WILL EISNER. Original SPIRIT Art. Page 3
from "Tunnel" a.k.a. "The
Invention of Dr. Medulla" (March 21, 1948).
Commissioner Dolan and Officer Klink are featured, along with Professor
Medulla and his remarkable machine which can record a dead man's
memory. Trademark Eisner folds and feathering throughout. The
projection in the last panel looks like Eisner's parody of 1948-era
modern art!
Medium/size/condition/price: Ink on Bristol board 16 3/8 inches wide x 22 1/4 inches
high. "Silverprint" strip loosely rubber-cemented at very top with
newspaper (Philadelphia) and page (incorrect). Strip at bottom long ago
fell off revealing cement residue and handwritten publication date and
page. Pencil correction in left margin. Small areas of white-out,
mainly around balloons. There were originally two balloons above
Medulla's head in the final panel, but Eisner inked over them in a
denser ink than the surrounding blacks. Someone with access to an
infra-red camera could find out what the Professor was saying or
thinking that Eisner decided to self-censor in 1948.
Overall clean and excellent.
Provenance:
Warranted to be from the private archives of the Will Eisner estate
(exclusively represented by this agency) and further warranted to be
authentic. The art comes with a descriptive Bill of Sale from the
estate and agency.
Many Spirit fans would
love to own one or two vintage 1940s Eisner Spirit originals
but cannot afford a full 7-page story (averaging over $15,000). It was Will
Eisner's long-standing policy not break up his complete stories.
But on behalf of his estate we are able to offer single pages
from the several stories that were incomplete for various reasons.
|