Via Cinescape.com:


"One of the legends of the comics world has passed on. Will Eisner, creator of THE SPIRIT, died on Monday evening from complications arising from his quadruple heart bypass surgery conducted the month before. He was 87.
Throughout his career Eisner pushed the field of comics to their envelope, paving new ground for every comic creator that followed. In 1942 he was drafted into the Army where he drew numerous comic strips and posters for the service, raising the morale of troops. In later years he would resume this endeavor by creating more strips for corporations to use in educational matters. In 1978 what many comic professionals feel was the first long-form comic story, the so-called "graphic novel", was created by Eisner. Unlike the many superheroes stories that dominated the monthly comic book rack, Eisner's A CONTRACT WITH GOD was drawn from his experiences living in New York's Bronx during the '30s and showed many that comics could tackle any genre of storytelling.
The comics community saluted Eisner by naming the Comic-Con International awards after the writer/artist. Held every year at the annual event in San Diego, the Eisners are to comics what the Oscars are to film.
A posting at Eisner's official website states that more information will be posted in the days to come."

This is truly one of the saddest days ever in the world of comics. I'll be picking up something Eisner related tomorrow I think, I don't own Contract With God, maybe I'll get that.

Also, even though I've been silent for the last few days, I'm going to declare a "blog of silence" if you will, until tomorrow. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family.

-L