dr_hermes (![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} dr_hermes) wrote in ![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small} scans_daily,@ 2009-05-15 20:03:00 |
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Am I the only one who feels increasingly uncomfortable with Will Eisner's later work? THE SPIRIT ended in 1952, but of course Eisner went on to create a lot more. A CONTRACT WITH GOD, LIFE ON ANOTHER PLANET, THE DREAMER, much more. I've read some of this material and the writing is excellent in every way, but the art bothers me. Everyone seems to be in so much pain. Faces are sagging, mouths puckered in grief, bodies seem ready to break under their own weight. There is a lot of unnecessary drool and faces covered with what seems too thick to be just sweat, as if the people are starting to fall apart. Maybe the necessity of featuring the conventional figure of the Spirit (and his cast) in earlier stories meant Eisner was required to tone this trait down. There's a lot of suffering (both physical and emtional) in the Spirit stories but having a continuing character meant there had to be some healing and recovery, as well. The frequent whimsy and playfulness seemed to vanish with the Spirit.
