The Building!

In this slight collection of short tales titled The Building, we see the history of a building in NYC. The stories center on folks who lived in and around the building. Monroe Mensh is a man who spends his life trying to redeem a moment of weakness and works tirelessly to make up for something he considered cowardice. Gilda Green seeks happiness in love, but ends up in a bad marriage, though she finds a bit of love in the end. Antonio Tonati is a violinist who just wants to make music. P. J. Hammond is a developer who spends his life trying to get hold of this particular property. 

Eisner's theme seems to be that while buildings have character and even charm, it's the people who live in and around them who give them importance and imbue them with a form of life, life worth memorializing. 

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The Kitchen Sink Spirit Cover Gallery #4

Here are the new covers that Will Eisner did for Kitchen Sink in 1988.

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The Kitchen Sink Spirit Cover Gallery #3

Here are the new covers that Will Eisner did for Kitchen Sink in 1987. 

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The Kitchen Sink Spirit Cover Gallery #2

With the twelfth issue The Spirit comic transformed into a black and white comic because of the economics of the market. We still got new Will Eisner covers though as the post-war stories continue to rumble along. These are the balance of the 1985 covers and the complete 1986 ones. 

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To The Heart Of The Storm!

To the Heart of the Storm is Eisner's most personal presentation. We are told his story in a series of clever flashbacks as Eisner's character reminisces on the train which is taking him to begin his military service. WWII was a scouring blast for a generation which still blows forth in our day. 

We are treated to scenes of street life as Will protects his brother, and how his father uses diplomacy to defuse violent situations. His father is a focus, as we meet a man who wished for a different life as an artist than he led as a tradesman, but nonetheless doesn't seem to regret each day he gets to live. His mother is a different story, as she seems to be somewhat disappointed with life and with her husband whom she still loves. 

We see how a young Will made friends and made plans, rich with the vigor of youth and blind in many ways to the anti-Semitism he and his family face on a daily basis. One of the results of the war effort was that it threw men and to a lesser degree women from across the broad span of America together. They brought their wishes, fears, and hatreds with them and most were changed, many for the better. 

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Dropsie Avenue - The Neighborhood!

This is the story of a community and not one person. We see it develop through several centuries from a tiny country hamlet in an indifferent natural setting into a smaller part of a vast and at times uncaring city. We see it rise and decline. Waves of immigration over the course of relentless years showcase the fact that humans can be both hateful and accepting of those different from them. 

Dutch give way to the English who give way to the Italians who give way to the Jews. We see men of poverty become rich and vice versa. We see women struggle for control of their own lives. We see heroes of a sort, rise up to battle for the community. But the overwhelming message is that time brings inevitable change and what seems so adamant today will fall away for something more vital. 

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A Life Force!

Life Force is the second part of what is commonly referred to as "The Contract with God Trilogy". This story shares the Dropsie Street setting but no characters. It is the closest Eisner comes to making a true-blue graphic novel. We have eleven chapters about a single family, though we focus on different members at different times. Various aspects of life are presented such as devotion, romance, sex and deception. 

We see the Shtarkah family confront and evade various hardships brought on by the onset of the Great Depression, and it is easy to identify with the struggle. Jacob and his wife Rifkah are dedicated to each and to their family. Rifkah is controlling and can be deceptive, and Jacob feels that burning need to prove himself as the breadwinner.  But most of all the message is to carry on. 

The central theme has to do with cockroaches and how much humans resemble them. As our "hero" says, both humans and cockroaches "just want to live". That desire and possible instinct to keep living is what gives this story its focus and its oomph. 

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