Will Eisner's Shop Talk

by Will Eisner, Jack Kirby, Harvey Kurtzman, et al.

Awards:
Will Eisner: Winner 2001
Harvey Award Best Graphic Album of Original Work for Last Day in Vietnam


Will Eisner is a master of the comics medium, and when he got together to chat with other masters of the medium, what came of it was a collection of information vital to everyone working in the industry, and indispensable to anyone looking to get into it. Featuring interviews with Jack Kirby, Joe Simon, Gil Kane, Joe Kubert,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 156971536X
• ISBN13: 9781569715369
• Release Date: June 2001
• Publisher: Dark Horse Books
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 1.08 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.4" x 9.1"
• Age Range: 10 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 5 and higher

Customer Reviews

Interesting Insights of Old Comics Creators! No Hype.

Since Will Eisner is a such a respected figure in the comics industry, it seems that all of the interviewed gentlemen took their interview seriously. These are interesting interviews about how each artist got started in the comics business, and how they went about their work, as well as the ups and downs of their career struggles. Most of these interviews discuss events that occurred decades earlier. These are not interviews full of fluff and hype, as would appear in contemporary trade magazines that are trying to promote some upcoming comic book product line.Since Will Eisner is the interviewer, each interviewee seems to be taking him seriously, and respectfully as either a peer or an inspiration. Thus, these comics creators are willing to go a little deeper with their insights and experiences of their careers.All of the interviews occurred in the early 1980's, so many of the interviewed people have since passed away. But since the subject of conversation is usually about events of the Golden and Silver Age of comics (1935-1975 ROUGHLY), these interviews read like new interviews anyway. Each interview reads like a transcript of two guys sitting around, casually talking about the good old days. So if your idea of the good old days is the Golden Age of comic books, then you will thoroughly enjoy this book.I picked up this book to read about Gil Kane, Jack Kirby, and Joe Kubert; but I ended up being introduced to the careers of Milton Caniff, Neal Adams, Harvey Kurtzman, and others, folks who I had heard of but had never followed their works before.So this book gave me many insights and new attitudes about the field of comics creation.It's also nice that all of the interviews are sprinkled with many b/w photos, pictures and drawings of each interview subject, so reading this book really does become a nice introduction to artists whose work you may not be familiar with.If you're a serious, adult comics fan, then you will probably enjoy this book!