Interview conducted by Charles Brownstein
06/08/21 - Introduction - written by Frank Miller in 2005, shortly after the death of Will Eisner
06/09/21 - Chapter 1: Intent - for whom do you write? What is the composition of your intended audience?
06/10/21 - Chapter 2: Format - size and color
This is not the sort of book I want to breeze through. I find myself reading passages more than once because the book does not feel like it has a structured flow. The only structure is that it is a conversation.
I laughed when I saw the title of this chapter, mostly because I just walked through the rain. My jacket ain’t what it once was. I got wet but it could have been worse.
06/12/21 - Chapter 4: Creative Problems - working for others and making stories relatable
I’m not so sure about this book. I think I would enjoy listening to a recording of their conversation. I’m starting to wonder about these chapter titles and if this is the full interview or a heavily edited transcript.
06/13/21 - Chapter 5: Sexy - inking, stories and telling stories
Eisner has an interesting opinion about Jack Kirby and writing. It has to do with composing a scene versus writing a story.
I just noticed that Frank Miller looks younger in the photo on the cover than he does in the one on the inside back flap. I wonder when those pictures were taken. He also looks happier in the cover photo.
06/14/21 - Chapter 6: Inside the Master’s Studio - Eisner’s studio
06/15/21 - Chapter 7: Kink and Freedom - a more adult take on the Spirit
06/16/21 - Chapter 8: Stages and Creativity - Eisner works page by page and Miller pencils the whole book before he goes back and starts to ink
06/17/21 - Chapter 9: Film, Theater, and Family Matters - and Name of the Game
This is one of the longer chapters so far. It is also one of the more confusing ones. It’s pretty clear that unlike when they are talking about the craft of creating comics Eisner and Miller are not in agreement here. Miller did nothing to sell me on reading Sin City.
06/19/21 - Chapter 10: Color Technology - the ways in which color technology has changed over the years and changed how Eisner and Miller work
This is one of the more interesting chapters. It seems more focused than many of the others but at the same time I didn’t fully understand everything they said or were talking about. I got the gist of it: coloring processes have changed and made more and different things possible in comic books.
06/20/21 - Chapter 11: Old-Time Censors - EC Comics, the Comics Code Authority, Seduction of the Innocent, Underground Comix
06/22/21 - Chapter 12: Tales out of School - Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, Jack Kirby, Bob Kane, Bill Finger, Jerry Robinson
I like this chapter. It is more coherent even though they do bounce around a little bit as they talk.
06/23/21 - Chapter 13: Awards - impact of the Eisner Awards on Will Eisner and the comic book industry
06/24/21 - Chapter 14: Blockbusters - the obsession with comic books that make a big splash and the resultant affects on the industry
06/25/21 - Chapter 15: Living History - reprints and taking comics seriously as art
I’m halfway through the book and I think I have finally got a feel for the voices of both Eisner and Miller
06/27/21 - Chapter 16: Publishers and Outlaws - what use do the publishers serve?
06/30/21 - Chapter 17: Shop Talk - why and how did Eisner and Miller become comic book professionals? What kept them in the business? What do they hope to get out of it? What was the impact of Neal Adams and how is he regarded by people in the business?
This was a long chapter (20 pages) for this book, probably the longest one yet.
07/02/21 - Chapter 18: Old Testimony - Jewish culture and comic books
07/03/21 - Chapter 19: Cowardice and Shame - attempts to unionize, Neal Adams, Krigstein, comic strips
07/04/21 - Chapter 20: Bitterness and Backstabbing - creator’s rights, Bob Kane, Siegel & Shuster
07/05/21 - Chapter 21: The Schemer - creator’s rights, Wally Wood, business talk
07/06/21 - Chapter 22: The Measure of Success - how is success measured? do sales matter?
07/07/21 - Chapter 23: New York - how the city has figured into the stories they have told and the sorts of stories they have told about it
07/08/21 - Chapter 24: Breaking In
07/16/21 - Chapter 25: Professionalism - artists need to know their rights and responsibilities, they need to know which lines they need to be ready to cross and which lines they will not cross
07/17/16 - Chapter 26: Editors - deadlines and the difference between editors on creator owned and work for hire jobs
07/18/21 - Chapter 27: Hollywood - the perils and possibilities of selling the movie rights to a comic book property
07/19/21 - Chapter 28: Managing Your Career - the beginning of a conversation about freelance and how to approach a career in comic books
07/20/21 - Chapter 29: The Future - how will the medium survive? Where will comic books be bought and sold? This book was initially published more than 15 years ago, before the demise of big box book stores and the rise of ComiXology and Kickstarter and the like. Eisner and Miller seem fairly confident that the medium will survive although they aren't as certain about what form it will take.
07/21/21 - Chapter 30: Legacy
The conversation in this book took place in 2002. The book wasn’t published until 2005, a few weeks after Will Eisner died.
No comments:
Post a Comment