Norton presents here two classic drawing textbooks, 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 catalogue and such masters as R. Crumb, Art Spiegelman, Milton Caniff, H. Foster, Al Capp and George Herriman, these books distill the art of graphic storytelling into principles that every comic artist, writer and filmmaker should know.

Legendary comics creator Will Eisner turns a fine eye toward the principles of graphic storytelling in this extraordinary work, based on his popular Sequential Art course at New York's School of Visual Art. Readers will learn the basic anatomy of sequential art, the fundamentals of crafting stories, and how the medium works as a means of expression--a literary form that uses the arrangement of images and words to narrate a story or dramatize an idea. Eisner has created the most insightful and dynamic examination of the comic art form to date. It's perfect for use by the serious student, practicing professional and curious comic fan. The accumulation of ideas, theories and advice culled from his more than sixty years of experience is stunning to behold. "Eisner has written an important, possibly definitive guide book to the creative process." --Publishers Weekly

Norton presents here two classic drawing textbooks, 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 catalogue and such masters as R. Crumb, Art Spiegelman, Milton Caniff, H. Foster, 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 work more disturbing than fiction from "the father of graphic novels" (New York Times).
Will Eisner, the great American master of comics, has undertaken what he regards as his most powerful work yet. The Plot examines the outrageous fabrication of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, which purports to be the actual blueprint by Jewish leaders to take over the world. Hatched as an anti-Semitic plot by the tsar's secret police to deflect widespread criticism of the government, the Protocols, first published in 1905, succeeded beyond the propagandistic ambitions of its originators; the lie became an internationally accepted truth. Presenting a pageant of historical figures including Tsar Nicholas II, Henry Ford, and Adolf Hitler, Eisner exposes the twisted history of the Protocols from nineteenth-century Russia to modern-day Klan members to Islamic fundamentalists. The Plot unravels one of the most devastating hoaxes of the twentieth century.

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 hardback presents a quartet of graphic works (New York, The Building, City People Notebook and Invisible People) and includes cameo appearances by the author himself; several new illustrations sketched by Eisner, posthumously inked by Peter Poplaski; and three previously unpublished "out-takes". Eisner's character, "The Spirit", has been optioned to be a major film. It contains an introduction by Neil Gaiman.

The legendary graphic novel and the sequels that launched an art form.
With graphic narrative that "was closer to the writing of Bernard Malamud or Isaac Bashevis Singer than any comic art which had preceded it" (The Economist), A Contract with God, originally published in 1978, was the first graphic novel: the prototype—along with A Life Force and Dropsie Avenue—for such seminal works as Maus and Persepolis. Set during the Great Depression, this literary trilogy, assembled in one volume for the first time, presents a treasure house of now near-mythic stories that fictionally illustrate the bittersweet tenement life of Eisner's youth. With nearly one dozen new illustrations and a revealing brand-new foreword, this book ultimately tells the epic story of life, death, and resurrection while exploring man's fractious relationship with an all-too-vengeful God. This mesmerizing, fictional chronicle of the universal American immigrant experience is Eisner's most poignant and enduring legacy.

Will Eisner (1917–2005) saw himself as "a graphic witness reporting on life, death, heartbreak, and the never-ending struggle to prevail." The publication of
when Eisner was sixty-one proved to be a watershed moment both for him and for comic literature. It marked the birth of the modern graphic novel and the beginning of an era when serious cartoonists could be liberated from their stultifying comic-book format.
More than a quarter-century after the initial publication of
, and in the last few months of his life, Eisner chose to combine the three fictional works he had set on Dropsie Avenue, the mythical street of his youth in Depression-era New York City.
As the dramas unfold in
, the first book in this new trilogy, it is at 55 Dropsie Avenue where Frimme Hersh, the pious Jew, first loses his beloved daughter, then breaks his contract with his maker, and ends up as a slumlord; it is on Dropsie Avenue where a street singer, befriended by an aging diva, is so beholden to the bottle that he fails to grasp his chance for stardom; and it is there that a scheming little girl named Rosie poisons a depraved super’s dog before doing in the super as well.
In the second book,
, declared by R. Crumb to be "a masterpiece," Eisner re-creates himself in his protagonist, Jacob Shtarkah, whose existential search reflected Eisner’s own lifelong struggle. Chronicling not only the Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression but also the rise of Nazism and the spread of left-wing politics, Eisner combined the miniaturist sensibility of Henry Roth with the grand social themes of novelists such as Dos Passos and Steinbeck.
Finally, in
, Eisner graphically traces the social trajectory of this mythic avenue over four centuries, creating a sweeping panorama of the city and its waves of new residents—the Dutch, English, Irish, Jews, African Americans, and Puerto Ricans—whose faces changed yet whose lives presented an unending "story of life, death, and resurrection."
The
is a mesmerizing, fictional chronicle of a universal American experience and Eisner’' most poignant and enduring literary legacy.

Designed and outlined by Will Eisner before his death in 2005, the third and final book in the "Will Eisner Instructional Series" reveals the secrets of Eisner's techniques and theories of movement, body mechanics, facial expressions and posture: the key components of graphic storytelling. This posthumous masterwork is destined to become the essential textbook on the craft.

A companion to Comics & Sequential Art, this book takes the principles examined in that title and applies them to the process of graphic storytelling. Eisner shows comic artists, filmmakers and graphic designers how to craft stories in a visual medium. They'll also learn why mastering the basics of storytelling is far more important than the hollow flash and dazzle seen in lesser work. Readers will learn everything from the fine points of graphic storytelling to the big picture of the comics medium, including how to: * Use art that enhances your story, rather than obscuring it * Wield images like narrative tools * Write and illustrate effective dialogue * Develop ideas that can be turned into dynamic stories These lessons and more are illustrated with storytelling samples from Eisner himself along with other comic book favorites, including Pulitzer Prize-winner Art Spiegelman, Robert Crumb, Milton Caniff and Al Capp.

The struggle to tell a comics story visually requires more than a cool-looking image; it takes years of experience and a thorough understanding of the art form's visual vocabulary. Assembled in Panel Discussions is the combined knowledge of more than a dozen of the industry's top storytellers, covering all aspects of the design of comics, from pacing, story flow, and word balloon placement, to using color to convey emotion, spotting blacks, and how gutters between panels affect the story! Learn from the best, as Will Eisner, Scott Hampton, Mike Wieringo, Walter Simonson, Mike Mignola, Mark Schultz, David Mazzucchelli, Dick Giordano, Brian Stelfreeze, Mike Carlin, Chris Moeller, Mark Chiarello, and others share hard-learned lessons about the design of comics, complete with hundreds of illustrated examples. When should you tilt or overlap a panel? How can sound effects enhance the story, and when do they distract from it? What are the best ways to divide up the page to convey motion, time, action, or quiet?

From The New Yorker
Eisner’s career encompassed much of the history of comic art, from the birth of comic books, in the nineteen-thirties, through the contemporary efflorescence of the graphic novel (a term that Eisner popularized with the 1978 publication of "A Contract with God"). Creating the detective feature "The Spirit" in the nineteen-forties, he developed a flexibility of page layout that married visual complexity to storytelling sophistication. Late in life, inspired by the autobiographical focus of R. Crumb, Eisner began publishing stories based on his own life. The five pieces collected here include evocative accounts of suffering at the hands of anti-Semitic bullies in the Depression-era Bronx, and of early adventures in the comic-book industry. Whatever the subject, Eisner manages a light touch: every page is sure-handed, carried out with subtlety, grace, and wit.
Copyright © 2007 Click here to subscribe to The New Yorker
NY Book Review
Eisner’s career encompassed much of the history of comic art, from the birth of comic books, in the nineteen-thirties, through the contemporary efflorescence of the graphic novel (a term that Eisner popularized with the 1978 publication of "A Contract with God"). Creating the detective feature "The Spirit" in the nineteen-forties, he developed a flexibility of page layout that married visual complexity to storytelling sophistication. Late in life, inspired by the autobiographical focus of R. Crumb, Eisner began publishing stories based on his own life. The five pieces collected here include evocative accounts of suffering at the hands of anti-Semitic bullies in the Depression-era Bronx, and of early adventures in the comic-book industry. Whatever the subject, Eisner manages a light touch: every page is sure-handed, carried out with subtlety, grace, and wit.
Copyright © 2007 Click here to subscribe to The New Yorker
Book Description
An intimate self-portrait of the American icon Will Eisner, and a chronicle of the career that launched a new art form.
In what will be the closest thing Eisner fans will see to an autobiography, the great master and pioneer of American graphic arts presents the most intimate and personal perspective yet on his life as a writer, a professional, and an artist. "The Dreamer" and "To the Heart of the Storm" describe Eisner's gritty early life and career, while "The Name of the Game" chronicles a personal history of his wife's family. Finally, two shorter pieces illuminate the bookends of a legendary career: "The Day I Became a Professional"—which will appeal to any hopeful young artist—describes Eisner's first rejection from a potential publisher, and "A Sunset in Sunshine City" provides a poignant portrait of Eisner in old age. The book features famous characters from the world of comics (under pseudonyms, of course) and other historical figures and family members, all drawn with Eisner's characteristic mastery and technique.
About the Author
Brooklyn-born Will Eisner, creator of Sheena, Queen of the Jungle and The Spirit, pioneered the graphic novel with A Contract With God. He is one of the greatest legends of twentieth-century comic art.

啟發當代無數創作者的視覺語彙超能力！
漫畫與連環畫做為當今動畫、遊戲、影視作品的始祖，蘊藏的高度視覺性與強大故事動能，不僅是無數創作者的養分，也是創作、改編、敘事手法的靈感來源。
《漫畫與連環畫藝術》作者威爾‧艾斯納（Will Eisner）是國際公認的漫畫藝術宗師、圖像小說之父、美漫教父，美國漫畫界的奧斯卡「艾斯納獎」更是以他為名。本書是艾斯納在紐約視覺藝術學院的授課精華，作者以豐富的漫畫為例，講述在連環畫形式中，視覺語彙與表現的基本觀念與實踐方法，深具啟發性，是所有利用連環畫面說故事的漫畫及動畫創作、影視分鏡、腳本編劇不可或缺的重量級著作。
「《漫畫與連環畫藝術》是一部經典巨作，集結威爾˙艾斯納天賦與才華之大成，才有了這一本解說清楚又內容吸睛的著作。」
──麥可˙謝朋（Michael Chabon），美國普立茲獎小說家《卡瓦利與克雷的神奇冒險》作者。
「書中含有動漫教父所開創的必備漫畫技巧。」
──傑夫˙史密斯（Jeff Smith）骨頭》漫畫作者
「當我決定著手創作漫畫時，我就買了威爾˙艾斯納的《漫畫與連環插畫藝術》，並且詳細拜讀。假使我直至今日才決定開始創作，在市面上汗牛充棟的漫畫與圖像小說教學書中，我依然會選這本作為我的入門書。」
──尼爾˙蓋曼（Neil Gaiman），《睡魔》《美國眾神》作者
「世上沒有一位漫畫家未曾得益於威爾˙艾斯納的漫畫巨作，以及他令人欽佩的眼光與遠見。」
──史考特˙麥克勞德（Scott McCloud）《了解漫畫》作者
本書教你深入漫畫與連環畫藝術的形神精髓
圖像創作的概念
圖像溝通
製造意象
掌控時間
景框與視角
肢體語言資料庫
腳本
寫實風格vs.卡通風格
發展歷史與複印技術
壁畫與象形文字
連載漫畫與諷刺畫
圖像小說
複印技術的影響
紙本與數位的差異
實驗性質的漫畫
頁面與框格
起始頁的功用
分格形式
框格與線條設計
營造節奏
視覺動線
內容繪製
草稿繪製
構圖
視覺焦點
時間的控制
凝結瞬間
姿態與表情
對話設計
圖文搭配
對話泡泡
字體與符號
圖像vs.對白
創造聲音感
啞劇手法
連環畫的應用
圖像小說
網路漫畫
技術教學漫畫
態度引導漫畫
分鏡腳本

大師親授最具影響力的圖像說故事技法！
「威爾˙艾斯納是開創這個領域的傳奇人物，我仍心懷敬畏，他讓我以身為卡通畫家為榮。」──朱德˙威尼克（Judd Winick）《佩德羅與我》與《綠光戰警》作者
「書中有動漫教父開創的必備漫畫技巧。」──傑夫˙史密斯（Jeff Smith）《骨頭》作者
這個世代運用圖像說故事的表述方式飛快增長。圖像化的敘事，在漫畫或圖像小說的發展淵源深遠，已是成熟的藝術形式，進而成為當今動畫、遊戲、影視內容創作和改編的強大泉源，也是不可或缺的重要能力。
《圖像說故事與視覺敘事》是由國際公認漫畫藝術宗師、圖像小說之父——威爾‧艾斯納（Will Eisner）親自傳授圖像在形成一個好故事時所涉及的重要觀念與實踐方法。書中對說故事本質和敘事建構的清晰指引，有助於腳本編寫、動畫創作、影視分鏡等視覺藝術不同面向的應用，是內容創作者不可多得的重量級教學書。
本書教你整合圖像與文字呈現精采絕倫的故事
說故事的故事
故事的形成
故事的結構
故事的功能
以意象說故事
圖畫做為敘事工具
刻板印象的圖畫
象徵式物件
服裝與體貌
符號的應用
激發讀者的反應
構思不同類型的故事
「假如？」的發想
說一則「how to」的故事
說一則「沒有情節」的故事
說一則插畫故事
說一則象徵性的故事
說一則反映現實的故事
說一則人生的故事
超級英雄故事
全圖像的故事
連載／短篇／單頁的故事
網路漫畫
說故事的人
說故事人與讀者的契約寫作者vs.圖像轉譯者
建構故事的特色
設計分格構圖
圖像說故事的先驅者
說故事的風格
讀者的影響
撰寫有力的對白
運用「共感」說故事
維持故事吸引力
控制閱讀節奏

當漫畫成為文學藝術……
奠定「圖像小說」全新文類，美漫教父圖像敘事的革命之作
革新漫畫的開拓之作精裝收藏版，
紀念威爾．埃斯納百年冥誕
史考特．麥克勞德 Scott McCloud 導讀
威爾．埃斯納的開拓之作《與神的契約》，在1978年默默出版，建立了我們現在所知的「圖像小說」類型，也啟發了整個世代的畫家。「百年冥誕紀念版」採用原畫的全新高解析複製版，帶來生動的清晰度，以及對埃斯納寫作、插畫和構圖的貼近感。高度還原威爾．埃斯納對藝術之願景，提供讀者收藏等級的方式，去體驗這本確立埃斯納成為美國圖像敘事先知地位的開拓之作。
★各界專家好評推薦（按姓名筆劃排序）
Elainee（藍尼），漫畫家 ｜ 小莊，導演、漫畫家 ｜ 艾爾先生（張清龍），作家｜
林玠均（艾姆兔），漫畫家、國立臺灣藝術大學多媒體動畫藝術學系講師｜
咎井淳，漫畫家 ｜黃珮珊，慢工出版總編輯 ｜鄭宇庭，新手書店創辦人｜
謝東霖，漫畫家｜
「莊嚴又悲慘。」——寇特．馮內果Kurt Vonnegut（黑色幽默文學大師）
「埃斯納不只領先他的時代，現在我們仍在追趕他。」——約翰．厄普戴克John Updike（普立茲文學獎得主）
「威爾．埃斯納的畫作革新了漫畫書。」——《娛樂週刊》
「威爾．埃斯納就是美國漫畫的心靈與頭腦。」——史考特．麥克勞德Scott McCloud（漫畫評論家）
「像雷．布萊伯利（Ray Bradbury）或歐亨利（O. Henry.）那樣的美式敘事者。」——尼爾．蓋曼Neil Gaiman（作家）
「不像他那個時代的其他漫畫家，他創造的是心情、氣氛和真實感。」——朱爾斯．菲佛Jules Feiffer（漫畫家）
「本書不是寫給尋求下一場超級英雄戰鬥的小孩看的。相反地，這是針對比較成熟讀者的長篇漫畫形式。嚴格來說， 《與神的契約》是根據埃斯納童年回憶的四個短篇故事合輯。它貼近地描繪1930年代布朗克斯區的移民生活，向逝去的世界致敬——然而不是美化的過去，而是有許多缺陷與醜陋的過去。悲劇的主角群都注定失敗，每個故事也在結局呈現出驚人的轉折。」──朱利安．沃羅Julian Voloj（作家）
「我重述這個故事的部分原因是無法公正描述埃斯納用來呈現的藝術手法。光是前八頁戲劇化的赫許沉重地穿過暴雨回家──每一「格」（埃斯納比史上任何人都擅長運用的圖像小說文法元素）都激發人們想像。雨水宛如生物倒在人物、街燈、公寓大樓、卓普西大道55號牆上每塊磚頭的每一吋上。字型壓抑著赫許，契約籠罩著他吃力的身形，室內樓梯間彷彿哪裡都去不了。」──約翰．雷普John Repp
啟發一種新藝術形式的圖像敘事革新之作
威爾．埃斯納在漫畫的黎明期便已參與其中。1940年代，他以備受好評的每週連載《閃靈俠》（The Spirit）拓展了這個媒體的邊界，隨著《與神的契約》在1978年出版，他創造了一個全新的載體：圖像小說。它前所未見，開創了一個漫畫家從有所侷限的連載被解放的時代。埃斯納的作品是漫畫可能性的耀眼範例，跟文學藝術一樣創新、感人又複雜的載體。
埃斯納自認是「報導生死、心碎和無盡掙扎求勝的圖像見證人」。本書開頭的迷人故事，反映出作者現實人生中的悲劇：獨生女之死。虔誠的猶太人弗林．赫許在失去自己最愛的小孩之後，質疑他和上帝的關係。赫許的危機，進而交織出經典的卓普西大道，及大道上令人難忘的居民生活，無疑是大蕭條高峰期時，紐約典型街道的縮影。
《與神的契約》在1978年默默出版，建立了我們現在所知的「圖像小說」類型，也啟發了整個世代的畫家。此書取材自都市生活中不斷流轉發生的故事，以虛構的「卓普西大道」，呈現經濟大蕭條時期的典型紐約街頭與公寓租屋文化。開頭的迷人篇章，反映出作者現實人生中的悲劇：獨生女之死。虔誠的猶太人赫許在失去自己親愛的小孩之後，開始質疑他和上帝的關係。赫許的危機，也交織出卓普西大道上其他居民的故事：來去流轉的公寓大樓、無法抓住機會的街頭歌手、被打敗的管理員……
這本精裝「百年冥誕紀念版」以原畫的全新高解析掃描，展示了埃斯納的獨特視覺風格，並新增了漫畫專家史考特．麥克勞的導讀，與埃斯納作品的早年簡史。現在，讀者們可以體驗到引發新藝術形式，確立埃斯納作為美國圖像敘事偉大開拓者之一的傳奇之書了。

The legacy that Will Eisner (1917–2005) had on sequential art cannot be overstated—his innovative storytelling, layouts, and art on his newspaper series The Spirit inspired a generation of cartoonists, and his turn toward an acclaimed run of graphic novels beginning in 1978 with A Contract with God helped pioneer the form. This catalogue includes over 175 selected illustrations, reproduced from the original artwork, from the landmark Will Eisner Centennial Celebration exhibitions taking place in 2017 at Le Musée de la Bande Dessinée in Angoulême and the Society of Illustrators in New York. Dual English and French text with essays by Denis Kitchen, Paul Gravett, and John Lind.
Celebrating the centennial of a master storyteller!
Over 175 Eisner illustrations, reproduced from the originals!
The official catalogue to exhibitions at Le Musée de la Bande Dessinée in Angoulême and The Society of Illustrators in New York!

A revolutionary novel, "A Contract With God" re-creates the neighbourhood of Will Eisner's youth through a quartet of interwoven stories. Called "a masterpiece" by R. Crumb, "A Life Force" chronicles not only the Great Depression but also the rise of Nazism and the spread of socialist politics. In "Dropsie Avenue", Eisner traces the social trajectory of this mythic avenue over four centuries, creating an unending "story of life, death, and resurrection".

"There isn't a comics artists alive who hasn't benefited from Will Eisner's masterful work and formidable wisdom."—Scott McCloud, author of Understanding Comics In Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narrative, Will Eisner—one of the most influential comic artists of the twentieth century—lays out the fundamentals of storytelling and their application in the comic book and graphic novel. In a work that will prove invaluable for comic artists and filmmakers, Eisner reveals how to construct a story and the basics of crafting a visual narrative. Filled with examples from Eisner's work as well as that of artists like Art Spiegelman and R. Crumb, this essential work covers everything from the fine points of graphic storytelling to the big picture of the medium, including how to: Combine words and images into seamless storytelling. Wield images like narrative tools. Master different types of comic book stories. Write and illustrate effective dialogue. Develop ideas that can be turned into dynamic stories.

A roman à clef about Eisner's early years in the thriving comics industry prior to World War II featuring new annotations that reveal the comics pioneers like Bob Kane and Jack Kirby who appear under pseudonyms.