The Contract with God Trilogy: Life on Dropsie Avenue (A Contract With God, A Life Force, Dropsie Avenue)

Comic and cartoon artists are finally getting the respect they have deserved since the Yellow Kid wore his one piece pajama. Artists like Charles Burns and Frank Miller; Seth and Tony Millionaire, all work in a medium whose fan base is basically adult, literate and mainstream. In reading current book reviews of works like "Jimmy Corrigan, The Smartest Kid On Earth" by Chris Ware or "Blankets" by Craig Thompson, it is clear that the Graphic Novel as an art form no longer requires an asterisk.All these artists and cartoonists owe this new environment of respect in no small part to the work of Will Eisner, specifically the work contained in this volume. While Eisner was not the first artist to tell a story with pictures, he without question hammered out a stylistic language that others could learn and understand. I don't think it is an exaggeration to say that he brought the concept of the graphic novel home and gave it a firm structure and a future. Also important was Eisner's unyielding believe in the graphic novel as a form of fine art, as legitimate a tool for storytelling as any of the traditional oral or written forms. All current artists working in comics owe Eisner in the same way that all Afro-American ballplayers owe a debt of gratitude to Jackie Robinson. Like Robinson, Eisner completely believed in what he was doing and refused to accept anything less than respect for his work, all done in a day when respect didn't come easily or automatically for them.Now, about the work itself - what can one say? No one will ever replace or improve on Eisner's innate ability to tell a story with pictures. His work was absolutely gorgeous and fluid, the line and brushwork immaculate and dense without every looking fussy. He forged a unique and instantly recognizable style that is the true mark of a virtuoso in any artistic medium, and he was a very gifted storyteller into the bargain. There are certain panels in his best work, like "A Life Force" or "Droopsie Avenue," that are just jaw dropping in their beauty and absolutely unforgettable.To this day his work is unmatched in its depth and sophistication of theme. Norton deserves much praise for reissueing these trailblazing works in a well bound and attractive hardcover. Recommended highly.

Arrived on time and in perfect condition!

I can't describe what this book means to me, both in terms of the story it's telling and the mastery of visual narrative. The way the narrative moves visually across the page is a poetry unto itself. Every time I look at this book, I feel like I learn something new about art and how to represent the world around me. It's been ten years since the first time I read it and I finally have my own copy to pore over.

I think it's a masterpiece, in particular Dropsie Avenue. At the beginning I was not sure I liked the style, it was like I found it kind of exaggerate, theatrical and not totally sincere but this changes in Dropsie Avenue where the style, in my opinion, becomes perfect, and the tone of voice too, so that emotion can flow and...the miracle happens. While reading I experienced that kind of admiration I had for Spiegelmann while reading Maus. With Dropsie Avenue, too, I experienced such a sense of memory, of how time goes by, and how things keep the sentiment of the people who used them, but also at a completely different level a sense of history, and ultimately a profound lesson in humanity and tolerance.

As all of Will Eisner's work, this is a wonderful collection of stories under a single title. The quality of the hard cover edition is excellent. I do not remember how the original stories were published, but I must confess that this edition's yellowish pages do not generate the visual impact of the high-contrast black contrast of his black-and-white work.

Book is amazing, however, it arived damages. Nothing serious but not what you expect from a book purched new. The box was not damaged and another book that came in the box was in perfect condition.

Contrary to what some other reviewers have said, I highly preferred the first two parts of the book, because they felt more personal and character focused. The third part, while ambitious, focused more on Dropsey Avenue, and kept changing so fast that while you feel the passage of time, sometimes you also feel a little disconnected.It's not perfect, because some stories could have been expanded to see how the characters fared, but still this was really good. It's also a very human story.

Esta novela gráfica es simplemente sublime, las historias son maravillosas así como la presentación del libro que es de una calidad tan alta, pocas veces vista pero que definitivamente un trabajo tan bien logrado se merece. Cualquier otra cosa que te pueda decir, estaría de mas, si no conoces la maravillosa narrativa, dibujo e inventiva del maestro Will Eisner, este es un claro ejemplo de su maravillosa calidad como artista, ahora que si eres un seguidor, es un libro que debes tener en tu colección. Pero ya sea una razón o la otra, es una compra de la cual definitivamente no te vas a arrepentir.