Will Eisner was a pioneer in the comics industry. Arguably the inventor of The Graphic Novel and one of the first of this new generation of artists who recognized that comics could be a serious art form.
He also created THE SPIRIT, which despite the horrific Frank Miller film I haven't even seen but I know it's bad, is one of the best adventure strips published in human history. His stories were loaded with real people, comedy, drama, tragedy and action. He could tell more story in eight pages than most of us can tell in 800.
Eisner was one of my professor's at SVA and he was tough as nails. A quick wit, a great sense of humor, but if you phoned in an assignment you didn't want to be there.
He made all of us work harder and be better artists. But more than anything else he stressed to me the importance of the business side of the commercial art industry. He inspired me to continue my education with business classes and to understand economics and marketing.
Eisner produced an eight page comic every week along with dozens of commercial art assignments all while he ran his own publishing house. Not feeling well? Too tired to get an assignment in?
That's not an excuse. Successful people don't make excuses. They make work.
