The Spirit's creator is immortalized in TwoMorrows' Deluxe Edition of Will Eisner: A Spirited Life So much more than just a new printing, this expanded, full-color hardcover Deluxe Edition of Bob Andelman 's out-of-print biography explores the fascinating life of Will Eisner , detailing a more than 70-year career in which he spearheaded comics for adult readers and created the first widely accepted graphic novel, A Contract with God . From his childhood to famously turning down a proposal for Superman, to educating Army soldiers in P.S. Magazine and creating The Spirit , Eisner's personal and professional life is told in dramatic detail. Andelman spent almost three years interviewing Eisner prior to his passing, researching his life and work and interviewing friends, family, and colleagues including Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons, Neil Gaiman, Denis Kitchen, Joe Kubert, Stan Lee, Jules Feiffer, Jim Warren, Dave Sim, Denny O'Neil, Neal Adams , and Patrick McDonnell . In addition to dozens of full-color images from Will's archives and private collections (not found in the original edition), this expanded Deluxe Edition includes a series of new interviews with Drew Friedman, Howard Chaykin, Darwyn Cooke, Sergio Aragones, Ken Quattro, Michael Uslan , and others, which clear the air on some topics left unfinished by the first edition, and add depth to the reader's knowledge of Eisner's body of work. It features an insightful introduction by Michael Chabon , and a Foreword by Neal Adams . Michael Chabon contributes a heartfelt introduction to Andelman's first-ever biography of Will Eisner (1917-2005), and the story that follows is a real-life Kavalier and Clay . Present at the comics industry's birth in the 1930s, Eisner revolutionized the field not just creatively in work spanning from his 1940s stories featuring masked crime fighter the Spirit to his later, pioneering graphic novels but also as businessman and entrepreneur, teacher, mentor, and the inspiration of countless young artists. Andelman covers all those roles and points up Eisner's uniqueness among his peers: he retained ownership of his creations, and that allowed him to reprint the Spirit stories at a time, decades after their original publication, when so doing cemented his reputation in a new era of comics fandom and facilitated launching a new career as a graphic novelist with A Contract with God (1978). Besides verifying Eisner's impact on nearly every artist who drew comics in his wake, Andelman shows that Eisner's influence extends to such film directors as Spielberg and Tarantino. Gordon Flagg Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved What the book is most to be commended for is the sheer volume of people Andelman is able to get on the record to talk about Eisner, not to mention the invaluable firsthand accounts from Eisner himself. --Wil Moss, Nashville City Paper, June 9, 2006 The definitive profile of this influential and talented comics genius... Once I picked this book up, I found it hard to put down. I give my heartiest recommendation --Heavy Metal magazine, March 2006 Perhaps most poignant, however, are the testaments to Eisner's influence and talent from peers such as Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons, Robert Crumb and Neil Gaiman. -- Kevin Walker, Tampa Tribune (January 8, 2006) "... affectionate and comprehensive... For pure biography, A SPIRITED LIFE is great." --Steven Grant, Master of the Obvious, Comic Book Resources, December 14, 2005 "Our Highest Recommendation." --BudPlant.com, November 26, 2005 A Spirited Life features an introduction by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chabon ( The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay ) and an appreciation by artist Neal Adams. It also includes interviews with many of Eisner's contemporaries, such as Alan Moore ( Watchmen ), Dave Gibbons ( Watchmen ), Neil Gaiman ( Anansi Boys ), Denis Kitchen, Jim Warren ( Creepy, Eerie, The Spirit Magazine , Dave Sim ( Cerebus ), Denny O'Neil ( Batman ), and legendary Marvel Comics creator and editor Stan Lee. Author Bob Andelman spent almost three years interviewing Eisner, researching his life and work, and interviewing his friends, family, and the creative talents he inspired throughout the twentieth century. He recounts Eisner's personal and professional life in dramatic detail and illustrates it with dozens of rare family photos and rare Eisner artwork. A big-screen adaptation of Eisner's popular character, The Spirit, is being written and directed by Frank Miller ( Sin City ) for release in 2008. For the latest information on Will Eisner and the biography, Will Eisner: A Spirited Life , please visit the book's authorized web site, aspiritedlife.com. "When comics started, the recipe was simple: 'Put words and pictures on paper.' Pretty much everything after that was the invention of Will Eisner." -- Wizard magazine Internationally recognized for his genre-busting 1940s art and storytelling style on T