Will Eisner's New York: Life in the Big City

Will Eisner's opus of modern and urban existence in New York possesses a certain thematic and also, in the simplest essence, artistic quality not present in his former work. While his more prominent cartoons (it would seem, the entire Spirit comic strip narrative) focuses more on the kinetic energy of an action movie-style plot, where there are overt heroes and villains. New York falls into more emotional territory, and in many ways possesses a higher polish, making this sprawling narrative about city life in New York a fresh new breath of creative genius.That's not to say Eisner doesn't employ his brilliant mastery of sequential movement or doesn't bring forth pure storytelling dynamism into this book. Oh, no, he does bring those in a big way. New York quite simply is the epitome of how people tick in the Big Apple, and Eisner does not, if ever, hold back on the effort and drive to tell a sublime story.Split into numerous vignettes and compiled from four previously published collections, one doesn't so much as read this book but get pulled into so many facets of the New York experience that it's not a laughing matter anymore. The treasure of Avenue C, the starting vignette of sorts, is a perfect example of how even a simple, unassuming thing like a gutter drain can be the basis for a recurring narrative. Eisner achieves this sweeping piece of adventure, told in bite-sized episodes (one especially poignant one involves a mugger who sees the convenience of disposing his knife into the drain) with such simplicity and greatness, that one would be amazed when the resultant panel, depicting the thorough search of the scene by the police, delivers the punch. And one doesn't even realize that The Weapon works on the New-York-has-a-high-crime-rate level, while still functioning as a perfect, almost to a science, standalone story.A street band, The Pearly Buzzards, finds joy in playing at different locations, a young, attractive New York female experiences a mild bout of uncertainty as she takes a little too long to place an important letter into the mailbox, a metaphor of citizens within windowed apartments aptly named Prisons, and then the true meat of the collections appears with the latter material. The most interesting of the lot would be Mortal Combat, an unprecedented take on the prevalent invisibility of one's existence in the huge city. If you have not one, but a series of tightly wrought vignettes like this, complete with creative commentaries at some points, and each one as intriguing and professional as the last, it becomes a `museum' of how sequential art should be done.Which is how Eisner establishes his legacy. The Spirit is how you should do a continuous mystery epic. Comics and Sequential Art is a How-To book for comics, perfected. New York, however, is the culmination, of storytelling in the sequential form. It is very much like weary Eisner waking up one morning and deciding to impose his craft upon the short story format. One can almost imagine him saying these imaginary words, "Lets see if I can create something that's never been done before...and thus create history."

Great condition, such a nice snapshot of 1980 Manhattan by one of the greatest visual storytellers of all time.

DAMN what a journey that was, wish I could give it 6 stars. All those little stories and even smaller details in them, every little piece of paper, every little gesture... No wonder when they want to commend a good comic they give the Eisner Award.Turns out the real New York is much closer to Istanbul than the NY in American movies or series... I thank Eisner for helping us establish that mental bridge between lives.

I was first attracted to Will Eisner's art and story telling when I was a kid. Don't look down you nose at graphic novels and certainly not this one. You don't have to be a New Yorker to appreciate his story telling abilities. In fact SciFi/Twilight Zone fans may get a big kick out of the stories in this book.While it is a tad behind (IMNSHO) Will Eisner's "The Contract With God Trilogy" (which is sensational) Eisner's "New York" is still a great read.

Will Eisner is a master of ink, expression, and architecture. This is a beautiful compendium of his NYC-centric works. My only very tiny critique is that I wish the prints were darker -- many of the works look like faded grey copies.

A must read for all Eisner's and NYC fans. Great illustrations and stories from the heart of the author. I like the way Eisner shows us all the stories of average people with their dreams and illusions.

very good。 some pages' color is not dark enough

I love it!

Will Eisner (1917-2005) est un auteur de comics états-unien dont l'influence sur la BD a été déterminante à plusieurs reprises : création du comic book avec des histoires originales et non du recyclage, développement de la BD à vocation pédagogique ou d'information professionnelle (pour des opérations de maintenance dans l'armée) et création du roman dessiné ou roman "graphique". Ce livre publié un an et demi après la mort d'Eisner, d'un format identique à celui des TPB ou HC des comics états-uniens, mais en noir et blanc (et nuances de gris à l'aquarelle)et imprimé sur du beau papier de couleur ivoire, regroupe précisément quatre romans graphiques (ou recueils de saynètes graphiques), ceux que l'auteur a consacrés principalement à New York :- " New York: The Big City " (1981-1986),- " The Building " (1987),- " City People Notebook " (1989),- " Invisible People " (1993).Outre le fait que ce recueil avec hard cover et beaux propos introductifs de connaisseurs et passionnés (Neil Gaiman et Denis Kitchen) revient deux fois moins cher que l'achat des quatre "romans" séparés en version "couverture souple" (voir liens ci-dessus), la qualité de son contenu en fait un "must-buy"." New York: The Big City ", ou New York vu par Will Eisner, est un recueil d'observations à fleur de rue, rassemblées par grands thèmes métropolitains (le quartier, la musique, les déchets ménagers, le métro...), rendues avec la maestria graphique (mise en page, narration, dialogues, "characterization"...) et l'humour mais aussi la capacité à faire réfléchir propres à l'auteur." The Building " narre les destins plus ou moins croisés de quatre personnes qui avaient leurs habitudes à proximité d'un immeuble de New York aujourd'hui disparu et qui ressemble au fameux "fer à repasser" (toujours bien debout lui !). Quatre destins tragiques parfaitement contés. Quatre de ces personnages inconnus qui avec tous leurs concitoyens font l'écheveau historique et les petites légendes des générations successives qui habitent la Grosse Pomme." City People Notebook " est à nouveau un recueil de petites histoires captées dans la rue de New York, rangées par thèmes (le temps, les odeurs...) et restituées en employant peu ou pas de mots et avec la plus grande justesse du coeur comme du pinceau. Invisible People  rassemble trois nouvelles, "Sanctum', "The Power" et "Mortal Combat", qui mettent en lumière chacun des destins particuliers de citoyens de New York, issus comme tous les autres dans ce livre, de l'imagination d'Eisner et pourtant si réalistes et attachants.Il est vrai que l'ensemble de ces ces quatre livres fait système et que le choix éditorial de les regrouper (avec quelques dessins inédits et "scènes coupées au montage") est pertinent. New York: The Big CityThe BuildingCity People NotebookInvisible PeopleNew York: The Big CityThe BuildingCity People NotebookInvisible People

Très belle bande dessinée, je ne peux pas faire de retour sur le contenu car je n’ai pas encore lu.

It's a brilliant tale through drawings that give you that special New York feeling.I have even decorated two rooms in my house with some of these pages.One entire wall is an enlarged copy from this very book.I love it

Obra prima dos quadrinhos do craque Will Eisner. Ótima percepção de cidade, arquitetura e os sentimentos de sua população.

Will eisner est un grand, tous les amateurs de bandes dessinées le savent. Cette trilogie (en fait 4 tomes sont présents) est l'une de ses oeuvres phares. Eisner décrit la ville a travers son regard, une attention à des détails, des atmosphères, une grande réussite! Un classique donc... mais qu'il faut lire et dont il faut s'imprégner même si tout n'est pas "drole"... car tout est bon!