By Will Eisner. (Dark Horse 2003) 128 pages ISBN: 1569714274
(Kitchen Sink Press 1986) 128 pages
ISBN: 0-87816-022-1 Hardcover ISBN: 0-87816-023-X Softcover
It is pretty much accepted today that Will Eisner was one of the creative forces that created the comic book industry, but still one of his lesser known milestones escapes public acclaim.
From 1936 to 1938 he worked as a jobbing cartoonist in the comics production firm known as the Eisner-Eiger Shop, creating strips to be published in both domestic US and foreign markets. Using the pen-name Willis B. Rensie he wrote and drew the saga of the mysterious American known only as “The Hawkâ€, as he roved the 18th century Caribbean seas with his piratical band. An intellectual and dreamer, he had been taken as a slave, and now dedicated his life to destroying the slave trade and punishing injustice.
With a stalwart and scurvy crew of characters at his back this charismatic blend of Robin Hood, Sir Francis Drake and the Count of Monte Cristo captivated readers all over the world in single page installments of swashbuckling thrills and spectacular bravura art and narrative ingenuity that appeared in newspapers and weekly magazines as far apart as England, South America, France, and Australia.
Long considered a lost classic, it was gathered into an awesome collected edition (measuring 14.8 x 10.6 x 0.6 inches) by Dennis Kitchen thanks mainly to the good fortune and graces of another comics legend, Al Williamson, who had been a huge fan of the strip when it ran in ‘Paquin’ – a weekly strip anthology magazine he read growing up in Bogota, Colombia.
Years later the professional artist Williamson acquired an almost complete run of publisher’s proof sheets – in Spanish – which when translated and re-lettered would form the basis of this volume. Fellow well-wishers in France, England and Australia also contributed pages for an almost complete run.
Almost lost again, Hawks of the Seas was re-issued by Dark Horse as part of their Will Eisner Library (although at a more modest and bookshelf friendly 10.2 x 6.8 x 0.6 inches) and stands as a fascinating insight into this creator’s imaginative power, moral and philosophical fascinations and spellbinding ability to tell a great story with magical pictures. It’s also a superb adventure tale of pirates and derring-do that will captivate kids of all ages, so forget Jack Sparrow and get on the trail of The Hawk!
© 1986 Kitchen Sink Press. 2003 Will Eisner. All rights reserved.