Last night, the Million Year Picnic and the Cambridge Public Library came together to run an event in celebration of Will Eisner Week. Since yesterday, 6 March 2014, was the 97th anniversary of Will Eisner’s birth, it seemed like a good day to start things off!

First, we set up our sales table while waiting for our guest speakers to arrive. We brought a piles and piles of Will Eisner’s books (20% off!) as well as some of Denis Kitchen’s work and most of Paul Hornschemeier’s books.

The stage before…

Tony Davis, owner of the Million Year Picnic, introduced the event:

…while the speakers waited their turn. (Left to right, Paul Hornschemeier, Steve Weiner, and Denis Kitchen)

Steve Weiner introduced Paul Hornschemeier and Denis Kitchen, explaining that first Denis would give a 15-minute talk, then he & Paul would discuss Will Eisner. Afterward, they’d take questions and then sign books.

Denis discussed Will’s life and work:

…including his vision for the future of comics.

Possibly my favorite image is a sketch Denis did of meeting Will Eisner (Denis is the hippie on the left).

Then Denis and Paul had their discussion. Topics covered included Will’s boundless energy, his habit of redrawing the splash page for every single issue of THE SPIRIT, his work habits, and his influences.

Audience questions included requests for more details about Will’s contemporaries, his influences, and biographical work.

Finally, the signing!

Yeah, my pictures ain’t that great. Sorry. Post yours in the comments! Especially if they’re better!

*Edit: For More pictures visit our Facebook Page.

DON’T FORGET!!! Saturday, 8 March 2014 at 12:30pm is our next event, the comics workshop for kids!