William Erwin Eisner (March 6, 1917 – January 3, 2005) was an American cartoonist, writer, and entrepreneur. He was one of the earliest cartoonists to work in the American comic book industry, and his series *The Spirit* (1940–1952) was noted for its experiments in content and form. In 1978, he popularized the term "graphic novel" with the publication of his book *A Contract with God*. He was an early contributor to formal comics studies with his book *Comics and Sequential Art* (1985). The Eisner Award was named in his honor, and is given to recognize achievements each year in the comics medium; he was one of the three inaugural inductees to the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame.
**Source**: [Will Eisner](
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Eisner) on Wikipedia
