“Only the tears of ten thousand weeping angels could cause such a deluge! And, coming to think of it, maybe that is exactly what it was...”
-- from "A Contract with God", by Will Eisner

I’ve been struggling with the words for this, but I just have to write something.

Will Eisner passed away late last night. He was a legend in the comics industry and my biggest creative influence. I often describe him as being everything I’ve ever hoped to be. When I read about his passing this morning I was moved to tears. It was as if a member of my family had died, and perhaps that is what he was like, a benevolent grandfather to all the comics industry and it’s fans.

And yet I never met him, not really. I’d seen him around Comic-Con for years and not once did I have the courage to simply walk up and say, “hello”. Like the prettiest girl at a high school dance, Will was the one person I most desperately wanted to speak to, and the one far too intimidating for me to be capable of approaching. This kind and humble man was more a giant to me than any other creator around. Will was the greatest. And like that aforementioned pretty girl, any time I came near him I became flustered and unable to move, as if my shoes were filled with concrete. I had so much I wanted to say, so much I wanted to ask that all the words came swelling up into my mouth becoming traffic jammed into a suffocating lump. Selfishly, I regret this more than anything else.

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