Creator of The Spirit now becomes one

Comic book giant* Will Eisner, creator of The Spirit, died yesterday of complications from heart surgery.

Eisner's influence on the medium of comics is incalculable. It is as a tribute to his innovations in the form and content of comics that the comic book industry's equivalent of the Oscar is called the Eisner.

Among his innovations are the splash page, silent panels, and educational comics. He helped launch the careers of Bob Kane, Jules Feiffer, Wally Wood, and Jack Kirby (no slouches themselves). Until the release of Scott McCloud's book Understanding Comics, Eisner's own Comics and Sequential Art stood as the definitive work on, well, understanding comics. Eisner also helped pioneer comics as literature, introducing the graphic novel to American audiences with his A Contract With God. Now, after 87 years, Eisner's own contract with God has reached the end of its term.

* Not to be confused with Henry Pym, aka Giantman.