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Will Eisner Original Spirit Art: The Ball Game pg. 6 (1949) * NOT AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE *
Price: $1,450.00
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WILL EISNER (1917-2005) •
Original Spirit art
“The Ball Game,” page 6” (1949)
A rare incursion of sports in The Spirit. New sidekick
Sammy (replacing for a while the controversial
Ebony) plays baseball on the Caribbean “Isle of
Monabau” (likely alluding to Cuba). As the siesta-loving
players gradually fall asleep we cut to The Spirit
who is attempting to escape. For those who enjoy the
“archaeology” of comic art (digging under the surface)
there is a great example in the final panel. The
paste-over is now loose, allowing us —and the next
owner— to see what Will Eisner originally
inked under the gnawing rope panel. In that version
the shirtless Spirit is sitting on the lap of the
hapless guard, and an eagle-eyed (or dirty minded)
editor evidently thought that initial man-on-man
composition held a sexual innuendo, so the layout was
changed to the characters standing. Note that the Philadelphia
Inquirer Photostat at the top shows the wrong
date of July 3, 1949. The rubber stamp at the very top
is the correct date: July 31, 1949. A paste-over was
made in 1949 on the incorrect Inquirer date,
but it subsequently fell off, as any serious comics
archaeologists knows from the discoloration where the
correction was once glued.
Medium/Size/Condition: Brush, pen and ink on
Bristol board measuring 15 inches wide x 22 inches
high. Yellowing rubber cement residue where the
Photostat at the very bottom is long-missing. The
final panel is loose, as described in detail above.
Some selective White-out. Very fine 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. |
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