''The Dreamer'' is a 1985 thinly disguised

autobiographical An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

Will Eisner William Erwin Eisner (March 6, 1917 – January 3, 2005) was an American cartoonist, writer, and entrepreneur. He was one of the earliest cartoonists to work in the American comic book industry, and his series '' The Spirit'' (1940–1952) was no ...

about his early years as a cartoonist for

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

s in the 1930s, with a particular focus on his years as part of

Eisner & Iger Eisner & Iger was a comic book "packager" that produced comics on demand for publishers entering the new medium during the late-1930s and 1940s period fans and historians call the Golden Age of Comic Books. Many of comic books' most significant c ...

studios. The book delves into the early years of the comic book industry and how the idealistic Eisner and his more pragmatic partner organized a business to supply material for publishers. The incidents Eisner adapts for the story include how

Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comic book artist, writer and editor, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He gre ...

frightened off a

mobster A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from '' mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and ...

who was attempting to intimidate his employer. A major plot point is how Eisner's principles and ideals sometimes complicated his business affairs such as the adaptation of the account of when he refused to perjure himself in court in a

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...

infringement lawsuit over ''

Wonder Man Wonder Man (Simon Williams) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, he first appeared in '' The Avengers'' #9 (October 1964). The c ...

'' and thus cost his business a major account. (In reality, Eisner did testify on the stand that ''Wonder Man'' was an original creation.Quattro, Ken
"DC vs. Victor Fox: The Testimony of Will Eisner"
''The Comics Detective'', July 1, 2010
WebCitation archive
) Eventually, Eisner decides to leave this successful life behind when he accepts the opportunity to produce a comic book for a

newspaper syndicate Print syndication distributes news articles, columns, political cartoons, comic strips and other features to newspapers, magazines and websites. The syndicates offer reprint rights and grant permissions to other parties for republishing content ...

, which resulted in the creation of ''

The Spirit The Spirit is a fictional masked crimefighter created by cartoonist Will Eisner. He first appeared June 2, 1940, as the main feature of a 16-page, tabloid-sized, newsprint comic book insert distributed in the Sunday edition of Register and Trib ...

''. A later edition of the book contains a reference guide to the characters and their real world analogues.

References

External links

''The Dreamer''
on the official Will Eisner site

1985 graphic novels 1985 comics debuts American graphic novels Comics set in the United States Autobiographical graphic novels Books by Will Eisner Comics by Will Eisner Comics about comics {{graphic-novel-stub