Will Eisner - Michael Schumacher [183]
80 “I was ambivalent”: Brian Jacks, “Veterans Day Exclusive: ‘The Spirit’ Creator Will Eisner’s Wartime Memories,” published online on November 11, 2008.
CHAPTER FIVE: A PRIVATE NAMED JOE DOPE
82 Epigraph: Maggie Thompson, “Will Eisner,” Golden Age of Comics #2.
82 “[I] talked to him”: Eisner, Will Eisner’s Shop Talk, p. 159.
83 Eisner in the army: Archivist/author Cat Yronwode compiled comprehensive Spirit and Will Eisner checklists, with dates and extensive commentary on Eisner’s work. These checklists appeared as a regular feature in The Spirit Magazine beginning with #22 and running through #32. In addition, she edited and wrote the text for The Art of Will Eisner, which reprints a strong sampling of Eisner’s work while he was in the army.
83 “The Spirit was”: Brian Jacks, “Veterans Day Exclusive: ‘The Spirit’ Creator Will Eisner’s Wartime Memories,” published online on November 11, 2008.
86 “I feel”: Jim Amash, “I Always Felt Storytelling Was as Important as the Artwork,” Alter Ego 3, no. 58 (May 2005).
86 “I don’t know”: Ibid.
86 “Except for the ownership”: Mike Barson, Ted White, and Mitch Berger, “… and I Threw In a Hat … ,” Heavy Metal, November 1983.
87 “What arguments”: Cat Yronwode, “Eisner’s P*S Years,” The Spirit Magazine #33 (February 1982).
90 “Captain America was created”: Goulart, Great History of Comic Books, p. 154.
90 “Here was the arch villain”: Simon, Comic Book Makers, p. 42.
91 “Only when”: Gerard Jones, Men of Tomorrow, p. 210.
93 “During the war”: Tom Heintjes, “Stage Settings: A new Spirit world,” The Spirit #73 (CB).
93 “I had to assure”: Ibid.
94 “blonde, slim”: Andelman, Will Eisner: A Spirited Life, p. 89.
CHAPTER SIX: FLIGHT
95 Epigraph: Eisner and Miller, Eisner/Miller, p. 271.
95 “When I came out”: “Catch the Spirit,” Four-Color Magazine, January 1987.
96 “Those who are”: Shawna Ervin-Gore, “Will Eisner,” Darkhorse News (undated press release).
97 “For some reason”: Tom Heintjes, “Stage Settings: The Spirit that almost wasn’t,” The Spirit #52 (CB).
97 “As far as”: Ibid.
98 “I said”: Will Eisner, “Art and Commerce: An Oral Reminiscence by Will Eisner,” interview conducted and edited by John Benson, Panels #1 (summer 1979).
98 “quite casually and disarmingly”: Jon B. Cooke, “Jules Feiffer: His Early Years with Will Eisner,” Comic Book Artist 2, no. 6 (November 2005).
98 “He had no choice”: Ibid.
99 “Every time”: Ibid.
99 “intensity”: Eisner, “Art and Commerce.”
99 “If you think”: Cooke, “Jules Feiffer.”
100 “He had a real ear”: Tom Heintjes, “Stage Settings: The guarding of the change,” The Spirit #69 (CB).
100 Eisner/Feiffer working relationship: In Panels #1, Jules Feiffer talked extensively about the way he and Eisner worked together, and in a lengthy sidebar, he detailed his contributions to each individual Spirit entry, beginning on February 23, 1947, and running through September 28, 1952. Some of Feiffer’s memories are vivid, others cloudy, reflecting the unique nature of his collaboration with Eisner. In many of his interviews over the years, Eisner could be very generous in his recollections of Feiffer’s contributions to The Spirit; in some cases, however, he could be possessive, even testy, about his creation. One gets the impression, when talking to those who knew the two artists at the time, that they felt both affection for and envy toward each other, Feiffer for Eisner’s superior talents as an artist, Eisner for Feiffer’s superior talents as a writer. Feiffer conceded that he was nowhere near as talented artistically as Eisner, yet he’d won a Pulitzer Prize, not Eisner, and this was a form of acceptance that Eisner craved but would never receive. “Will felt a little irritated by me,” Feiffer said in an interview for this book. “I achieved what he hadn’t. I could see how he’d feel that way.”
100 “I can’t keep”: Maggie Thompson, “Will Eisner,” Golden Age of Comics #2 (1982).
100 “It made for”: Tom Heintjes, “Stage Settings: A doubly heralded new year,” The Spirit #65 (CB).
100 “Maybe