Last night I attended a screening of Will Eisner: Portrait of a Sequential Artist.
This documentary film was part of the Toronto Jewish Film Festival at the Bloor Cinema, and the film was presented by the director Andrew D. Cooke.

Will Eisner is one of the reasons I still read comics. He pioneered the form in the late 1930's with his work on 'The Spirit', and his ideas about sequential art continued to evolve for over 60 years. His graphic novel, 'A Contract With God', continues to be a landmark in the field.

The film took over  five years to complete, and has several interviews with Will, plus notable interviews with art speigelman, Frank Miller, Dennis Kitchen, Jules Feiffer Michael Chabon and Scott McCloud. As well, there are Eisner home movies, shots of Will drawing, archival footage, .and some beautiful original art.

I met Will in the late 1980's, and not only have I have interviewed him on many occasions, but he became a friend and a mentor. So, naturally, I was hoping that the film would do him justice.

I thought the film was very ambitious, and this strength was also its greatest weakness, as it attempted to cover too much ground. But having struggled with this myself, I could not help but admire the scope of the project. The film is biographical, political, and historical, at turns both funny and moving, and at its heart it is a loving portrait of a man whose work shaped and fundamentally changed the medium he loved.

As a wonderful bonus, I got to have a coffee with the director, Andrew Cooke. We shared a few of our favorite Will Eisner stories, and it's clear to me that Andrew understands and cares passionately about Will and his work. I think that this film is a great testament to Will, and I believe that it will introduce a new audience to this master craftsman and storyteller.

If this film is playing at a theatre near you, I urge you to check it out.