Monday, January 16, 2023

Will Eisner: Portrait of a Sequential Artist (2010)

Will Eisner: Portrait of a Sequential Artist (2010)

directed by Andrew D. Cooke
written by Jon B. Cooke

96 minutes

This documentary about Will Eisner tells the story of his life through interviews and footage from public events in which he participated. Interviews with many of his contemporaries are also included in the documentary. Audio clips from interviews that Eisner himself conducted in the early 1980s and which were later transcribed and printed in book form under the title of Shop Talk are also included in the movie. These interviews include talks with people like Neal Adams, Joe Kubert, Jack Kirby, and Harvey Kurtzman. 

Will Eisner's art is in part the subject of the movie but it is not the sole focus. Some of his better known works are talked about and seen in the movie but they do not get extended spotlights.

I watched the DVD version of this movie. It came out in 2010 according to the credits. According to IMDb the movie came out in 2007 and was 143 minutes long. There must have been more than one cut of the movie even though there is just one listed on IMDb. There are several people listed in the credits as interview subjects who did not appear on screen including Jamie and Gilbert Hernandez.

The DVD includes the full audio files for the Shop Talk interviews in the Special Features section.

I really enjoyed this snapshot of Eisner. There are lots of images from comic books and graphic novels that he wrote and drew including some work that preceded the Spirit.

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