] He addressed subjects considered unthinkable in comic
] books and rarely seen at the time in newspaper comics:
] spousal abuse, tax audits, urban blight and graft.
]
] In 1940, he created a weekly newspaper supplement titled
] "The Spirit," which at its height had a circulation of 5
] million in 20 Sunday newspapers. The supplement consisted
] of a comic book with three self-contained stories, and
] "The Spirit" became the most popular.

I heard about this earlier today when reading more fan-ish websites and was wondering if and when the news would finally trickle to the front pages of more mainstream news sites like cnn.com. Apparently nearly 12 hours later. For those who aren't familiar with Will Eisner, you should check out some of his works. The article here says it best - he broke a lot of stereotypes about what you could write about in comic strips and comic books, and this was in the 1930s.

- Dolemite

] He addressed subjects considered unthinkable in comic
] books and rarely seen at the time in newspaper comics:
] spousal abuse, tax audits, urban blight and graft.
]
] In 1940, he created a weekly newspaper supplement titled
] "The Spirit," which at its height had a circulation of 5
] million in 20 Sunday newspapers. The supplement consisted
] of a comic book with three self-contained stories, and
] "The Spirit" became the most popular.

I don't read a lot of comic books myself, but since it's peripheral to my own industry, I try to stay informed. Will Eisner's name was one that came up often as one of the true greats of the genre. I'm sorry to hear of his passing.