Wil Eisner, RIP

The New York Times reports that comics pioneer Will Eisner, creator of "The Spirit," has died at the age of 87. I've always meant to read Eisner's graphic novel "A Contract With God." One of the most difficult things about getting older, dear reader, is the daily dropping away of your (by which I mean of course, my) home culture. Slowly, death by death, the world you came into and came to know shifts to a new one filled with strangers. The new world may be better, but it always FEELS worse, as the people you admire or who created the framework for your thoughts pass away.



But we must always remain flexible!



Speaking of comics, I received "In the Shadow of No Towers" for Xmas. I talked with Art Spiegelman about it a bit when it was being serialized in Der Zeit (I think that was the place). An initial scan suggests that it is a fantastic piece of work--but I must admit that 9/11 still shakes me enough to make me apprehensive about reading it.



Another thing that came into our house as the result of Xmas--given to my wife by her excruciatingly thoughtful husband--are some collections of Mike Mignola's "Hellboy." Really, really enjoyable work. His use of folklore as fodder for stories is a brilliant move, and he does it exceedingly well. The movie just scratches the surface...