Will Eisner Dead at 87

Posted on January 5, 2005

Comics legend Will Eisner has died, after complications from quadruple bypass surgery. He was 87. Eisner is widely regarded as the father of the modern graphic novel. He created The Spirit, a hero without superpowers. The popular comic strip ran in the 1940s and 1950s, and has recently been reissued by DC Comics. A brilliant writer and artist, Eisner was expected to recover from surgery, but took a turn for the worse and died Monday in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where he lived. Bestselling novelist Michael Chabon told an interviewer that Joe, one of the heroes of his novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay," shares some features with Mr. Eisner. "Right from the beginning, he saw comics as art. He didn't have any compunction about it. He wasn't apologetic. He didn't have that 'yeah, sorry, I draw comics' kind of attitude that almost every other artist at the time did." The New York Times has a full obituary.