Tag Archives: will eisner

Will Eisner’s Intellectual Property Goes Up for Sale Including Unreleased Work

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The Spirit

Comics partially are what they are today due to Will Eisner. The man is a legend whose name emblazons the prestigious award, the Eisners. The Spirit and A Contract with God and Other Tenement Stories are both classics. Now, Eisner’s graphic novels, children’s books, and instruction manuals for creating comics, all of Eisner’s intellectual property, are up for sale.

Included in the sale is a 72-page unpublished Spirit story from 1996 called The Spirit Returns. In it, the Spirit takes on a superpowered vigilante who considers themself the judge, jury, and executioner.

Eisner passed away in 2005 and his wife Ann Weingarten Eisner passed away in 2020. Ann’s nephew and his wave have run the estate, but they are now in their 70s and looking for someone to purchase Eisner’s creations.

The Spirit was adapted in 2008 but didn’t do well at the box office. Directed and written by Frank Miller, the film had a budget of $60 million but earned less than $39.2 million worldwide.

It’s difficult to figure out the value of everything and especially difficult for properties that have lasted decades. The Spirit debuted in 1940 and has had comics featuring the character published as recently as the 2010s. This deal would grant the rights to rerelease the comics published through DC, IDW, and Dynamite.

(via The New York Times)

Ink & Imagination 005: Will Eisner and the Fight for Creator Rights

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Welcome to Ink & Imagination, brought to you by Those Two Geeks.

In this episode, we dive into the life and legacy of Will Eisner, one of comics’ true visionaries. Best known for The Spirit and for pioneering the “graphic novel,” Eisner also became a tireless advocate for creator rights in an industry that often exploited its talent. From his own struggles with publishers to his pivotal role in reshaping how artists and writers claimed ownership over their work, we’ll explore how Eisner’s fight helped pave the way for the conversations, and protections, that define comics today.

Music by Nicholas Panek from Pixabay

Those Two Geeks 317: Bill Finger, Will Eisner and Creator Rights

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With the ten year anniversary of DC adding Bill Finger’s name to their Batman byline, Alex speaks a little about his history, and Will Eisner’s fight for creator rights.

You can reach us at the following locations if you feel the need:
Alex and Joe can be found on X respectively @karcossa and @FirstRonin4.
You can also find Alex on Bluesky @karcossa.bsky.social.
Alex is on threads @Alex_K_Cossa.
ThoseTwoGeeks@gmail.com

Music by AlexGrohl from Pixabay

Preview: The Collected Will Eisner’s John Law

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The Collected Will Eisner’s John Law

(W) Will Eisner (A/CA) Gary Chaloner
In Shops: Mar 05, 2025
SRP: $24.99

Meet Detective John Law of Crossroads City. Strong, decent, hardworking and hardnosed. He’s a man who believes in the law and order. He’s the last of a dying breed.
Featuring original stories by Will Eisner and Gary Chaloner’s award-winning reboot from 2004. Includes a previously all new unpublished John Law Story, and a forward by long-time Eisner publisher Denis Kitchen.
This is a must-have for not just Eisner fans but comic collectors of all ages.
“A LOST CRIME COMIC BY THE GREAT WILL EISNER? THIS IS THE STUFF DREAMS ARE MADE OF.” Charles Ardai (Hard Case Crime publisher and writer for Gun Honey)

The Collected Will Eisner's John Law

Exclusive: Check out the sights from the Opening Night of the Will Eisner Exhibit at Philippe Labaune gallery

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The renowned Philippe Labaune Gallery in New York City is hosting a career-spanning exhibition of legendary cartoonist Will Eisner’s artwork, featuring groundbreaking work from every stage of the artist’s career from 1941 to  2002. Organized in collaboration with Denis Kitchen and the Eisner estate, the exhibition honors Will Eisner’s artistic vision and significant contributions to the medium, offering an opportunity to experience firsthand the creativity and innovation behind his iconic work. In addition to war-time drawings, pages from Eisner’s beloved The Spirit, and New York The Big City comic strips, the exhibit will feature an almost complete sequential presentation of A Contract With God: The Super.

We have exclusive photos from the opening night featuring Dennis Kitchen, Philippe Labaune, and Paul Pope! The Philippe Labaune gallery is located at 534 West 24th Street in New York and is open from Thursday through Saturday, from 10am to 6pm.  The Will Eisner Exhibit will be open to the public until Saturday, March 8.

And some of the art you’ll see at the exhibit!

New York’s Philippe Labaune Gallery Presents a Career-Spanning Exhibition of Art From Will Eisner, the Father of the Graphic Novel

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The Super Will Eisner sketch

The renowned Philippe Labaune Gallery in New York City is hosting a career-spanning exhibition of legendary cartoonist Will Eisner’s artwork, featuring groundbreaking work from every stage of the artist’s career from 1941 to  2002. Organized in collaboration with  Denis Kitchen and the Eisner estate, the exhibition honors Will Eisner’s artistic vision and significant contributions to the medium, offering an opportunity to experience firsthand the creativity and innovation behind his iconic work. In addition to war-time drawings, pages from Eisner’s beloved The Spirit, and New York The Big City comic strips, the exhibit will feature an almost complete sequential presentation of A Contract With God: The Super.

Known as the father of the graphic novel, Will Eisner’s comic career began when his cartoons were featured in 1936’s Wow Magazine. From there, the pioneering artist and writer went on to create the fan-favorite hero The Spirit and help shape the comic book medium as we know it today. A Contract with God is considered to be the first modern graphic novel and remains the holy grail of sequential art. Written a few years after losing his young daughter to leukemia, A Contract with God is Eisner’s most personal work composed of 4 stories set in a Tenement in the Bronx. “The Super” is a dark and touching exploration of the tensions between the tenants and their superintendent that reminds readers that nothing is as simple as it seems. Eisner’s passion for the comic form and profound empathy are visible on every page. 

The Philippe Labaune gallery is located at 534 West 24th Street in New York and is open from Thursday through Saturday, from 10am to 6pm. The roots of Philippe Labaune Gallery have a strong European influence: among the artists are esteemed creators such as Lorenzo Mattotti, Nicolas de Crécy, Guido Crepax, Dave Mckean or François Schuiten. In recent years, American artists such as Landis Blair, Rebecca Leveille Guay, Frank Miller, and Peter de Sève have helped Philippe Labaune Gallery to foster a community of overlapping art collectors and comic fans from all over the world. 

The Will Eisner Exhibit will be open to the public to Saturday, March 8.

First Look: The Collected Will Eisner’s John Law, on sale March 2025!

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Wherever men live, be they nomads or city dwellers, there they must have law and a man to enforce it.

Meet Detective John Law of Crossroads City. Strong, decent, hardworking and hard-nosed. He’s a man who believes in the law and order. He’s the last of a dying breed.

In 1948, Will Eisner produced the first issue of “John Law Detective”, which he intended to add to a line of self-published comics. However, after Eisner’s “Baseball Comics”, “Kewpies”, and “Pirate Comics” failed to find an audience, John Law never made it to the newsstand and was quietly dropped, with much of the original artwork reworked in 1950 for his most famous creation, The Spirit.

Featuring original stories by Will Eisner, Gary Chaloner’s award-winning reboot from 2004, including a previously unpublished John Law Story, and a forward by long-time Eisner publisher Denis Kitchen, this is a must-have for not just Eisner fans but comic collectors of all ages.

The Collected Will Eisner’s John Law is on sale March 4, 2025 at bookstores, comic shops and digital. 

The Collected Will Eisner's John Law

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

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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.

Preview: Will Eisner’s The Spirit Artisan Edition

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Will Eisner’s The Spirit Artisan Edition

(W) Will Eisner (A/CA) Will Eisner
In Shops: May 31, 2023
SRP: $39.99

Will Eisner’s work on The Spirit was, in its way, as groundbreaking as Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane. Both artistic achievements rewrote the book on sequential storytelling and had lasting impacts on all that followed them. Featured within these pages are 17 Spirit stories all from Eisner’s peak period, 1946-1950, generally regarded as his best work on The Spirit. An Artisan Edition collects stories, covers and pages that have been reproduced from the original art. While appearing to be in black and white, these images have been scanned in color, allowing the reader to view them as closely as possible to the original art. Ink gradients, blue pencil, corrections, and more are all clearly visible, all the wonderful subtle nuances that make original art so special and unique.

Will Eisner's The Spirit Artisan Edition

Will Eisner’s A Contract With God to be adapted into a Broadway Musical

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A Contract With God

TEG+ has acquired the stage rights to Will Eisner’s cherished graphic novel A Contract With God and is adapting it into a Broadway musical. It will feature new and original songs written by a group of multi-platinum songwriters and Grammy Award winners composed of Sam Hollander, Lisa Loeb, Matisyahu, Ryan Miller (of Guster), and Jill Sobule. Hollander will also serve as music producer.

First published in 1978, A Contract With God is widely recognized as the very first — and also considered by many as the greatest — graphic novel in history, penned by one of the greatest cartoonists of all time. The novel consists of four interweaving stories revolving around the lives, struggles and dreams of infinitely relatable New Yorkers — many Jewish and many immigrants — living in a fictional tenement house. All of the members of the songwriting team are Jewish musicians and composers wishing to honor their Jewish heritage and the Jewish legacy of this masterwork. The team is about to enter writing and recording sessions, produced by Hollander. TEG+ is currently in the process of securing a book writer for the musical adaptation.

TEG+ is also in development for a limited TV series based on the graphic novel The Fifth Beatle: The Brian Epstein Story. The Fifth Beatle is the only project about Brian Epstein, and the only non-documentary Beatles bio project, to have secured their music/songs.

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