Will Eisner: A Spirited Life

Michael Uslan and F.J. DeSanto on Will Eisner's The Spirit (IGN.com)

2008-05-15T21:22:00.000-07:00

THE TEN-CENT PLAGUE! Author David Hajdu Live on Mr. Media, Friday, May 16, 1 p.m. EST

2008-05-15T18:56:00.001-07:00

David Hajdu, author of the bestseller The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America, will be the live guest on the Mr. Media podcast on Friday, May 16 at 1 p.m. EST.

The one-hour show is broadcast live over BlogTalkRadio.com and takes listener calls. There is also an accompanying web chat.

Listeners can catch the interview live - or later as a downloadable archive - by clicking here!

'Spirit' moves up release to Dec. 25! (Hollywood Reporter)

2008-05-07T04:38:00.001-07:00

Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson star in the film

By Carolyn Giardina

May 6, 2008, 10:52 PM

Hollywood Reporter

Lionsgate has moved up the nationwide release of its comic adaptation "The Spirit" -- written and directed by Frank Miller -- to Dec. 25.

The film, based on the comic book series created by the late Will Eisner, was originally slated to open Jan. 16, 2009.

Also slated to open on Dec. 25 are Disney's "Bedtime Stories" and Fox 2000 Pictures' "Marley & Me."

Of the move, Lionsgate president of theatrical films Tom Ortenberg said: "Comic-Con fans (in New York in March) resoundingly confirmed what we felt in our bones about 'The Spirit': this is a great film and an irresistible piece of entertainment. ... For all of us, it was an easy decision."

"The Spirit" stars Gabriel Macht, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Eva Mendes, Sarah Paulson, Stana Katic, Dan Lauria, Jaime King, Paz Vega and Louis Lombardi. Odd Lot Entertainment and Lionsgate are production partners.

International release dates have not yet been announced. Sony Pictures Releasing International is handling distribution in many European territories and Latin America. Odd Lot International is distributing to the rest of the world, except for the U.K. and Australia, where the film is being released by Lionsgate.

CAA lands Will Eisner estate (Variety)

2008-05-05T11:38:00.001-07:00

Agency to package comicbook creator's library

By MARC GRASER
Posted: Wed., Apr. 30, 2008, 9:00pm PT

Creative Artists Agency has landed the estate of comicbook creator Will Eisner as a client.

Idea is to take Eisner's library of titles and package them as movies, TV shows and other media properties.

Interest in Eisner's work has been heating up in Hollywood.

"The Spirit" is currently being adapted at Lionsgate and Odd Lot Entertainment, with comicbook vet Frank Miller writing and helming the stylistic actioner that's set to bow early next year.

Click HERE to keep reading!

Drawing on the past (Globe and Mail)

2008-05-04T11:03:00.001-07:00

In Amsterdam, a museum exhibit titled Superheroes and Schlemiels shows how Jews turned to graphic novels to tell their stories

By ALEXANDRA HUDSON

Reuters News Agency

April 29, 2008 at 3:28 AM EDT

A large part of the exhibition, titled Superheroes and Schlemiels, is devoted to artist Will Eisner, showing his comic strips and large-scale drawings as well as pages from his later graphic novels.

Eisner co-founded the first American comic strip production studio in 1936 and created the masked crime fighter the Spirit in 1940, but he is also credited with creating the first long-form comic in 1978, which he termed a "graphic novel."

"That created a cultural space," said Couch, helping to gain the graphic novel respect in the 1970s and launching a canon of works in that format exploring Jewish history and personal experience.

By printing "graphic novel" on his 1978 work, Eisner also gained access to the U.S. public library market, then closed to comics.

The exhibition, which shows the work of about 40 comic-strip artists, also includes pages from Spiegelman's 1986 graphic novel Maus, an award-winning book exploring the generational conflict between Holocaust survivors and their children, and where the Jews are drawn as mice and the Nazis as cats.

Click Here to Keep Reading!

Will Eisner Event Coming to Los Angeles This Month (Editor and Publisher)

2008-05-04T07:07:00.001-07:00

By Editor & Publisher Staff

Published: May 02, 2008 1:25 PM ET

NEW YORK "An Evening With the Works of Will Eisner" will be held May 28 at the Storyopolis gallery/store in Los Angeles.

The exhibit marks the 30th anniversary of Eisner's "A Contract With God," which many consider the first "graphic novel."

Eisner (1917-2005) also created the "The Spirit" character, who starred in a popular 16-page comic insert distributed in newspapers from 1940 to 1952. A movie version of "The Spirit" is scheduled for 2009 release.

He was also a legend in the world of comic books, and taught for many years at the School of Visual Arts in New York.

The May 28 event is co-sponsored by Storyopolis, the Association of Booksellers for Children, and the Denis Kitchen Art Agency.

Storyopolis is offering some of Eisner's art for sale.

Frank Miller: A 'Spirit'-ed Q&A (Entertainment Weekly)

2008-04-26T12:28:00.001-07:00

The man behind ''300'' and ''Sin City'' divulges details on his upcoming movie version of Will Eisner's classic comic. Plus: scoop on ''Sin City 2''

By Nisha Gopalan

Very few people can say they're buddies with a legend, much less actually be one. Then there's Frank Miller. Renowned in his own right for having created the comics 300 and Sin City and for having co-directed the film adaptation of the latter, Miller will release his first solo directing venture, The Spirit, in 2009. It's a big-screen take on the seminal graphic work about a seemingly dead detective-turned-superhero, written by another giant in the comics universe, Miller's late, great pal Will Eisner.

At last weekend's New York Comic Con, EW.com checked in with the author/filmmaker and his Spirit producer Deborah Del Prete. They offered details about their noirish drama, which stars Gabriel Macht as the titular hero, Samuel Jackson as the villainous Octopus, and a parade of flirty femmes including Eva Mendes, Scarlett Johansson, Paz Vega, Sarah Paulson, and Jamie King.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: The Spirit's teaser trailer begs some obvious Sin City comparisons, but how will this be different from Sin City?

FRANK MILLER: It's in color, for one thing. But also it's a very different movie. Sin City was really a combination of me and [co-director] Robert Rodriguez working off my own drawings. And this was based on comics from the 1940s — Will Eisner's — but through a much more modern lens. Besides, you'll never see a tie this color [motions to his half-red, half-blue Spirit tie].

Who do you think you borrow from visually?

MILLER: Everybody. Comics are so full of amazing work. And I can't look at a drawing of a woman without thinking of, for instance, Wallace Wood and his amazing way of capturing beauty. And if I go for suspense — Johnny Craig. The first time I drew Spider-Man, I didn't even look at a Steve Ditko comic. It's all in here already [motions to his head]. When I was on the movie set, the one artist I studied not at all was Will Eisner, because it's all in here already [motions to his head again] because the guy trained me, the guy did work that inspired me.

DEBORAH DEL PRETE: But Frank made up books of Will's work for everybody to use as references for all our departments.

MILLER: And, really, what was shocking was the cast. It was amazing to watch. Two I would name off the top would be Gabriel Macht, who plays the Spirit and had never played a part as heroic. I really felt like his partner, working through all the little moments. The other striking example was Eva Mendes [who plays Sand Saref]. She went from being such a contemporary screen presence to be willing to embrace almost a Bette Davis/Patricia Neal figure. I think she's the one who hits the most decades. There's this one scene where she walks in a white suit and an unforgettable hat — believe me, it's an unforgettable hat — and I had it stuck to my office wall. Not just the hat, but her in it. There's this one scene where she walks straight from the 1940s. She's such a fantasy character from the end.

DEL PRETE: Eva came in scared.

MILLER: She had no idea what to expect. She thought I was going to be some kind of ogre.

DEL PRETE: But a day or two later, she was asking questions!

CLICK HERE TO KEEP READING: Miller spills more Spirit secrets, and drops a few hints about Sin City 2!

Eisnershpritz, Anyone?

2008-04-23T20:22:00.001-07:00

We try to keep as up to date as anyone on the World of Will Eisner here at Will Eisner: A Spirited Life, but even we miss something now and again.

That's why we recommend the "Eisnershpritz" page at the Official Will Eisner Web Site, http://www.willeisner.com. Gary Chaloner does an excellent job as the webmaster. If you've never been, check it out!

Click here to keep reading io9's excellent coverage; don't miss the great comments from readers at the end of the post!

Comic Book Resources on The Spirit Panel at New York Comic-Con

2008-04-23T19:45:00.001-07:00

By Emmett Furey, Staff Writer

Mon, April 21st, 2008 at 11:58AM PST

(Updated: Tue, April 22nd, 2008 at 1:19PM PST)

On Saturday at New York Comic-Con 2008, writer/director Frank Miller, star Eva Mendes and producers Deborah Del Prete and Michael Uslan were on hand to talk about the upcoming big screen adaptation of Will Eisner’s “The Spirit,” and CBR News was there.

MTV’s Kurt Loder moderated the “Spirit” panel, and touted Will Eisner as one of the pioneers who invented modern comics as we know them. Frank Miller himself was influenced by Eisner.

Loder asked Miller how he was able to distill 12 years of “Spirit” stories into one movie. Miller said it wasn’t a matter of distillation but one of discovery. “I started out trying to apply a novelist’s rules to the project, but found it didn’t apply at all,” Miller said. Instead, Miller started by cherry picking the elements that he thought had to be in a “Spirit” movie. Miller said working with Prete on the script was an “amazing collaboration,” and that she was both a great storyteller and had a great deal of discipline. “She was there for every show, a bulwark against the forces of darkness.”

Mendes seconded Miller’s sentiment. “She is the badass of badass female producers,” Mendes said. “We couldn’t have done it without Deborah.”

Loder asked Miller how he arrived at the look for the film. “I threw out everything Eisner did,” Miller joked. In all seriousness, “I knew if I erected a rusty monument to ‘The Spirit,’ [Eisner] would rise from the dead and strangle me.” Miller was determined that the “Spirit” movie would be as bold as the source material was when it was first published in the ‘30s. The visual look of the “Spirit” film is the natural extension of the look pioneered in the “Sin City” film, which Miller thinks lends itself to Eisner’s story. “For purists, it may be a bit of shock,” Miller admitted.

Click HERE to keep reading!

Walt Disney vs. Will Eisner: The Signature Debate (WDWMagic.com)

2008-04-21T19:29:00.001-07:00

The unprecedented amount of attention being thrown Will Eisner's way this year has raised an interesting issue on the WDWMagic.com boards: whose signature came first?

As Eisner's biographer, I can't say I know or that I remember asking Will. And I asked Andrew D. Cooke, who produced and director the Eisner documentary, Will Eisner: Portrait of a Sequential Artist, and he didn't know or ask either.

Anyone care to weigh in, here or there? Maybe Denis Kitchen knows?

THAT’s the Spirit?! (DailyPop.com)

2008-04-21T19:14:00.001-07:00

Comic book fans young and old at the NY Comic Con this weekend walked out on the early premiere of the trailer for Frank Miller’s Will Eisner’s The Spirit. In an interview with MTV director Frank Miller defended his film’s look by saying that he has "forged ahead" with Eisner’s creation rather than produce what he calls "something dusty from off the shelf."

That’s all well and good, Frank… but from this trailer The Spirit looks far more like Sin City 2 than Will Eisner’s The Spirit. Not that this is a bad thing ( I fully enjoy Sin City), but… what’s the deal?

Click here to keep reading an alternative take on Frank Miller's Will Eisner's The Spirit movie trailer's first screening!

Entertainment Weekly on Frank Miller and The Spirit Movie

2008-04-21T19:08:00.001-07:00

The Spirit: With help from moderator Kurt Loder (yes, MTV’s Kurt Loder!) and flirty star Eva Mendes, comics creator-turned-screenwriter/director Frank Miller (pictured, with Mendes) debuted a Sin City-kissed teaser-trailer about the lady-lovin’ vigilante who fights crime in Central City; sincerely emphasized the impact his friend and Spirit creator Will Eisner has had on his work; then offered this nugget when asked why he cast the not-so-well-known Gabriel Macht as the title character: ''Holllywood has produced many male actors, however very few men.'' -- from Entertainment Weekly

"The Spirit" Teaser Gives Just A Taste Of The Goods (io9.com)

2008-04-21T18:58:00.001-07:00

Even the few moments of footage managed to captivate the entire audience, from the ringing phone and the cat-strewn floor to the rooftop acrobatics and the typically Miller-esque monologue.

Miller said, 'I tried to translate [Eisner's] vision into a modern film. Look for his touch, you'll see it. For purists it will be a bit of a shock, but I have to say it's a hell of a ride." Actress Eva Mendes was also along for the screening and took a bit of offense when MTV host Kurt Loder accused her of being one of Eisnner's many 'hot babes' to which Mendes replied, "Hell no, I play a jewel thief who has been married 15 times and has killed all of them. Does that sound like a hot chick?" Well, yeah actually.

Click here to keep reading io9's excellent coverage; don't miss the great comments from readers at the end of the post!

New York Comic-Con Report on The Spirit Panel (Comic Continuum.com)

2008-04-21T18:29:00.001-07:00

The good folks at ComicContinuum.com provided bulleted coverage of the Lionsgate panel on Frank Miller's Will Eisner's The Spirit movie panel held on April 19, 2008 at the New York Comic-Con.

Here are a few highlights:

* Miller said adapting The Spirit wasn't so much distillation as discovery. He said based the script around Will Eisner's 14-page Sand Saref story.

* Miller said he is "very proud" of how the movie is coming together and praised Del Prete's help.

* Miller said the film had to be as bold as the comic was in the 1940s and purists might be in for "a bit of a shock."

* Uslan said he met with Eisner 14 years ago and promised to make The Spirit right.

* Mendes said she was a little nervous initially. "Is he going to be weird? Let me tell you, he's very weird and what a joy to work with.

"He's an amazing actor's director. He referenced movies I didn't even know."

* Del Prete said she was with Eisner at his last Comic-Con appearance in San Diego and talked to him about what was important to him for the film.

Click here to read ComicContinuum.com's entire report!

The Spirit Movie Trailer: 31 Screen Captures

2008-04-21T09:59:00.001-07:00

Stephen Gerding at KungFuRodeo.com - great logo, by the way! - has posted 31 screen captures from the first trailer to Frank Miller's Will Eisner's The Spirit movie. Spot on comments, too.

Check it out here.

WILL EISNER & PS MAGAZINE Expert Roundtable Discussion: Mr. Media Interview

2008-04-20T21:13:00.001-07:00

In the pantheon of comic book masters, Will Eisner’s name is at or near the top of pretty much everyone’s list. He was there at the birth of the genre in the late 1930s – he famously turned down a submission from Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster of a comic book about a character named Superman. Will suggested they go back to art school in Cleveland and get a little better at his craft.

Eisner himself is best known as the creator of an enduring but little known character called "The Spirit." This is a big year for The Spirit, with a major motion picture written and directed by Frank Miller currently in post-production and scheduled for release in January 2009.

Eisner is also known as the grandfather of the graphic novel for producing one of the genre’s earliest and most enduring works, 1978’s A Contract With God.

I spent three years with Eisner, interviewing him and researching his life for the biography, Will Eisner: A Spirited Life, which was published by M Press/Dark Horse in 2005.

There is a period of time in Eisner’s life, however, that is less known than all the others. From 1951 through 1972, he produced PS Magazine for the United States Army. It was a digest-sized comic book, essentially, that taught preventive maintenance to American soldiers from Korea through Vietnam.

A week ago, the Virginia Commonwealth University library announced it had scanned more than 140 issues of PS and made the magazine available to the general public, online, for the first time.

Because so much interest is being concentrated on Eisner’s work this year – and because it is a personal interest of my own, I’ve invited a trio of experts on PS Magazine to join me for a conversation about “The Unknown Eisner”:

• Cindy Jackson is Archival Assistant for Comic Arts & Digital Collections in the Special Collections & Archives Department of the James Branch Cabell (rhymes with rabble) Library at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia.

• Paul Fitzgerald is a retired journalist who spent 10 years at PS Magazine where he worked alongside Will Eisner and formed a life-long friendship. Paul’s first book, Will Eisner and PS Magazine, will be published in May 2008.

• Stuart Henderson joined the PS staff in August of 1993, and he has been production manager of the magazine since March of 2002. He is also the Army magazine’s unofficial historian.

You can listen to this interview by clicking the BlogTalkRadio.com audio player below!
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Eva Mendes as "Sand Saref" in New The Spirit Movie Poster! (CanMag.com)

2008-04-20T08:03:00.001-07:00

The folks at CanMag.com just put up this image she signed exclusively at New York Comic-Con from Frank Miller's Will Eisner's The Spirit" movie. Not bad!

The Spirit Movie Trailer!!! (MTV.com)

2008-04-19T19:23:00.001-07:00

So what do you think? The trailer, not surprisingly, looks quite stylish - a lot like Frank Miller's Sin City, but distinctive nonetheless. But what do you think of the brief interview with Frank Miller that follows it? Why is he dressed as The Spirit? Bright red tie, hat, shirt sleeves pushed up - shouldn't actor Gabriel Macht, who plays The Spirit/Denny Colt, be out there in the costume?

And how about Eva Mendes?

Love to get your comments here!

New Spirit Movie Poster on AintItCoolNews.com

2008-04-18T20:54:00.001-07:00

Quint was first was with the new poster for Frank Miller's Will Eisner's The Spirit. See what he had to say about it HERE. And as soon as the first trailer posts online, we'll get you the link. Stay tuned!

The Spirit movie toy from DC Direct

2008-04-16T19:50:00.001-07:00

Will Eisner Events at New York Comic-Con!

2008-04-16T19:46:00.001-07:00

You are invited to a free screening of
Will Eisner: Portrait of a Sequential Artist
The Full-length Feature Film Documentary on the Legendary Storyteller
at the New York Comic-Con
Friday, April 18
12:00 noon
Room 1E10-1E11

Followed at 2:00 p.m. by
The Will Eisner Tribute Panel
featuring guests Mark Evanier, Paul Levitz, Michael Uslan, Carl Gropper, Andrew D. Cooke and Jon B. Cooke
SEATING IS LIMITED
Please go to NYCC Information Desk for your free ticket starting at 10:00 a.m.

All this and the first peak at Frank Miller's Will Eisner's The Spirit movie trailer on Saturday, April 19!

Will Eisner & PS Magazine Discussion LIVE on Mr. Media, Friday, April 18, 1 p.m. EST

2008-04-16T19:31:00.001-07:00

With the announcement last week that Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries has posted complete scans for 145 regular issues, 3 special issues, and 14 index issues of Will Eisner's rare PS Magazine, I thought it would be fun to have the VCU librarian in charge of the project, Cindy Jackson, as well as the author of the upcoming book, Will Eisner & PS Magazine, Paul Fitzgerald, come on Mr. Media and talk about this little known period in the comics master's career.

As Eisner's authorized biographer -- you have read Will Eisner: A Spirited Life by now, haven't you? -- I certainly have a little extra interest in the topic. And with all the hype for Frank Miller's upcoming film, Will Eisner's The Spirit, the time seems extra-ripe for this!

Eisner drew and was artistic editor for PS Magazine from its inception in 1951 until 1972 and these are truly rare examples of his incomparable art work and direction. In an effort to encourage soldiers to keep better care of their equipment, the US Army hired Eisner's American Visuals Corporation to do a digest-sized publication focusing on preventive maintenance. Each issue consisted of a color comic book style cover; eight pages of four color comic continuity story in the middle; and a wealth of technical, safety, and policy information printed in two color.

Won't you join us LIVE on BlogTalkRadio.com this FRIDAY, APRIL 18 at 1 p.m. EST? CLICK HERE: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/mrmedia/2008/04/18/Cindy-Jackson-and-Paul-Fitzgerald-WILL-EISNER-PS-MAGAZINE-VCU-librarian-and-author-Mr-Media and you can participate in a simultaneous web chat or call in and ask the experts your own questions at (646) 595-3135.

Note to Frank Miller from Horvendile

2008-04-16T19:22:00.001-07:00

"My city screams. She is my lover. And I am her Spirit." = "I am the Goddamn Batman."

"My city is Central. Ellen Dolan keeps trying to kiss me. And she is the daughter of Commissioner Dolan." = Will Eisner's Spirit.

-- From the blog "A Likely Story," posted April 15, 2008

The Spirit Movie Billboards! (IESB.net/Comics2Film.com)

2008-04-14T16:18:00.001-07:00

If you want to complain about The Spirit movie marketing campaign to date - and the general look of the character - seems to me the beef would be that Denny Colt in costume looks more like The Shadow than The Spirit. Anyone else see that?

Meanwhile, as we eagerly wait for the first trailer on April 19, here is a photo of the first billboard campaign, photographed by IESB.net reader "Mike" and brought to our attention by another great site Comics2Film.com.

Arie Kaplan, SPEED RACER and MAD MAGAZINE writer: Mr. Media Audio Interview

2008-04-11T21:13:00.001-07:00

What red-blooded man’s heart doesn’t start racing at the “Speed Racer” theme?

My guest today is part of the revival of the immortal Speed Racer. He is IDW comic book writer Arie Kaplan, and with the release of the Wachowski Brothers’ big screen, live action adaptation of the Japanese anime classic, I thought it would be fun to talk a little Speed today.

We’ll also touch on some of Arie’s other work. He is a regular contributor to MAD magazine, for example, and also wrote the non-fiction book, Masters of the Comic Book Universe Revealed! This fall, his second book, From Krakow to Krypton, will be published.
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