Comic book artists and writers: Will Eisner

To kick off the new month and continue my posts on comic book artists/writers, I thought I'd start with a man who gave so much to the industry, the great Will Eisner. This guy has to be by far one of the few men in the industry that has been a part of it since the beginning. Like WWII and WWI veterans, the men still around that have been a part of comic books since the 1940's are few and rare. Eisner not only pioneered several new styles of art and storytelling for comics, he also created one of the best beloved heroes, The Spirit. Bottom line for his origin is Denny Colt was a private investigator on the trail of a criminal by the name of Dr. Cobra. He finds Cobra, who plans to release a toxin into Central City's water supply that will put them to sleep for three days so he can rob them blind. The vat breaks open onto Denny, who is found and presumed dead. Three days later he wakes up, and sees the advantage to this being dead business. He adopts a new identity... The Spirit, once again fighting crime. The only person who knows who he truly is behind the mask is Police Commissioner Dolan. And so that's that folks. Will Eisner continued to work in the business, writing and drawing everything himself despite having slight arthritis in his hands. Will died of complications from a quadruple bypass surgery in December of 2004. This year will mark the 5 year anniversary of his passing. Rest in peace Mr. Eisner and thanks for all you gave to us.

Comics Book Artists and Writers Gardner Fox

Gardner Fox is perhaps, by and large one of the least-known writers of the Golden Age of Comics (early 40's to mid 50's) since its begining. He created the gas-mask wearing detective the Sandman, wrote some of the early stories for Bob Kane's character the Bat-Man (later Batman), stories for the Golden Age Flash Jay Garrick and with Sheldon Mayer helped to create the Justice Society of America; the first superteam, predating the Justice League and the Fantastic Four by three decades. During the Silver Age (1956-1970) he created the Multiverse with a story appearing in The Flash #123 entitled "Flash of Two Worlds" and also helped create the Justice League of America. Fox continued to work with comics until his death in 1986.

Comic book artists and writers: Jack Kirby

This post will be on the "King of Comics", Jack Kirby. Kirby helped to create some of the greatest and most memorable characters in the Marvel pantheon. He started his work in the Golden Age of Comics, the 1940's, partnering with Joe Simon to create one of the countries most patriotic heroes, Captain America. In the 60's, when Marvel's sales were going down due to the rising popularity of DC Comics, revived superheroes, he created along with Stan Lee, the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, the original X-Men. Over the years until his death he continued to expand the mediums boundaries,devising photo-collage covers and interiors, developing new drawing techniques such as the method for depicting energy fields now known as "Kirby Dots", and other experiments. He also created the Fourth World, introducing characters like Darkseid, Orion and the other New Gods and residents of Apokolips. He continued to create amazing characters and drawings, his work being some of the most recognizable comic book art of the 20th century. Jack Kirby died on February 6, 1994.

Comic book artists and writers: Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster

To start off my new series of posts on comic book artists and writers, I thought I'd begin with the men who gave us THE superhero. If it hadn't been for Jerry and Joe creating Superman, who knows what might have happened? The thing is, their idea was almost completely shelved, if not for National Publications (DC) editor Vin Sullivan buying the character from the boys and giving Superman the chance to fly (back then he didn't fly, just leaped buildings in a single bound). So to Jerry and Joe I salute you, thanks for giving America its first, and finest superhero.