Will Eisner's Works

Will Eisner's Family Matter tells the story of a day in the life of a typical family gathered for a birthday party. In the span of twenty-fours hours, the darkest family secrets are revealed. Long suppressed memories surface like betrayal, abuse, greed, incest, and worse. The strained family comes together, only to be torn apart. Will Eisner's novel The Name of the Game traces the parallel lineages of three Jewish families from the late 19th century to the 1950's: an old money family, the Arnheims; a more modestly striving family, the Obers; and the social climbers, the Kayns. By turns, it is poignant, maddening and sobering in its depiction of how people use marriage as an avenue to preserve appearances, rise in social class and sometimes just survive. While I seem to recall Jeffrey Archer's Kane and Abel novels covering some of the same territory, I found this deeply affecting and resonant. The Dreamer, another Will Eisner's work is a semi-fictional story of a young man who dreams of working in the world of comic books in the 1930s. Along the way he meets those who share his dream, and others who have dreams of their own. 

Blankets by Craig Thompson is wrapped in the landscape of a blustery Wisconsin winter, Blankets explores the sibling rivalry of two brothers growing up in the isolated country, and the budding romance of two coming-of-age lovers. A tale of security and discovery, of playfulness and tragedy, of a fall from grace and the origins of faith is a small description.Blankets in my opinion is the coming of age story of Craig. It's a story of love and self-discovery, and of family and parenting, and the scars the smallest of brutalities could make. But most of all It's the story of Craig's struggle with art, love, and sexuality on one hand, and his faith on the other. Blankets is, in short, about life. Craig's journey from the darkness of Plato's Cave, to the light of the real world; his liberation from dogma and ignorance, through love and reflection, was so relatable to me, since I went through a very similar journey.I never thought that a graphic novel could be this meaningful—not taking away anything from graphic novels, but the ones I read, so far, were more entertaining than anything else. But Blankets changed that very mistaken impression; it made me reflect on life, and feel so many emotions. Would recommend, if you can read more than 600 pages.