A Contract with God
by Will Eisner
Comics & Graphic Novels
The revolutionary work of graphic storytelling that inspired a new art form. Will Eisner was present at the dawn of comics. In the 1940s, he pushed the boundaries of the medium with his acclaimed weekly comic strip The Spirit, and with the publication of A Contract with God in 1978, he created a new medium altogether: the graphic novel. It was unlike anything seen before, heralding an era when serious cartoonists were liberated from the limiting confines of the comic strip. Eisner’s work was a shining example of what comics could be: as inventive, moving, and complex as any literary art form. Eisner considered himself “a graphic witness reporting on life, death, heartbreak, and the never-ending struggle to prevail.” A Contract with God begins with a gripping tale that mirrors the artist’s real-life tragedy, the death of his daughter. Frimme Hersh, a devout Jew, questions his relationship with God after the loss of his own beloved child. Hersh’s crisis is intertwined with the lives of the other unforgettable denizens of Eisner’s iconic Dropsie Avenue, a fictionalized version of the quintessential New York City street where he came of age at the height of the Depression. This centennial edition showcases Eisner’s singular visual style in new high-resolution scans of his original art, complete with an introduction by Scott McCloud and an illuminating history of Eisner’s seminal work. Now readers can experience the legendary book that launched a unique art form and reaffirmed Will Eisner as one of the great pioneers of American graphic storytelling.
Bridges
Books that connect different domains
Bridges summary
Will Eisner's groundbreaking graphic novel, *A Contract with God*, resonates deeply with a surprising array of literary works, forming insightful thematic connections that speak to a reader's appreciation for profound explorations of the human condition. This collection highlights how Eisner's seminal work, often hailed as the birth of the graphic novel, shares a compelling contemplative spirit with texts as diverse as Franz Kafka's *The Zurau Aphorisms*, Sally Rooney's *Normal People*, Steven Gould's *Jumper: Griffin's Story*, and C.S. Lewis's *The Magician's Nephew*. At its core, *A Contract with God* is a powerful examination of faith, disillusionment, and the often-fraught pacts humans make with themselves, their communities, and the divine, particularly in the face of life's harsh realities. This introspective quality finds a potent echo in Kafka's fragmented meditations. Much like the tenement dwellers of Eisner’s Dropsie Avenue seeking meaning and solace in their religious and personal understandings, the consciousnesses within *The Zurau Aphorisms* grapple with existential burdens and the inherent absurdity of existence. Both works, despite their vastly different forms, delve into the inescapable weight of responsibility and the often-unseen contracts that bind individuals to fate, duty, or despair, suggesting a shared appreciation for narratives that confront the stark realities of human struggle with unflinching honesty.
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