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WILL
EISNER (1917-2005) Complete 7-page
Spirit Story
November 26, 1950. "THE SONG OF
LITTLE WILLUM."
Several months after his June
appearance, Willum returns in a Thanksgiving story,
structured as song verse. Though Will Eisner by late
1950 was generally delegating much of the Spirit art
to assistants, this is one of few stories from this
period that Will was able to draw almost single-
handedly (with layouts and script from Jules Feiffer's
script.) It includes such trademark Eisner images as
the angle shots up and down the ladder (page 3),
feathering techniques (like 4th panel, page 4),
shadowy figures (last panel, page 4) and action
sequences (page 6). It is also significant because
besides The Spirit and Willum it features an unusual
number of guest appearances: Detective Dick Whittler
(from the previous Willum story, plus friends and foes
like P'Gell, Hildie, Darling O'Shea, Sammy, Ellen
Dolan, Commissioner Dolan, and even references to Sand
Saref, Silk Satin, and Witch Hazel attending Willum's
surprise party.
There is also an unexpected
bonus: on the back side of page 7
are Jules Feiffer's pencils for the
first 6 pages, all scripted very closely to the
final version. There are almost no examples of
Feiffer's scripts/layouts that have survived, adding
another "archaeological" nature to this story. So
this Spirit is effectively eight pages
of original art.
Condition: No
paste-ups on art (though date on page 1 was added when
reprinted, and there is white tape at the bottom and
top of most pages.) Moderate White-out throughout.
Size: 15 x 22 inches
(38 x 56 centimeters) on heavy Bristol board.
Provenance: Warranted
to be from the Will Eisner estate, which this agency
exclusively represents.
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