Will Eisner's Comics and Sequential Art

Will Eisner's Comics and Sequential Art is hands down the most comprehensive, insightful and intellectually stimulating guide I have read on illustrated literature to date. Eisner focuses on the inner workings of imagery, timing, the frame, expressive anatomy and the creative process in his book; specifically, the way they work together in tandem to drive sequential art. Each chapter is superbly researched and presented eloquently, replete with illustrative examples.

In his chapter on imagery, Eisner describes letters as images. Tracing back the origins of writing to pictographs, he illustrates this point with examples from ancient Chinese and Egyptian as well as his own work, presenting a temporally sound argument that spans thousands of years.

But words are not necessarily more important than images, according to Eisner. He makes the fascinating assertion that "The absence of any dialogue to reinforce action serves to determine the viability of images drawn from common experience", bolstering this claim is his premise that the image takes primacy over text in a piece of sequential art.

In his chapter on timing, Eisner explains "Critical to the success of a visual narrative is the ability to convey time". Although I whole-heartedly agree with this claim, I would modify it slightly: Critical to the success of understanding a visual narrative is the ability to convey time. And Eisner explains quite thoroughly how time can be conveyed in sequential art through frames, text, splashes and myriad other devices.

Perhaps the least interesting chapter in Eisner's book, although highly informative and illustrative nonetheless, is his focus on frames. His description, although helpful to the first time reader, seemed a bit rudimentary. Especially in comparison to his later and quite brilliant explanation of power points within frames and the geometry of emphasis.

On the whole, I found this book to be inspiring. Eisner is as eloquent in his didactic ability as he is talented. For anyone seeking to understand sequential art at a higher level, this is a must read.