Will Eisner

Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narrative

Two classic drawing textbooks from an American comics pioneer, revised and enhanced for a new generation.

Based on Will Eisner’s legendary course at New York’s School of Visual Arts, these guides have inspired generations of artists, students, teachers, and fans. In Comics and Sequential Art, Eisner reveals the basic building blocks and principles of comics, including imagery, the frame, and the application of time, space, and visual forms. Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narrative teaches how to control a story effectively using a broad array of techniques. With examples from Eisner’s own catalog and such masters as H. Foster, R. Crumb, Art Spiegelman, Milton Caniff, Al Capp, and George Herriman, these books distill the art of graphic storytelling into principles that every comic artist, writer, and filmmaker should know.

“A masterwork.”—Michael Chabon

“When I decided I wanted to write comics, I bought a copy.”—Neil Gaiman

“There isn’t a comics artist alive who hasn’t benefited from Will Eisner’s masterful work and formidable vision.”—Scott McCloud

Brooklyn-born Will Eisner (1917–2005), creator of Wonder Man and The Spirit, pioneered the graphic novel with A Contract With God. He is one of the greatest legends of twentieth-century comic art.

July 2008 / trade paper / ISBN 978-0-393-33127-1
7" x 10" / 164 pages / Graphic Design