Why, he's the man who blazed the trail through howling wilderness that today's graphic novelists follow. Wherever they go, the find the initials "W. E." emblazoned on the trees or discreetly hacked into marble columns.
The Spirit, an antiheroish hero who's been around longer than most -- having debuted in '40, he gets a table with Supe and Batsy at the club -- is probably Will Eisner's best-known character and last night at the cinema, I learned The Spirit Movie is due out this holiday season! Way kewl (I hope). Directed by Frank Miller, which is a good sign.
...I also learned my moviegoing companions had never heard of The Spirit and were hazy on Mr. Eisner, though Tam remembers a Will-Eisner-drawn rifle manual from the 1960s. So this post is for you -- and all my other friends, too!
BUILDING A 1:1 BALUN
4 years ago
7 comments:
Mr. Eisner actually spent quite a bit of time in the 60s working for the Army, drawing PM ("Preventive Services") magazine; the M16 manual came from that. Guys used to covet the next issue of PM, until The Brass decided to make Connie Rodd--or her attire--a little more PC...
Mr. Eisner also did a Graphic Novel of his trip(s?) to 'Nam, doing research. Saw it once, at an SF Con, didn't have the cash, never saw it again. There's probably a copy on eBay, though...
As to my opinion of the likely faithfulness of the adaptation, I will quote Shortpacked...
"Frank Miller is directing the Spirit movie."
"What? The Spirit doesn't have any whores in it."
"You mean it DIDN'T have any whores in it."
Though I have searched high and low through the Canadian wilderness, I have not been able to find any of that "wildernerss" you speak of. Is this a uniquely American thing?
BTW, am I getting paid to edit your blog? ;)
Timmee: you can have 1% of every cent I have made blogging!
--Pretty sure that means you owe me 35 cents.
But in gratitude for the catch -- I wouldn't have seen it for awhile if ever -- I'll waive that. It's indisputable: I type like a crack whore. I look at the screen and see word-like things I never ever wrote. On a good day, they all get caught and groomed.
I may have been thinking of Will Eisner's fondness of The Ladies: possibly a "wildnernerss" is a wilderness of nurses.
LabRat: different times. There are femme fatales aplenty. Mebbe Frank will get hip to the diff. Maybe not. I think he can capture the look of Eisner's art, if he is a mind to.
Tee hee.
That was WORTH 35 cents, at least :)
Don't worry too much about crack-whore typos, Roberta. I type like Captain Hook in the midst of a week-long drunk. I clamp a pencil to the hook for keyboarding. This frees up the good hand to loft the tankard and hug the bar wenches.
Frank Miller is no doubt artistically very gifted, but he does have a more-than-slightly eyebrow-raising fixation on prostitutes.
I really hope there is someone standing behind him with an axe going "Okay now, Frank, remember, there are no whores in the Spirit..."
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