Will Eisner, where to start?

[Kid Kyoto]

I've not read any of his work, what's a good TPB to start with? Is the Spirit genuinely entertaining? Is there a specific collection to pick up?

[Jeff Brady]

For action/adventure stuff, there's The Best of the Spirit:



And for more dramatic/real life stories, A Contract with God is the best place to start out with.

[elheffe]

If i was you I'd just start buying the Kitchen Sink reprints.



You can usually find 'em for a buck or less - cheaper than new comics. On the inside front cover Eisner usually explains what when into the stories.

[ragnarok_2012]

I've not read any of his work, what's a good TPB to start with? Is the Spirit genuinely entertaining? Is there a specific collection to pick up?

I found a lot of Will Eisner trades at my local library, and I'd recommend that you start there.

At my local library, I've found a Spirit Archive, the Best of Spirit trade, and the Contract with God trilogy.

I think the Best of Spirit trade is a great place to start to get a taste of the Spirit.

The Contract with God trilogy was incredible.

I also found Invisible People to be moving.

[Iangould]

I've not read any of his work, what's a good TPB to start with? Is the Spirit genuinely entertaining? Is there a specific collection to pick up?

Start with The Best of the Spirit.

It took about a year for Eisner to really hit his stride on The Spirit and then there was a period during WWII when was in the service and the quality dipped somewhat so simply ploughing into The Spirit from the start may turn you off before you get to the great post-war stuff.

A Contract with God is very good but thereafter Will did several lesser works such as Signal From Space and a Life Force. He really reached his peak in the last few years of his life with books like "Last Day in Vietnam", "A Small Killing", "The Plot" and "Fagin the Jew".

[Noah Johnson]

I'd say start with A Contract With God. Or my favorite, Dropsie Avenue: The Neighborhood.

Or there's his autobiographical piece, The Dreamer. That's pretty inexpensive, too.

[clayholio]

I'd say start with A Contract With God. Or my favorite, Dropsie Avenue: The Neighborhood.

Or there's his autobiographical piece, The Dreamer. That's pretty inexpensive, too.

Dropsie Avenue was really, really good. The Dreamer was also a good read, but it seemed kind of an incomplete story. There was a Will Eisner Quarterly for a while (each one was TPB sized, but not too expensive if I recall), if you see any of those, I'd recommend picking 'em up.

[Iangould]

The Dreamer was also a good read, but it seemed kind of an incomplete story.

Well "To the Heart of the Storm" kind of picks up where The Dreamer ended.

[Kid Kyoto]

I have the plot but found it pretty heavy handed, good art and a good message but no one really needs 300 pages to convince me the Protocols of the Elders of Zion are nonsense.

I'll try best of spirit and contract with God. Thanks.