A Contract with God, page 23

Artist: Will Eisner (All)

30 Comments - 2,181 Views - 2 Likes

Click Image to View Full Size

Artwork Details

Title:	A Contract with God, page 23
Artist:	Will Eisner (All)
Media Type:	Pen and Ink
Art Type:	Interior Page
For Sale Status:	NFS
Views:	2,181
Likes on CAF:	2 3
Comments:	30
Added to Site:	6/17/2013
Comic Art Archive:	A Contract with God Issue: [nn] Page: 23 View

Description

I believe that most people in the comic industry understand and appreciate the contributions of Will Eisner (1917-2005), but I�m not sure how many current collectors realize how much of an impact he continues to have on everything we see today. For example, in every comic book store, when you see the wall of graphic novels, do you realize that all of those books exist, in part, due to the vision of one man?

Will Eisner began his career in the 30�s, and is best known for the creation of �The Spirit�. While I could go on for pages regarding the Spirit, I�ll save that for a future update. Suffice it to say that the storytelling techniques that Eisner pioneered in that weekly comic trained and inspired many of the artists of the last 50 to 60 years. Perhaps more importantly, Will, using a business acumen that escaped many of the creators back in the 30�s and honestly, some today, realized that newspaper publishers, eager to compete with comic books publishers, would be willing to cede the need for character ownership in exchange for camera ready stories, laid out and ready for advertising. Thus, Will retained ownership of his ideas, including his most famous creation. The Spirit, which ran from 1940 to 1952, was generally 7 pages of story, week in and week out, and at one point had a weekly circulation of some 5 million! Will wrote most of the stories and handled much of the artwork. Think about that volume. That�s a little more than a monthly book for over 10 years. Of course, to accomplish that feat, he hired many assistants to work with him over the years, including (among others) Joe Kubert, Don Perlin, Tex Blaisdell, Wally Wood, Lou Fine, Jack Cole, Jerry Grandenetti, Andre LeBlanc, and Abe Kanegson (as letterer) and many others, as well as writers Jules Feiffer, Manly Wade Wellman and William Woolfolk.

After the Spirit�s run ended, Will basically stayed below the radar and away from the comic industry, creating graphic communications for the government and other companies. He continued to be an advocate of the art form, and discussed ways to raise the level of the medium. Will wanted to elevate sequential artwork and publishing a �graphic novel� with a non-comic book publisher was integral to that plan. In 1978, after working on the project for two years, Eisner was able to have A Contract with God, and Other Tenement Stories published by Baronet Books. It was important to Will that these stories were published as a hardcover book, by a respected publisher. Eisner�s stories, post Spirit, were more personal, and in some ways, much more harshly real. The Spirit has some surprisingly rough storylines, but the Spirit himself existed to soften the tone without sacrificing the tenor of the story. These later stories, centered around the fictional Dropsie Avenue in the Bronx, were more personal. The irony and frankly, the pain, in some of these stories is palpable. While not widely known at the time, in 1970, Eisner lost his sixteen year old daughter to Leukemia, and that personal tragedy changed his view of God and religion. In his excellent autobiography of Eisner, Michael Schumacher discussed Will�s anger at the loss, and that tragic experience clearly was the basis for �Contract�. Although it wasn�t a huge success at first, Contract was reissued by Kitchen Sink Press, then by DC, and later by WW Norton. It�s now published in 11 languages and widely considered to be one of the first graphic novels.

Subsequent to Contract, Eisner went on to create almost 20 more graphic novels. The comics industry�s most prestigious annual award for excellence, The Eisner, is named after him.

The story resonated with me, and I empathized with the confusion and pain experienced by Frimme Hersh. If you�ve never read the story, do yourself a favor, and pick up a copy. It�s powerful storytelling. When I had a chance, I jumped at the opportunity to pick up a page from the story that shows what Eisner did best; communicate feelings though imagery. For me, the story is all about page 23. In this page, Eisner illustrates the impotence and anger that follows with the realization that his adopted daughter is gone; that God doesn�t make deals with mortals; and that life isn�t always fair.

It�s a special page, and I�m thrilled and honored to have it in my possession.

Social/Sharing

About the Owner

	Ron S Premium Gallery Owner
Joined:	June 2007
Last Login:	September 2025
Ebay Id:	lihama5
Country:	UNITED STATES
On CAF:	Premium Member Q&A Artworks Commented On Liked Art Site Activity on CAF

Contact the Owner

Use can use a contact form to send an email to this gallery owner,
but, you must be logged in to use this feature.

Comments on this Artwork

You must be logged in to make comments.

Filmore W. Bedwick
Member Since 2003

Posted on 6/17/2013

Eisner at His Supreme Best!!!!

Mark Levy
Member Since 2004

Posted on 6/17/2013

Great Pickup - Life isn't fair...one of my favorite sayings for the young'uns!

Alex Johnson
Member Since 2006
Forum Moderator

Posted on 6/17/2013

Seriously, a page from "A Contract with God?!?!" Wow. What a great find. I sometimes think you won't buy something I love to look at, but it hasn't happend yet. Thanks for that. :)

LB Jefferies
Member Since 2003

Posted on 6/17/2013

Boom

Tom Coker
Member Since 2005

Posted on 6/17/2013

Heavy duty graphic story-telling by Eisner! What a wonderful example by a great man who realized the possibilities of the artform.

Dan P
Member Since 2009

Posted on 6/17/2013

A historic book and a great page from it!

Jep Soto
Member Since 2009

Posted on 6/18/2013

Congratulations. A special piece of art by the master Will Eisner.

Oystein Sorensen
Member Since 2005

Posted on 6/18/2013

One of the most expressive pages from this masterpiece of a graphic novel. Congratulations!

Joseph Serpico
Member Since 2009

Posted on 6/18/2013

Great background info. As for the page itself, yes, it is the essence of the story. It speaks volumes. Wonderful addition to your collection.

Doc R
Member Since 2010

Posted on 6/18/2013

Ron, Awesome description and history lesson. Visually and historically this is an amazing piece. Congrats!

Tim G
Member Since 2010

Posted on 6/18/2013

A true piece of history! Congrats.

Jeff Singh
Member Since 2004

Posted on 6/18/2013

Very powerful page on many levels. Eisner could do anything... and he did with this book.

. .
Member Since 2009

Posted on 6/18/2013

Awesome!! Congrats. Cherish this!

Dave W
Member Since 2006

Posted on 6/18/2013

Excellent page, the emotion is palpable here - Eisner at his best! Congratulations!

Jim Stevenson
Member Since 2008

Posted on 6/18/2013

Very nice! I need to read this soon (I have it on my shelf...looking for time :)

E DLS
Member Since 2005

Posted on 6/18/2013

Knowing the personal side of this really adds to its poignancy. Congratulations on this powerful and profoundly emotional example. There�s a reason why an award of excellence is named after him.

A Arntfield
Member Since 2010

Posted on 6/18/2013

Ah yes. Iconic. I bought the signed first edition when it was published and I still marvel at it. Congrats on a stellar addition to the collection!

Rob Pistella
Member Since 2005
Forum Moderator

Posted on 6/18/2013

Another thoughtful pick up Ron. Your description is so very accurate, Eisner is certainly a (relatively) unsung hero in our field and his influence is incalculable. Well done!

Chris K.
Member Since 2008

Posted on 6/18/2013

A thing of beauty accompanied by a terrific write-up! The signature page from the series...in your collection...how weird.

Peter Sullivan
Member Since 2006

Posted on 6/18/2013

Anyone who has read this remembers this page. I prefer this to his Spirits stories. Each to their own taste. Its wonderful.

Mike (aka Off White) White
Member Since 2008

Posted on 6/18/2013

When I saw these pages come available for sale,this was the one page I just loved the most! Congrats!!

D. J. Peters
Member Since 2006

Posted on 6/18/2013

Great page. Wonderful line work. Thank you for sharing!

Cary Appel
Member Since 2009

Posted on 7/25/2013

really beautiful.. i want one too

GianCarlo Nardini
Member Since 2004

Posted on 10/4/2013

Wow. Wow.

Thomas V
Member Since 2008

Posted on 3/4/2014

Are you kidding me!?! A contract with god is a game changer. You have something truly special here. Congrats.

Robert Altamura
Member Since 2006

Posted on 8/16/2014

Just finished reading this graphic novel. It took me a while to find it. This is a powerful page by one of the giants. Your description is terrific.

Timothy Finney
Member Since 2006

Posted on 7/11/2017

I don't remember seeing this one before. It's the climax of one of the most influential books in comic book history.

Jeff Singh
Member Since 2004

Posted on 4/10/2019

Worthy of a second comment. Truly a heart breaking and earth shattering page. If you had to keep only one page in your collection, I'd think this would be near the top of that list.

Keith Becker
Member Since 2018

Posted on 7/5/2019

This is a great page from a great book. It’s one of my favorites of your whole collection, Ron.

This book has a real special place for me. I got my grandmother to read comics with me, with this book. It was the nice hardback edition that had Contract, Life Force and Droopsie. She and I fell I love with Eisners graphic novels together. I would order them and have some sent up to her in Mass first, and others I’d get from the shop and I’d read them first, and then we’d swap and talk about them. It was the last couple of years of her life, and it was a great way to bond.

She’d call me and be like “Keith, are there any more of those books by that nice Jewish author... because the old Sicilian lady has to know you by your ethnicity... I just LOVE his art! And the STORIES! So she and I read the entire Eisner Graphic novel bibliography together. The man was a genius. And I love The Spirit. But for me Eisner’s true mark were these graphic novels. And these are what are really in my nostalgic sweet spot.

Sorry for the word diarrhea Ron. I really just love this page, a lot, and a five-word “congrats” couldn’t do it justice. It’s such a great page from one of my all time favorites. I’m glad it’s in a great collection, owned by a great guy. And it really makes me happy to see it on CAF.

Peter Sullivan
Member Since 2006

Posted on 8/5/2021

A Contract with God is a high point of graphic novels. I went to the bother of getting the original signed version after I first read it when it was reprinted. Deceptively simply drawn but masterful in every way.

All
	sly design 9/6/2025 3:39:00 AM
	Bob Goerder 9/6/2025 3:33:00 AM
	Dennis Books 9/6/2025 3:10:00 AM
	Randy Allman 9/6/2025 2:54:00 AM
	Richard Donnelly 9/6/2025 2:53:00 AM
View All


	Stefan H 9/6/2025 2:17:00 AM
	David F. 9/6/2025 1:44:00 AM
	Gio Scarp 9/6/2025 1:38:00 AM
	--J S-- 9/6/2025 1:24:00 AM
	Sam Casciato 9/6/2025 12:38:00 AM