Mark Fertig serves as chair of art and art history at a national
liberal arts college in Pennsylvania. Jack Kirby (1917-1994) is one
of the unqualified giants in American comic book history. His most
famous co-creation, Captain America, is in a major motion picture
film franchise from Marvel Studios. Will Eisner was born William
Erwin Eisner on March 6, 1917 in Brooklyn, New York. By the time of
his death on January 3, 2005, Will Eisner was recognized
internationally as one of the giants in the field of sequential
art, a term he coined.
In a career that spanned nearly eight decades--from the dawn of the
comic book to the advent of digital comics--Will Eisner was truly
the 'Orson Welles of comics' and the 'father of the Graphic Novel'.
He broke new ground in the development of visual narrative and the
language of comics and was the creator of The Spirit, John Law,
Lady Luck, Mr. Mystic, Uncle Sam, Blackhawk, Sheena and countless
others.
During World War II, Will Eisner used the comic format to develop
training and equipment maintenance manuals for the US Army. After
the war this continued as the Army's P.S. Magazine, which is still
being produced today. Will Eisner taught Sequential Arts at the New
York School of Visual Arts. The textbooks that he wrote based on
his course are still bestsellers. In 1978, Will Eisner wrote A
Contract with God, the first modern graphic novel. This was
followed by almost 20 additional graphic novels over the following
25 years.
The "Oscars" of the Comic Industry are called The Eisner Awards,
and named after Will Eisner. The Eisners are presented annually
before a packed ballroom at Comic-Con International in San Diego,
America's largest comics convention.
Wizard magazine named Eisner "the most influential comic artist of
all time." Michael Chabon's Pulitzer-prize winning novel The
Adventures of Kavalier and Clay is based in good part on Eisner. In
2002, Eisner received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the
National Federation for Jewish Culture, only the second such honor
in the organization's history, presented by Pulitzer Prize-winning
cartoonist Art Spiegelman.
Take That, Adolf! is a reminder in these difficult times that real
heroes are needed to keep today's neo-Nazis in check.--
"Hyperallergic"
Take That, Adolf! offers a thorough and compelling take on how the
Second World War was depicted--and partially fought--at the
newsstands of the Golden Age.-- "The Comics Journal"
Mark Fertig's new book Take That, Adolf! explores just how
important comic books were to the U.S. war effort in the 1940s.--
"Under the Radar"
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