Will Eisner’s Contract with Comics

The paper deals with formal innovations in A Contract with God and Other Tenement Stories by Will Eisner, one of the forefathers of modern American comics. Eisner realized that comics had much greater potential and started experimenting with its form and content. He wanted to free comics of the sup...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Michaela Weiss
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Pardubice 2011-11-01
Series:American and British Studies Annual
Subjects:
Online Access:https://absa.upce.cz/index.php/absa/article/view/2191
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author Michaela Weiss
author_facet Michaela Weiss
author_sort Michaela Weiss
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description The paper deals with formal innovations in A Contract with God and Other Tenement Stories by Will Eisner, one of the forefathers of modern American comics. Eisner realized that comics had much greater potential and started experimenting with its form and content. He wanted to free comics of the superhero label and create artistically more complex works. When he published A Contract with God and Other Tenement Stories, it was advertised as “a graphic novel”. Since then the term has been widely used by publishers, critics and writers, even though not all of them agree on its definition. Moreover, as the title suggests Eisner’s book is not a novel but a collection of short stories written in the form of American Jewish immigration narrative, combining autobiography, memoirs and fiction. In this graphic novel Eisner not only revived the immigration narratives in a new medium, but also crossed the boundaries of American comics by presenting a vital and original form that influenced following generations of artists.
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spelling doaj.art-3fa37c8517a1411388c64afd76c112372023-05-06T14:00:47ZengUniversity of PardubiceAmerican and British Studies Annual1803-60582788-22332011-11-014Will Eisner’s Contract with ComicsMichaela Weiss0Silesian University in Opava The paper deals with formal innovations in A Contract with God and Other Tenement Stories by Will Eisner, one of the forefathers of modern American comics. Eisner realized that comics had much greater potential and started experimenting with its form and content. He wanted to free comics of the superhero label and create artistically more complex works. When he published A Contract with God and Other Tenement Stories, it was advertised as “a graphic novel”. Since then the term has been widely used by publishers, critics and writers, even though not all of them agree on its definition. Moreover, as the title suggests Eisner’s book is not a novel but a collection of short stories written in the form of American Jewish immigration narrative, combining autobiography, memoirs and fiction. In this graphic novel Eisner not only revived the immigration narratives in a new medium, but also crossed the boundaries of American comics by presenting a vital and original form that influenced following generations of artists. https://absa.upce.cz/index.php/absa/article/view/2191Will Eisnergraphic novelAmerican Jewish comicsimmigration narrative
spellingShingle Michaela Weiss
Will Eisner’s Contract with Comics
American and British Studies Annual
Will Eisner
graphic novel
American Jewish comics
immigration narrative
title Will Eisner’s Contract with Comics
title_full Will Eisner’s Contract with Comics
title_fullStr Will Eisner’s Contract with Comics
title_full_unstemmed Will Eisner’s Contract with Comics
title_short Will Eisner’s Contract with Comics
title_sort will eisner s contract with comics
topic Will Eisner
graphic novel
American Jewish comics
immigration narrative
url https://absa.upce.cz/index.php/absa/article/view/2191
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