Will Eisner vs. Craig Thompson

Will Eisner vs. Craig Thompson

Will Eisner’s “Contract with God” was a very unique story in the way it was depicted both in written word and illustration. The illustrations were done in a very loose, sketchy style. Eisner made very sophisticated works of art by adding in a tremendous amount of detail, more so than your average comic strip. This gave the piece a very true and honest gritty feel to it which helped immensely with the story’s overall feel. The story follows a Jewish man who loses his daughter. It is because of this that the story progressively gets darker as the main character loses all faith in God. That is why the artwork goes hand in hand with the story. It has a very dark and imperfect feel to it that accompanies the nature of the story quite well. “Blankets” by Craig Thompson is similar to Eisner’s “Contract with God” in the way the illustrations are created. Both works utilize the use of black and white, sketchy and loose linework. The storytelling is very similar as it is with most comics. I will say though that I was drawn to “Blankets” more just because of the sheer fact of the use of the minimal word count. I’m not a huge fan of reading large amounts of text while reading comic books. I also found Thompson’s  illustrations more appealing and intriguing to view rather than that of Will Eisner. Thompson has a better understanding of the use of camera angles and composition for his panels. Overall both graphic novels are constructed and are visually similar. It is my personal preference, however that I find Craig Thompson’s work more appealing and enjoyable to read rather than Will Eisner’s “Contract with God”.