The Name of the Game

Rating:
Summary: Interesting but cold.
Review: Eisner's latest graphic novel is a sweeping, episodic study of the rise and fall of a prominent German Jewish family over several generations. It focuses on the way that marriage and children serve to build, trade on, and maintain the family's social prominence. Reminiscent of Booth Tarkington's THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS, it's an absorbing story, but it's difficult to feel any emotional connection to the characters. Eisner's artwork is slicker than ever, but the odd use of prose text segments that information that could and should've been conveyed either in art and dialogue or in conventional captions is jarring, and sometimes makes the artwork (which could've used larger reproduction, in any case) feel squeezed. It's a peculiar choice for an author who's always been such a strong advocate of the storytelling potential of the medium. A richly observed drama, but not up to the high standards set by Eisner's best work.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting but cold.
Review: Eisner's latest graphic novel is a sweeping, episodic study of the rise and fall of a prominent German Jewish family over several generations. It focuses on the way that marriage and children serve to build, trade on, and maintain the family's social prominence. Reminiscent of Booth Tarkington's THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS, it's an absorbing story, but it's difficult to feel any emotional connection to the characters. Eisner's artwork is slicker than ever, but the odd use of prose text segments that information that could and should've been conveyed either in art and dialogue or in conventional captions is jarring, and sometimes makes the artwork (which could've used larger reproduction, in any case) feel squeezed. It's a peculiar choice for an author who's always been such a strong advocate of the storytelling potential of the medium. A richly observed drama, but not up to the high standards set by Eisner's best work.

Rating:
Summary: An Interesting Morality Play.
Review: In an industry where the average "Hot" artist (or writer, for that matter), has a career lifespan of 10 years, Will Eisner is a true oddity. Not only is he still creating new work after over 60 years in the business, but he's still a vital creative force; He's doing stuff that no one else is.

The Name of the Game is the story of three Jewish families, and how the "Game" of marriage affects the fortunes of various members of those families. Eisner's art is great, as usual, but I felt no real emotional attachment to any of the characters in the book (except for Rosie, at the very end, and even she is morally co-opted before it's all over.), but perhaps that was Eisner's intent. We see so many cold, emotionless people doing rotten things to each other that we get detached, and in the end, these people have all gotten not just what they wanted, but what they deserve. (He does manage to give the vile Conrad Arnheim some Human qualities...even though he cheats on his wife, and beats her, he gives stock tips to his chauffer...)

The Name of the Game is an attractive package, and pretty much anything by Eisner is worth a look.

Rating:
Summary: Very Good, But Not Great
Review: This work, the story of fifty years of marriage in three different ambitious Jewish families, is very good, though it is, as pointed out by the other reviewer here, difficult to get into the various characters. Eisner's a true pioneer, and the story he told is of by and large cold people, so seeing them treated coldly may have been intentional. What prevents me from saying this work is great is Eisner's over-reliance on narrative and dialogue to propel his tale. The true strength of Eisner's story-telling abilities here is in his drawing pencil, not his dialogue, so it's something of a shame he didn't rely on it more.

Rating:
Summary: An extraordinary piece of work -- and no superheroes!
Review: What "A Contract with God" was to the New York Jewish short story, this is to the multigenerational family saga. The 19th century was a time of heavy immigration by Ashkenazic German Jewish tradesmen and merchants from Western Europe, successors to the semi-aristocratic Sephardim of the previous century and predecessors to the poor Eastern European Jews of the 20th century. The Arnheims were part of that influx and they made their fortune and entered the ranks of the elite. Conrad, in the third generation, grows up used to the good things and not happy to find he's expected to take his father's place in the business world, nor to marry and produce heirs for the sake of the family name. And he lets his wife die in childbirth rather than lose that heir. The glamorous but frigid girl he marries second turns out to be no prize, either. His mother is a cold, calculating woman (who pressured him in the matter of his first wife), his homely eldest daughter isn't really wanted, and his younger daughter (a rebel in the 1950s) certainly doesn't get what she thinks she wants in life. The characterization and the family relationships are complex and true-to-life and it's interesting to watch as people age. This may be Eisner's masterpiece.

Rating:
Summary: An extraordinary piece of work -- and no superheroes!
Review: What "A Contract with God" was to the New York Jewish short story, this is to the multigenerational family saga. The 19th century was a time of heavy immigration by Ashkenazic German Jewish tradesmen and merchants from Western Europe, successors to the semi-aristocratic Sephardim of the previous century and predecessors to the poor Eastern European Jews of the 20th century. The Arnheims were part of that influx and they made their fortune and entered the ranks of the elite. Conrad, in the third generation, grows up used to the good things and not happy to find he's expected to take his father's place in the business world, nor to marry and produce heirs for the sake of the family name. And he lets his wife die in childbirth rather than lose that heir. The glamorous but frigid girl he marries second turns out to be no prize, either. His mother is a cold, calculating woman (who pressured him in the matter of his first wife), his homely eldest daughter isn't really wanted, and his younger daughter (a rebel in the 1950s) certainly doesn't get what she thinks she wants in life. The characterization and the family relationships are complex and true-to-life and it's interesting to watch as people age. This may be Eisner's masterpiece.