Will Eisner (b. 1917)

Biography:

Will Eisner was an American comics artist and writer and who helped shape the modern comic book industry. He created the newspaper comic series The Spirit, published from 1940 to 1952. Eisner later produced instructional comics for the United States Army and founded American Visuals Corporation, which created educational materials. In 1978 he published "A Contract with God," a work that helped popularize the term “graphic novel.” He also wrote influential books about comics theory and storytelling.

Notes:

His archival repository is at Ohio State University, Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum, Columbus, Ohio, https://library.osu.edu/finding-aids/ead/CGA/SPEC.CGA.WEE.xml .

Name:

  • Will Eisner
  • Type: Common Alternative Name
    Given name: Will Family name: Eisner

Other Names:

  1. Basil Berold Type: House Name
  2. W. E. Eisner Type: Common Alternative Name
  3. William E. Eisner Type: Common Alternative Name
    Given name: William E. Family name: Eisner
  4. William Erwin Eisner Type: Name at Birth
    Given name: William Erwin Family name: Eisner
  5. William S. Eisner Type: Common Alternative Name
    Given name: William S. Family name: Eisner
  6. Wm. E. Eisner Type: Common Alternative Name
    Given name: Wm. E. Family name: Eisner
  7. Erwin Type: Pen Name
  8. Will Erwin
  9. Heck
  10. Carl Heck Type: Pen Name
  11. William Erwin Maxwell Type: Pen Name
  12. Wm. Erwin Maxwell
  13. Willis Rensie Type: Pen Name
  14. Willis B. Rensie Type: Pen Name
  15. Willis B. Resnie Type: Pen Name
  16. Jack Seaman Type: Pen Name
  17. W. Morgan Thomas Type: House Name
  18. Major Thorpe
  19. וויל אייסנער
View Change History
Creator at www.comics.org

Signatures:

  1. Anthony Brooks [generic]
  2. Basil Berold [generic]
  3. BASIL BEROLD [stacked; all caps]
  4. Bill Rensie [generic]
  5. Bud Thomas [generic]
  6. Carl Heck [generic]
  7. Cary Weyt [generic]
  8. Cory Weyt [generic]
  9. Eisner [generic]
  10. Erwin [generic]
  11. Erwin Willis [generic]
  12. Heck [generic]
  13. Heck! [generic]
  14. Kenneth Lewis [generic]
  15. Leon Spuds [generic]
  16. Ned Coe [generic]
  17. Rensie [generic]
  18. W. Morgan Thomas [generic]
  19. Will Eisner [generic]
  20. Will Eisner
  21. Will EiSNER [stacked]
  22. Will Erwin [generic]
  23. William E. Eisner [generic]
  24. William Eisner [generic]
  25. William Erwin [generic]
  26. William Erwin Maxwell [generic]
  27. Willis B. Rensie [generic]
  28. Willis B. Rensie
  29. Willis Rensie [generic]
  30. Wm. Eisner [generic]
  31. Wm. Erwin Maxwell [generic]

Awards:

  1. William Randolph Hearst Cartoon Hall of Fame - [no name]
  2. 1967: National Cartoonist Society Awards (NCS Awards) - Comic Book Division
  3. 1968: National Cartoonist Society Awards (NCS Awards) - Comic Book Division
  4. 1969: National Cartoonist Society Awards (NCS Awards) - Comic Book Division
  5. 1971: Shazam Award - Hall of Fame
  6. 1975: Angoulême International Comics Festival - Grand Prix de la ville d'Angoulême
  7. 1975: Inkpot Award - [no name]
  8. 1979: National Cartoonist Society Awards (NCS Awards) - Story Comic Book Division
  9. 1983: Eagle Awards - Roll of Honour
  10. 1986: Yellow Kid Award - Comic Illustrators and Authors
  11. 1987: Kirby Award - Hall of Fame
  12. 1987: National Cartoonist Society Awards (NCS Awards) - Comic Book Division
  13. 1988: National Cartoonist Society Awards (NCS Awards) - Comic Book Division
  14. 1993: Harvey Award - Best Writer
  15. 1993: Harvey Award - Best Cartoonist
  16. 1994: Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award - [no name]
  17. 1994: National Cartoonist Society Awards (NCS Awards) - Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award
  18. 1994: UK Comic Art Award - Career Achievement Award
  19. 1994: Max-und-Moritz-Preis - Sonderpreis für ein herausragendes Lebenswerk
  20. 1995: Premios Haxtur (Haxtur Awards) - Author That We Loved
  21. 1996: Yomiuri International Manga Award - Comic Illustrators and Authors
  22. 1998: Adamson Awards - Adamson Gold
  23. 1998: National Cartoonist Society Awards (NCS Awards) - Cartoonist of the Year
  24. 1999: Troféu HQ Mix - Desenhista estrangeiro (Best Foreign Penciller)
  25. 2003: Premios Haxtur (Haxtur Awards) - Author That We Loved
  26. 2004: Squiddy Award - Best Cartoonist
  27. 2005: Troféu HQ Mix - Desenhista estrangeiro (Best Foreign Penciller)
  28. 2005: Peng! - Der Münchner Comicpreis - Beste deutschsprachige Veröffentlichung eines Comicklassikers
  29. 2013: ComicsPRO Industry Memorial Award - [no name]
  30. 2015: Harvey Award - Harvey Kurtzman Hall of Fame

Awards for Issues:

  1. 1992: Eisner Award - Best Comics-Related Book
    From Aargh! to Zap! Harvey Kurtzman’s Visual History of the Comics (1991 series)
  2. 1993: Compuserve Comics and Animation Forum Awards - Best Reprint Series or Collection
    The Complete Bone Adventures (1993 series) #1
  3. 1998: Thompsons - Favorite Reprint Graphic Novel or Graphic Album (Historical Work)
    Plastic Man Archives (1998 series) #1 [First Printing]
  4. 1998: Pantera di Lucca Comics (Lucca Comics' Panther Award) - Best Book in the Italian Market
    Verso La Tempesta (1998 series)
  5. 1999: Eisner Award - Best Archival Collection
    Plastic Man Archives (1998 series) #1 [First Printing]
  6. 1999: Comics Buyers Guide Fan Awards - Favorite Reprint Graphic Album
    Plastic Man Archives (1998 series) #1 [First Printing]
  7. 2001: Harvey Award - Best Graphic Album of Original Work
    Last Day in Vietnam (2000 series)
  8. 2002: Eisner Award - Best Graphic Album: New
    The Name of the Game (2001 series)
  9. 2002: Squiddy Award - Best Anthology
    9-11 (2002 series) #1

Relations:

  1. Owner - Eisner and Iger Studio (b. 1936)
    Notes: Was owner, but also did writing, pencils and inks for the studio during 1937-1939.
  2. Employer of - Lou Fine (b. 1914)
    Notes: Did pencils and inks. Bails has two different date ranges, one says 1940 to 1943, while the other reads 1941 to 1942.
  3. Ghosted by - James Dixon
  4. Ghosted by - Jules Feiffer (b. 1929)
  5. Ghosted by - Al Wenzel (b. 1924)
  6. Relative - John Eisner
  7. User of - William Erwin Maxwell
  8. Owner - Will Eisner Studio (b. 1940)
    Notes: Will Eisner was the owner of and did writing, pencil, and ink for his own studio, from 1940 to 1941. Studio was located in the Tudor City section of Manhattan, New York City.

Schools:

  1. Art Students League of New York ? to ?

    Notes: Under George Bridgman.

  2. DeWitt Clinton High School [Bronx] ? to ?

Art Influences:

Will Eisner (b. 1917) stated influences by:
  1. George Herriman (b. 1880)
Influences by Will Eisner (b. 1917) were stated by:
  1. Murphy Anderson (b. 1926)
  2. Mark Askwith (b. 1956)
  3. Mark Bagley (b. 1957)
  4. Matt Baker (b. 1921)
  5. Terry Beatty (b. 1958)
  6. Bob Beerbohm (b. 1952)
  7. Tex Blaisdell (b. 1920)
  8. Larry Blake (b. 1952)
  9. Paul J. Bolger
  10. Christopher Bors (b. 1971)
  11. Mark Braun (b. 1954)
  12. E. Nelson Bridwell (b. 1931)
  13. Anthony Burcher (b. 1959)
  14. Orlando Busino (b. 1926)
  15. Jack Butterworth (b. 1941)
  16. Steve Darnall (b. 1964)
  17. Alison Darrow (b. 1951)
  18. David Marshall (b. 1962)
  19. Tom DeFalco (b. 1950)
  20. Kim Deitch (b. 1944)
  21. J. M. DeMatteis (b. 1953)
  22. Chris Ecker (b. 1958)
  23. Joe Edwards (b. 1921)
  24. Matt Feazell (b. 1955)
  25. Jules Feiffer (b. 1929)
  26. Pete Friedrich (b. 1960)
  27. Michael Gallagher (b. 1951)
  28. Michael T. Gilbert (b. 1951)
  29. John Giunta (b. 1920)
  30. Robert Goodbread (b. 1942)
  31. Bud Gordinier (b. 1933)
  32. Jerry Grandenetti (b. 1926)
  33. Cully Hamner (b. 1969)
  34. Bo Hampton (b. 1954)
  35. Rocky Hartberg (b. 1953)
  36. Gilbert Hernandez (b. 1957)
  37. Phil Hester (b. 1966)
  38. Gregg Hinlicky (b. 1955)
  39. Klaus Janson (b. 1952)
  40. Dan Jurgens (b. 1959)
  41. Gil Kane (b. 1926)
  42. Erik Kriek (b. 1966)
  43. Paul Kupperberg (b. 1955)
  44. Roger Langridge (b. 1967)
  45. Batton Lash (b. 1953)
  46. Ken Leach (b. 1947)
  47. Rick Magyar (b. 1954)
  48. Russ Maheras (b. 1954)
  49. Timothy Markin (b. 1968)
  50. Jeff Matsuda (b. 1970)
  51. Scott McCloud (b. 1960)
  52. William Messner-Loebs (b. 1949)
  53. Dan Mishkin (b. 1953)
  54. Fábio Moon (b. 1976)
  55. Dean Mullaney (b. 1954)
  56. Doug Murray (b. 1947)
  57. Don Newton (b. 1934)
  58. Graham Nolan (b. 1962)
  59. Howard Nostrand (b. 1929)
  60. Michael Avon Oeming (b. 1973)
  61. Richard Pace (b. 1968)
  62. Margery Peters (b. 1948)
  63. Mike Ploog (b. 1940)
  64. Sergio Ponchione (b. 1975)
  65. Eric Powell (b. 1975)
  66. R. David Price (b. 1961)
  67. Joe Pruett (b. 1966)
  68. David Quinn (b. 1959)
  69. Trina Robbins (b. 1938)
  70. Bill Schelly (b. 1951)
  71. Mark Schultz (b. 1955)
  72. David Schwartz (b. 1954)
  73. Steve Sherman (b. 1949)
  74. Steve Skeates (b. 1943)
  75. Bob Smith (b. 1951)
  76. Steve Stiles (b. 1943)
  77. William Stout (b. 1949)
  78. Bob Supina (b. 1962)
  79. Timothy Truman (b. 1956)
  80. Kevin Vetrone (b. 1963)
  81. Neil Vokes (b. 1954)
  82. Mark Wheatley (b. 1954)
  83. Al Williamson (b. 1931)
  84. Randy Zimmerman (b. 1959)

Memberships:

  1. National Cartoonist Society Type: member

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