Will Eisner Original Spirit Art: The Good Ole Days p.1 (1950)

May 28, 1950. “SPLASH” (page 1) for “The Good Old Days” (Baseball story).

Here’s your chance to acquire something especially desirable and almost impossible to find: a Spirit splash page. It may not be the most dynamic splash page: The Spirit is absent, as is any human. No action takes place. But it’s still a compelling composition: The splash is entirely filled by an aerial view of the window looking into Commissioner Dolan’s office.

A bold SPIRIT logo (with typography foretelling a turn of the century story) and Eisner’s prominent signature take up the window shade portion. Peering inside the window, as rain of course pours (known as an “Eisnshpritz”) we see a ringing phone in Dolan’s office and no one there to answer. No fight scene or femme fatale--- just an Eisner storytelling tease: he is creating an instant mystery and a reason for us to turn the page.

Medium/Size/Condition: Brush, pen, and ink on Bristol board measuring 15 x 22 inches (38.1 x 52.8 cm). There is some knife scratching on the India ink to create the illusion of falling rain. Considerable White-out in the upper half around the logo. “The Good Old Days” lettering is a paste-up added later by Eisner, probably for the Kitchen Sink Press reprint series. Eisner’s New York Productions rubber stamp is on the reverse. Excellent overall condition.