Celebrate Will Eisner Week At Your Local Comic Shop

The Will & Ann Eisner Family Foundation announces Will Eisner Week 2015, the annual series of events from March 1st to 7th in more than 50 cities worldwide that celebrates graphic novels, sequential art, free speech, and the amazing legacy of Will Eisner, one of the most innovative figures in the history of comics and graphic novels.

Will Eisner Week’s theme, Read a Graphic Novel! is the underlying message of all the events. Will Eisner Week events are presented in universities, colleges, art schools, libraries, museums, bookstores, and comic book shops in the weeks around Will Eisner’s March 6th birthday.

Cities holding celebrations this year are listed below. Visit www.WillEisnerWeek.com for detailed event information including dates and times plus additional cities as they’re added.

Comic book creators participating in Will Eisner Week 2015 events include Brian Michael Bendis, Michael Avon Oeming, Scott McCloud, Matt Wagner, Paul Levitz, Arie Kaplan, John Cassaday, Michael Cho, Charles Kochman, Paul Pope, Tom Lyle, Charles Brownstein and Danny Fingeroth.

“This year, Will Eisner Week’s seventh, we will be celebrating events in more countries and cities than ever before,” said Fingeroth, Will Eisner Week Organizing Committee Chair. “This year’s Will Eisner Week is especially meaningful because it also marks the 75th Anniversary of the debut of Eisner’s signature creation, The Spirit, which revolutionized comics in the ‘40s and established a young Will Eisner as a giant in the medium.”

Celebrate Will Eisner Week at your local comic shop. Go to http://www.comicshoplocator.com to find a store near you!

US Cities Celebrating Will Eisner Week 2015 include:
AMHERST, MA University of Massachusetts
ARKADELPHIA, AR Henderson State University
AUSTIN, TX Staple! Independent Media Expo / Austin Books & Comics
BALTIMORE, MD Geppi’s Entertainment Museum
BOSTON, MA Cambridge Public Library
BOSTON, MA Million Year Picnic
BOWLING GREEN, OH Bowling Green State University
CANTON, OH Malone University
CINCINNATI, OH Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County
COLUMBUS, OH Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum
DALLAS, TX Titan Comics
GAINESVILLE, FL Sequential Artists Workshop
JACKSONVILLE, FL University of North Florida (3 events)
KANSAS CITY, MO Kansas City Public Library
LEXINGTON, MA Cary Memorial Library
LOS ANGELES, CA CAPS, Comic Art Professional Society
MAYNARD, MA Maynard Public Library
MINNEAPOLIS, MN MCAD, Minneapolis College of Art & Design
NASHVILLE, TN Nashville Public Library
NEW YORK, NY Society of Illustrators/MoCCA (2 events)
NEW YORK, NY Parsons / The New School
NEW YORK, NY CBLDF, Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and
Comic-Con International: San Diego
NEW YORK, NY Mike Carbo’s New York ComicCon
PANAMA CITY, FL Bay County Public Library
PASADENA, CA Pasadena Public Library
PENN YAN, NY Penn Yan Public Library
PINE BLUFF, AR Pine Bluff Library
PITTSBURGH, PA Toonseum
PORT JEFFERSON NY Comsewogue Public Library
PORTLAND, OR TFAW, Things From Another World
PORTLAND, OR Portland State University (2 events)
RALEIGH, NC Wizard World Raleigh ComicCon
RICHMOND, VA Virginia Commonwealth University
SAN DIEGO, CA San Diego State University
SAN FRANCISCO, CA Cartoon Art Museum
SARASOTA, FL Ringling College of Art & Design
SAVANNAH, GA SCAD, Savannah College of Art & Design (2 events)
SEATTLE, WA Emerald City ComicCon
SEATTLE, WA Washington School Library
TIBURON, CA Belvedere-Tiburon Library
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION, VT Center for Cartoon Studies (2 events)

International Cities Celebrating Will Eisner Week 2015 include:
ANGOULEME, FRANCE
ATHENS, GREECE
BOLOGNA, ITALY
CARRARA, ITALY
GLASGOW, SCOTLAND
LONDON, ENGLAND
KENDAL, SCOTLAND
NETHERGATE, SCOTLAND
RIO de JANEIRO, BRAZIL

Online Will Eisner Week 2015 Podcasts, Blogs, and Events:

Visit www.WillEisnerWeek.com for the events and direct links.

About WILL EISNER:

WILL EISNER (1917-2005) grew up during the Great Depression in the tenements of the Bronx. He was a pioneer in the creation of comics during the "Golden Age” of the 1930s and '40s achieving fame with his noir crime-fighting hero, The Spirit. Many comics greats worked with Eisner including Jules Feiffer, Wally Wood, Jack Kirby, Al Jaffee, Mike Ploog and others. After The Spirit ceased publication, Eisner devoted himself to creating educational and instructional sequential art, a term he coined. In 1978, Eisner once again reinvented himself - and the medium - with his graphic novel, A Contract with God. Will Eisner’s 19 graphic novels and 3 textbooks are still in print in 15 worldwide languages. The prestigious Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the Oscars of the Comics Industry, are presented annually at San Diego Comic-Con.