World Famous Comics: Will Eisner's New York: Life in the Big City: New York, The Building, City People Notebook, Invisible People (Will Eisner Library)
Will Eisner's New York: Life in the Big City: New York, The Building, City People Notebook, Invisible People (Will Eisner Library)
By: Will Eisner Publisher: W. W. Norton Average Rating: Binding: Hardcover Format: Bargain Price Label: W. W. Norton Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 448 Publication Date: October 16, 2006
Product Description: "An American storyteller, like Ray Bradbury, like O. Henry."—Neil Gaiman
With an unparalleled eye for stories and expressive illustration, Will Eisner, the master and pioneer of American comics art, presents graphic fiction's greatest celebration of the Big Apple. No illustrator evoked the melancholy duskiness of New York City as expressively as Eisner, who knew the city from the bottom up. This new hardcover presents a quartet of graphic works (New York, The Building, City People Notebook, and Invisible People) and features what Neil Gaiman describes as "tales as brutal, as uncaring as the city itself." From ancient buildings "barnacled with laughter and stained with tears" to the subways, "humorless iron reptiles, clacking stupidly on a webbing of graceful steel rails," Will Eisner's New York includes cameo appearances by the author himself; several new illustrations sketched by Eisner, posthumously inked by Peter Poplaski; and three previously unpublished "out-takes"—a treasure for any Eisner fan, and sure to become a collectible. Introduction by Neil Gaiman.
One of Will Eisner's graphic novels. I was first attracted to Will Eisner's art and story telling when I was a kid. Don't look down you nose at graphic novels and certainly not this one. You don't have to be a New Yorker to appreciate his story telling abilities. In fact SciFi/Twilight Zone fans may get a big kick out of the stories in this book.
While it is a tad behind (IMNSHO) Will Eisner's "The Contract With God Trilogy" (which is sensational) Eisner's "New York" is still a great read.
A comic masterpiece about a masterpiece city Will Eisner (1917-2005) is considered one of the most influential writers establishing the graphic novel as an art form. This volume collects four of Eisner's major works about New York: New York: The Big City, The Building, City People Notebook, and Invisible People.
Neil Gaiman who wrote the very good Introduction calls Eisner a "remarkable observer of life in the Big Apple". Gaiman adds that this is by no means a Valentine to the city. "Eisner's eyes are wide open to the tragedies of city living -- just as they are to its glories. It's no Valentine, but it is, perhaps, a love-song to a city that he loves for its ups and downs, its terrors and its wonders."
This is a book that rewards looking more than reading (the text is sometimes quite leaden). But the images! Delinquent teenagers pulling a fire alarm for kicks are caught in a building fire on the very next page. Eisner's human characters play exaggerated roles, but they seem alive. The buildings also seem to have a life of their own.
Eisner writes: "The big city as it is seen by its inhabitants is the real thing. The true picture is in the crevices on its floors and around the smaller pieces of its architecture, where daily life swirls."
In "The Building", Eisner describes a landmark building that is torn down, and a new structure that is erected in its place. He tells the stories of four people whose lives were linked to the old building; its demolition leaves "an ugly cavity and a residue of psychic debris". But, of course, the new building will accumulate its own stories in time.
A happy ending in Eisner's world. And, for me, an entirely different way to understand one of my favorite cities.
Robert C. Ross 2008
Beautiful and interested Like other Eisner's books, this book contains beautiful illustrations. It is very impressive. As the story is about the city, Eisner draw the cityscape in very interested views. Additionally, the story about people and a city are very interested. Some sad, some happy, and some funny. Although some aspects we might already see it before, Eisner portrayed them in many views that we might oversight.
Start spreading the news. This book collects four of Will Eisner's comic books. I hesitate to use the term "graphic novels" because these aren't novels, they are short stories. Some of them are very short, being one page vignettes. The books collected are New York: The Big City, The Building, City People Notebook and Invisible People. Will Eisner was truly one of the geniuses of the comic book artform. This book tells the stories of regular city dwellers. Some of their stories are funny, some of them are tragic. But they are all worth reading. Highly recommended.
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