This is a biography of celebrated American cartoonist Will Eisner.

It would be hard to imagine any creators who have more greatly affected their chosen medium than Will Eisner and Frank Miller have influenced the world of comics and graphic novels. Often misunderstood, but enduringly enjoyed by people from all walks of life, the comic book has in recent years been recognized as a 'legitimate' art form by cultural institutions ranging from Harvard University to the Smithsonian, from The New Yorker to the Art Institute of Chicago.

Two classic drawing textbooks from an American comics pioneer, revised and enhanced for a new generation. Based on Will Eisner's legendary course at New York's School of Visual Arts, these guides have inspired generations of artists, students, teachers, and fans. In Comics and Sequential Art, Eisner reveals the basic building blocks and principles of comics, including imagery, the frame, and the application of time, space, and visual forms. Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narrative teaches how to control a story effectively using a broad array of techniques. With examples from Eisner's own catalog and such masters as H. Foster, R. Crumb, Art Spiegelman, Milton Caniff, Al Capp, and George Herriman, these books distill the art of graphic storytelling into principles that every comic artist, writer, and filmmaker should know.

Universally acknowledged as the leading guide to the mastery & practice of comic book art & graphic storytelling. Written & profusely illustrated by Will Eisner, the internationally acclaimed pioneer award winner & teacher of this proliferating medium. Mr. Eisner has authored 10 graphic novels & is the creator of the classic newspaper comic THE SPIRIT. Based on classroom lectures & almost 60 years of experience, the author writes for both teachers & the working practitioners. Designed to be of use to both beginners & professionals. He uses his own art as demonstrations & examples to clearly focus on comics as a literary-art medium. The book covers the entire process of sequential art & discusses scripting, lettering, timing, imagery, panel composition, expressive anatomy & the visual language of comics. Widely used in classrooms as well as in studios, the book has become a classic. It has been translated into four foreign languages. It is a popular sourcebook in public & school libraries & is referred to as a pioneering work. "By documenting the theories & subliminal techniques integral to the art Eisner has written an important possibly definitive guidebook to the process."--PUBLISHERS WEEKLY. "...The book resembles a college-level course in the mechanics...it is both a study of the vocabulary & a dismantling of the creative process...Essential reading."--THE COMICS JOURNAL.

Suddenly, comics are everywhere: a newly matured art form, filling bookshelves with brilliant, innovative work and shaping the ideas and images of the rest of contemporary culture. In Reading Comics, critic Douglas Wolk shows us why this is and how it came to be. Wolk illuminates the most dazzling creators of modern comics-from Alan Moore to Alison Bechdel to Dave Sim to Chris Ware-and introduces a critical theory that explains where each fits into the pantheon of art. Reading Comics is accessible to the hardcore fan and the curious newcomer; it is the first book for people who want to know not just what comics are worth reading, but also the ways to think and talk and argue about them.