In 1993, Kitchen Sink Press published “Invisible People,” the fourth and final entry in what would later be called Eisner’s “New York: Life in the Big City” series. “Invisible People” won the Harvey Awards for both Best Writer and Best Cartoonist that year. Let’s take a look at why.
Written and Illustrated by Will Eisner
With INVISIBLE PEOPLE (1993), Will Eisner casts a compassionate eye on those anonymous faces in every crowd, the “invisible people” we pass with indifference each day of our lives. Linked by a common theme, this trio of graphic novellas is told with the subtlety, irony and passion that have marked Eisner’s career as the dean of serious cartoonists.
“Invisible People” consists of three short stories. Each one is the tale of an “invisible” person. Someone you might pass on the sidewalk, sit next to on the train, or slow down to let cross the street, and never see again. Eisner maintains that this invisibility is a cloak of security that doesn’t always protect us.
As Eisner tells us in his introduction:
Indeed, the more time I spent on the streets the more I became aware of how unnoticed were the people who streamed past me… Only years later did I realize how pervasive was this brutal reality and how often people accept, even welcome, invisibility as a way to deal with urban danger.
In ‘Sanctum,’ Pincus Pleatnik is a simple man who only wishes to live his life in peace. He learns the “urban art of avoidance” as a survival skill. He lives alone, never makes waves, and does his job in a 1930’s dry cleaners.
We don’t see Pincus’ adult profile until the third page of the story. He’s either off-panel when other characters talk about him (and can’t recall his name) or obscured by steam as he turns down a promotion at work.
What happens to Pincus when the neighborhood newspaper prints his obituary? How does a man with no connections prove that he’s still alive? Sanctum is the most darkly comic of the three tales and even ends with an almost macabre punchline. But it also teaches a lesson about the importance of relationships.
‘The Power’ has a touch of magical realism, literally. Morris is born with the ability to heal with his hands. But, instead of finding a way to use this power for good, he lives an aimless existence. He allows himself to pushed and pulled in different directions by others. ‘The Power’ covers the entire span of Morris’ life and is the only one that doesn’t take place in the city.
We see Morris arrive in the city here, in a classic Eisner panel. Rain pours on Morris, pulling his overcoat and hat down and showing us the depths of his despair. Morris flees to the city, an anonymous, forgotten man. He hides his power and in so doing, raises suspicion rather than quelling it.
The last story, ‘Mortal Combat,’ is the most tragic. It’s above the differences between love, want, and obsession. Herman, like Morris, allows other people to control his life. He ends up buffeted about between his fiancée and his mother, and when it’s all said and done, everyone loses. Or do they? I’ll let you read the story for yourself and decide.
Hilda decides that she and Herman will be married. Her little ruse seems cute, but it’s the beginning of a disturbing and unfortunate turn for Herman.
Like all Eisner’s graphic novels, he is the artist and letterer. The art is compelling, and the storytelling is what you would expect from the man who gave his name to the Eisner awards. He is, after all, the creator that wrote the book on sequential art.
Eisner mixes a traditional grid layout to advance the story, adding borderless panels for key events. Some are rare moments of violence or more often, emotional climaxes.
After Pincus is declared dead, he goes on a journey to regain his carefully structured life. Here, Eisner zooms in as he peers into the window of the cleaners, and then pulls back as he enters the store.
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Morris leads a little boy down the stairs of his walk-up. Eisner leaves out the buildings’ walls and only renders the stairway, making it look like how Morris feels; the longest trip he’s ever made.
Herman’s mother schemes about how to get rid of Hilda. This panel is an example of Eisner’s uses layouts and poses to tragicomic effect. Mother looks gleeful as she imagines Hilda dejectedly walking out of her life. The expressions and postures are funny, but in the end, there’s nothing to laugh at.
Each of the stories contains enough narration to introduce us to the characters, and the dialogue and pictures take over. Eisner’s work is immersive; the words and pictures work together in a such a way that you’re not aware of where one medium ends and the other begins.
Eisner ends the book with ‘Requiem,’ a memorial for the tragic story that inspired ‘Invisible People.’ In 1990 a woman committed suicide, days before Christmas, after she spent a year homeless. Her body laid unclaimed in the morgue for two months before she was finally buried in an unmarked grave. Eisner is quoted as saying that he wrote the book “in anger” after seeing the story.
Final Verdict: 9.5 – “Invisible People” is a gut punch. A call to reach out to others and make connections, not only for their benefit but for yours, too.
