With a career as a writer and artist that spans virtually the entire history of the medium, Will Eisner is one of the most innovative and influential creators of comic books and graphic novels. From his earliest work on the newspaper supplement, The Spirit, Eisner strove to understand and develop his chosen art form. His career has been driven by his canny business sense and by a belief that sequential art (as he prefers to call comic books and graphic novels) is a valid medium of artistic expression that deserves wider acceptance and respect.

As a teenager, Eisner's artistic talent simply represented a way out of the grim reality of Bronx tenement life during the Depression. After a brief stint studying at the Art Students League and working in a magazine advertising department, Eisner began writing and drawing comics for Wow, What a Magazine...