in the 1940s with THE SPIRIT, and then again in the 1970s with his powerful A CONTRACT WITH GOD serving as the breakthrough modern graphic novel inspiring a generation of writers and artists. It was the first of a series of graphic novels he created focusing on life in the Jewish immigrant communities of New York in the early 20th Century. His name lives on in the Eisner Hall of Fame and Eisner Awards, the most prestigious honors in the field. More importantly, his creative influence continues to be felt through his proteges, students and readers. Join Paul Levitz (author of WILL EISNER: CHAMPION OF THE GRAPHIC NOVEL and Eisner Hall of Fame inductee for his long career as a comics writer, editor, publisher and educator) and former Eisner assistant Jules Feiffer (Pulitzer, Oscar, Obie and Eisner Hall of Fame inductee) for a discussion of Eisner and his continuing relevance.