« I-Con | Main | Marathon weekend »
April 08, 2005
Remembering Will
We’ve gotten really good at saying goodbye.
DC Comics has developed a tradition of bringing together people from throughout our small industry to say farewell to noteworthy figures from our past. This all started in the 1980s when we held a small staff-only memorial for E. Nelson Bridwell, who passed away after a lingering illness.
Since then, we’ve honored many in this way. We got so good at it that during the bankruptcy nonsense of the 1990s, we wound up hosting the memorials for Carol Kalish and Mark Gruenwald even though neither worked for DC but were Marvel fixtures.
These gatherings are particularly good for the deceased’s family since in many cases, they knew little about their spouse’s professional connections. This point was hammered home at Julie Schwartz’s memorial last spring.
On the other hand, Ann Eisner knew exactly what her husband Will had been up to. She sat quietly yesterday, listening to a parade of all-star talent get up and talk about what Will meant to them.
The memorial was held at the Angel Orensanz Foundation Center for the Arts, a former temple located in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, a perfect setting to remember Will Eisner. To show their respect, people traveled from afar including his Italian and Spanish publishers. Dark Horse had a nice contingent headed by publisher Mike Richardson and his earlier publisher Jim Warren made a rare public appearance. Among the attendees were pioneers Jerry Robinson and Joe Kubert; creators Frank Miller, Mike Mignola, John Byrne, Peter David, Scott McCloud; journalists Maggie Thompson, Peter Sanderson, Heidi MacDonald and an army from DC. Harlan and Susan Ellison, Bob Chapman from Graffiti Designs and Byron Preiss and agents Denis Kitchen and Judy Hansen and Dynamic Forces’s Nick Barrucci. The great Jules Feiffer, Will’s former assistant, was also there but briefly given to family matters and he chose not to speak.
After opening remarks from Paul Levitz, we had a brief welcome from Ann. Jon B Cooke from Comic Book Artist provided an edited version of an Eisner documentary he has in the works, created with his brother Andrew. It was nice hearing from Will, even if it was only on screen. After that, Paul spoke about Will and then the floor was opened. Over the course of the dozen or more speakers who stood at the podium, we got to hear certain traits that have carried through the years: his cheapness, but he seemed to poke fun at himself for it; his professionalism; and his drive to look forward and push the limits of what can be done with the comics form. Will seemed never to tire of teaching and encouraging people while eschewing acting like a legend. He wanted to be a peer even though the rest of us knew him as first among peers.
I sat towards the rear and listened. I had no great anecdotes to share and my appreciation for Will can be found in the young adult biography.
After the formal talk ended, a portrait of the Spirit doodling a sketch of Will was taken off the easel and at Peter David’s suggestion, got as many of the Big Names in attendance to autograph it so it may be subsequently sold to raise funds for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. I also took the opportunity to introduce myself to Jerry Robinson, thanking him for all his help and support on Batman: Cover to Cover. As we chatted, Byrne also introduced himself and then Jerry asked for our help.
He’s lobbying the Eisner Awards committee to add an award to recognize new writing talent, similar to the Russ Manning Award for artistic talent. Robinson wants it named after the much-neglected Bill Finger. Makes sense to me. So, anyone involved in the Awards, as voter, judge or committee, please speak up and for this notion.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at April 8, 2005 10:00 AM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.malibulist.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/2734
Comments
The memorial services hosted by DC have been one of the classiest gestures on the part of the company over the years. I know of almost no other organization in any industry I am familiar with that is willing to host such events at all, let alone on company time. When I worked there, I felt priveleged to attend a couple of these services for legendary figures I had never known on a professional basis, only as a fan boy. However, I think I need to correct you on one fact. I remember the memorial service for Carol Kalish quite well, as we had been friends prior to my joining the comics industry. Carol died in 1991, which was several years before the Marvel bancruptcy. (I know because I worked for Malibu, which Marvel bought pre-bancruptcy, in 1994.) As far as I recall, this sad event was in fact either hosted by Marvel or at the very least by then Marvel president Terry Stewart , who presided over the occasion. Many DC employees attended, of course, as did a number of Carol's associates from all walks of life, but I do not believe that DC actually hosted it.
Posted by: jimchadwick at April 11, 2005 01:12 PM