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WILL EISNER (1917-2005) •
Original Spirit Art
August 29, 1948. Page 2 from “The Prisoner of
Donjon”
Eisner at his cinematic best! Will
Eisner shows why The Spirit is called “the Citizen Kane of
comics,” with this dynamic page from “The Prisoner of
Donjon.” This cinematic page shows Eisner flexing his
storytelling chops with a dynamic composition that draws
the reader’s eye from an establishing shot of an excavator
working on the site of a demolished prison and working all
the way down to an eccentric and forgotten prisoner buried
in the dungeon for unknown eons. “This is my style of
storytelling,” Eisner told Dave Schreiner in 1987, calling
it “an instance where the cinema shows up in my work. I
maintain that most of my work is theatrical and uses
stagecraft, but here, with those top two tiers especially,
that’s where film shows up. The inserts of the men in the
steamshovel are like close ups in a film, used in the
midst of some action. I’m also directing the reader’s eye
toward that hole in the ground.”
Beyond this page’s significance as an outstanding example
of Eisner’s groundbreaking storytelling techniques, it
also is a delightful work of art. The noir shadows and
inventive point of view shots are presented with bold
inks, while the characters’ expressive faces pop thanks to
some lovely crosshatching and brush work. You can
practically feel the sweat, grit, and surprise emanating
from each character. This page is a wonderful scene from
the Spirit’s later years.
As the story unfolds, Spirit discovers that Smudge, the
harmonica-playing forgotten inmate, was wrongly imprisoned
for 37 years. This proves to be a dilemma for everyone.
Smudge doesn’t want to leave jail. Dolan doesn’t want the
department’s bad press for wrongfully imprisoning Smudge.
And the crooked lawyers who framed Smudge - Redtape and
Snarl – are at odds, because Redtape wants to come clean
and Snarl wants to frame the Spirit with breaking and
entry to keep their secret. This leads to a struggle
between Redtape, Snarl, and Smudge where the latter takes
a bullet as each tries to get what they want. At the end
of the story no one winds up happy except the reader who’s
treated to a classic example of Eisner’s prime-time
storytelling.
Medium/Size/Condition: Brush, pen, and
ink on Bristol board measuring 16.5 x 23 inches (42 x 58
cm). Rubber cement discoloration along the top and bottom
margins outside of image area. Small date, series, and
printer notation stamps at top margin outside of image
area, handwritten story and page number indication at the
bottom margin White-Out and correctional scraping in a few
places but overall in excellent condition.
Further reference: Much
other Eisner art, plus out-of-print graphic novels,
Spirit comic books and magazines,
signed serigraphs,
his Famous
Cartoonist
Button, and numerous other
Eisner-related items are accessible from our sister
store Steve
Krupp’s
Curio
Shoppe. Just type his name (or The
Spirit) into our search bar.
Provenance: The Will Eisner estate is
exclusively represented by the Denis Kitchen Art
Agency, an affiliate of Steve Krupp’s Curio Shoppe and
Gallery. This drawing is warranted to be an authentic
original created by Will Eisner, and sold on behalf of
his estate. Note: Image is © Will Eisner Studios, Inc.
Reproduction for commercial purposes requires
permission. |
