Life on Another Planet | Will Eisner

Each of these powerful graphic novels confirms Will Eisner as a master of the genre. In this trio of classics, Eisner's pen cuts an expansive swath through all aspects of the human condition. "A Family Matter" starts close to home, following a family as it gathers to observe the ninetieth birthday of its patriarch. While they must decide how best to provide for him, he ends up making a crucial choice of his own. "Life on Another Planet" places American life within a broader perspective, chronicling the lives of scientists, politicians, spies and nobodies as they come to terms with the discovery of extraterrestrial life: in reaching out to other galaxies, Eisner's characters ultimately find themselves focusing within. A powerful portrayal of Jewish life in the New York City of Eisner's youth, "Minor Miracles" encourages similar introspection as it examines how luck and coincidence converge in everyday life in ways that, with hindsight, seem miraculous.