Early Works—Obscure Material—Unpublished Art

I love this book, signed by Eisner, and I especially love this cover, adapted from one of his early comics. This is one of those kind of books that they'll have to pry from my dead bony hands in some forlorn nursing home (assuming of course that I make it that far).

Will Eisner — The Art of Will Eisner 

Strength of Man

'Strength of Man' was the premise of this limited-edition portfolio for select graphic artists to create specific drawings. That was a somewhat nebulous concept that allowed for artistic freedom. I guess so, since most of the artists drew whatever the heck they wanted. Here I'm only showing 6 of the 13 participating artists, and out of this group Will Eisner came closest to following directions, Moebius is my favorite of the batch, and Bill Sienkiewicz was the most honest for disregarding the premise. The artists personally signed each of their plates.

Eisner's P*S Girl

In 1951, as Eisner was leaving the Spirit behind him, he created Connie Rodd, a sex kitten serious about Army equipment. It was her job to keep soldiers on the beam for maintenance of army issue. She (and Eisner) stayed with it throughout the Vietnam War,  in a publication called P*S,  delivered primarily to motor pool GIs. I picked up a number of the magazines when I was in the army, and the art was very effective in teaching such dry subjects.

Eisner did some of the artwork, but it was mostly produced by a staff of eight artists and writers, including 3 technical illustrators. Some of the artists over the years were Klaus Nordling, Dan Zolnerowich (of Sheena fame), Mike Ploog, Chuck Kramer, and Murphy Anderson. Anderson took over direction of the magazine after Eisner left in 1972.

Somewhere in my stuff I have a really nice cover that Eisner executed solo for an M-16 rifle manual. I actually used that publication when I learned to clean and assemble my weapon. When I find that cover, I'll post it. But in the meantime here are a few depictions of the lovely miss Connie Rodd:

Above by Murphy Anderson, below possibly by Chuck Kramer.

Above and below, maybe Will Eisner art?

Below, Murphy Anderson art, with no doubt.

Eisner's P*S Girl

 Above and immediately below, art obviously by Murphy Anderson

Below, the concept was imitated in Vietnam, with a young girl named Kimmie, promoting preventative maintenance. 

Spirit Cast

A really nice *crisp* portrait of the Spirit cast.

Eisner 'Spirit'

Also from the Harvey Spirit #2, 1967, this was a new story (at the time), bridging continuity from the 40's to the 60's. Eisner's style had morphed a bit, but still had the Eisner 'spirit'.

End of the Octopus?

Harvey Spirit

Harvey's Spirit #2 was a wealth of really good Eisner stuff. The story below of Plaster of Paris threw me for a loop when I first saw it in 1967. I thought I had seen the best of Eisner in the Jules Feiffer book. But this story was dark and moody and sexy and tragic and yada yada. I appreciate it just as much looking at it even now. I think it might be my favorite Spirit story?

 

Harvey Spirit

The final page of #2, shown below, was a preview page of the next issue, and boy, I couldn't wait. Well, wait is all I could do, cuz #3 never came out. Who could have thought back in 1967 that 40 years later I, or any of us, would own the entire 24 volume archives of The Spirit run. . .

The Great Comic Book Heroes

If I'm not mistaken, part of the iconic image of the Spirit, shown below, also appeared in the Playboy article, setting the stage for reintroduction of one of comic's BEST heroes, a NON-superhero to a new generation of readers. In fact, from what I understand, Feiffer was responsible for thousands of us fanatics searching for golden age material, slowly but surely raising the value of the original material.

I bought Feiffer's book at a college bookstore in Chicago, summer of '66, while staying with my brother. I read and reread it all summer, devouring Feiffer's text that examined the characters as well as their creators, the first time they had been taken somewhat seriously, but tongue in cheek as well. Feiffer's descriptions from his fanboy and professional point of view, laughingly and lovingly gave a validity to my (our) obsession with the genre. 

I have always read a lot of books in all genres, but that summer I was especially fond of Asimov's Foundation series and all of Feiffer's books. The comic book book is still around and available and all of the stories certainly have been reprinted elsewhere, but for those who haven't done so, it's worth reading Feiffer's analysis. As you can see from the scan, I loved this particular book to pieces, and still own it. I've seen copies at the library. 

This Spirit story, of course, has been reprinted elsewhere, but I'm posting it here for the 'record'. It showed me what comics could be. Shame on Frank Miller for debasing the character and his mythos in his atrocious film. Thank you Jules Feiffer for 'keeping the Spirit alive.'

The Great Comic Book Heroes