Will Eisner Week Day 3 – New York

Today I took the opportunity to crack open an Eisner collection that i wasn’t familiar with and it happened to be this book, WILL EISNER’S NEW YORK: THE BIG CITY.  I had no idea what to expect and was delighted by the comics inside.

It’s a collection of very short cartoon meditations about everyday New York City experiences, and feels very much like Eisner stretching his legs and experimenting with storytelling techniques. He’s messing around with repeating panels, layouts, negative space, ink washes, camera angles, and so on.

Check out this quick little mailbox comic:

It’s refreshing to see that this legendary artist liked to play around with the medium and make little comics that didn’t fit into a more traditional “graphic novel” mindset.  If you’re only familiar with Eisner’s work through The Spirit or The Contract With God, I’d highly recommend  New York: The Big City for a more easygoing way to experience Eisner’s cartooning expertise.

Check back here tomorrow for more Will Eisner goodness.