WILL EISNER (1917-2005) "The manly art of self defense." Section cover art for The Spirit, November 11, 1940. Ink, correction fluid, and pencil on Bristol board. 14 1/4 x 18 3/4 inches. Signed. Inscribed, "To Jules Feiffer. Reluctantly, Will Eisner."
Feiffer commentary: I was working for Will at that time, although this was from a "Spirit" that preceded my work, and he didn't want to give any of his work away. I kept pestering him because I wanted something. He did give it to me, but he signed it, "To Jules Feiffer reluctantly Will Eisner." We had this real, true love hate irritation thing going on between us that lasted into my fame and beyond because he never could figure out why I got more famous and serious recognition than he did. He thought my success and my fame was some kind of fluke and maybe it was because I didn't use ballooned dialogue, my characters just spoke. He thought it was some kind of gimmick that I'd cooked up to get taken more seriously. It wasn't what I was saying on Vietnam, civil rights, parents and children, male-female relationships, it was because I had cut out the balloons. None of that cut any ice with him. This pissed me off, but he never stopped being a hero to me nonetheless. Beyond respecting him, I loved him. He was a hero to me.
In 2004, he came to see a play of mine called The Bad Friend about a family of Jewish communists in the 50s. And it changed his mind completely about me and my work. He was on the panel afterwards about the play. And he said wonderful things about it, and about my work. It changed our relationship. But not for long because about a year later he was dead.
