So this morning, my high-speed Internet connection suddenly begins cutting in and out, mostly out. The Comcast people were of no help on the phone and they're currently planning to send out a repair person next week, assuming they can find one. But that wasn't a total crisis since I still had my dial-up connection, and I had a good idea how to fix the high-speed connection from my end.
My repair job was so flawless that I not only did not fix the high-speed connection, I wiped out my computer's ability to make a dial-up connection and busted my home network setup. Well, even I'm not that incompetent. I had help from a particularly nasty spyware infection that somehow got on my computer and made it deep into my system registry. My resident computer expert, Bill Goldstein, is making a house call later today to try and undo some of the damage done by the spyware and my inept attempts to fix things.
Around an hour ago, my high-speed connection mysteriously began working again. I'm not confident this is a permanent condition but as long as it's on, I'm able to log in and check mail and post this. I have oodles of messages about Will Eisner, like this one from Bob Foster…
I always knew Will Eisner, just like I always knew Carl Barks and Harvey Kurtzman. I grew up on their work. But it wasn't until I was an adult, working in the comics and animation business that I actually did get to know each of them.
In the early 90s I was living in Denmark and attended all the comic conventions and book fairs in Europe on business. It was in Angouleme, France that I seriously approached Will with the idea of teaching the art of graphic storytelling to a bunch of eager, out-of-work animators in Dublin, Ireland. The company I was working for in Copenhagen was recruiting new artists and writers, and Dublin was a fertile source. Will agreed.
He spent about 2 weeks teaching, and he was an inspiration! He'd arrive punctually and I had to force him to take a break or go to lunch. Otherwise he would keep blabbing away about story, character, acting, drawing, all the while demonstrating with great sketches. After 8-10 hours of teaching and talking and drawing and sharing anecdotes, we'd go out to a local pub and eat and drink, and he'd tell more stories and discuss every aspect of comics and their history until Ann forced him to stop and get some sleep. And the next day he'd do it all over again. Will was the kind of guy you wanted to spend time with even if he wasn't famous. I had a hard time keeping up with him, and he was 26 years older than me! Perpetually vibrant, hilarious, nourishing, inspiring. Boy, will he be missed.
Let me say something about his fantastic wife, Ann. What a kick! Always a bundle of energy with more great stories to tell, and with a great sense of humor. She always held her own at the pubs, too. She'd jump right into the conversations with her own opinions and recollections, making the evening a pure pleasure. Another inspiration!
None of this surprises me…or anyone who knew Will. His sheer creative energy was to be envied, and based on the occasional seminars and talks I was able to catch, I suspect he was a very good teacher. He was certainly open to all approaches and most encouraging about artists developing their own styles instead of aping his.
I'll post some more messages about Will and some more thoughts over the next few days. I lost too many hours today to this silly computer problem and to just feeling depressed about losing another of the greats. Good night.