If there were a Mount Rushmore of comic book artists, the late, great Will Eisner certainly earned his place there. Now Eisner’s work is being celebrated in the form of an exhibition at New York’s Philippe Labaune Gallery, showcasing original artwork from classic books like The Spirit and A Contract with God.
Check out the slideshow gallery below for an exclusive look at some of the Spirit pages on display at the exhibition, taken from the story “Tarnation”:
The Philippe Labaune Gallery’s The Will Eisner Exhibit features work taken from the entirety of Eisner’s long career, spanning the years 1941 to 2002. In addition to featuring many pages from comic strips like The Spirit and New York: The Big City, the gallery also includes a nearly complete, sequential presentation of Eisner’s seminal graphic novel A Contract with God: The Super.
“Will Eisner’s The Spirit, first published in 1940, revolutionized the comic book medium with its innovative stylistic breakthroughs that transformed storytelling in comics,” Lebaune tells IGN. “One of his most notable achievements was his masterful use of cinematic techniques, such as dynamic panel layouts, varying perspectives, and clever transitions that mimicked the flow of film. Eisner also experimented with visual symbolism, using backgrounds and environmental elements to reflect a character’s emotions or the tone of a scene, thus adding layers of meaning to the artwork. His incorporation of splash pages and fluid page designs broke away from rigid grid structures, creating a more immersive reading experience. Through these stylistic advancements, Eisner not only set new standards for comic art but also demonstrated the medium’s potential to deliver sophisticated and engaging genre-based narratives.”
The Will Eisner Exhibit opens on Thursday, February 13, with an opening reception from 6pm to 9pm ET. The exhibit runs through Saturday, March 8. The Philippe Labaune gallery is located at 534 West 24th Street in New York and is open Thursday through Saturday, from 10am to 6pm ET.
For more on what’s happening in the comic book world, check out what to expect from Marvel in 2025 and what to expect from DC in 2025.
Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on BlueSky.
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