Editing Will Eisner (section)

===Eisner & Iger===
{{Main|Eisner & Iger}}

''Wow'' lasted four issues (cover-dated July–September and November 1936). After it ended, Eisner and Iger worked together producing and selling original comics material, anticipating that the well of available reprints would soon run dry, though their accounts of how their partnership was founded differ. One of the first such comic-book "packagers", their partnership was an immediate success, and the two soon had a stable of comics creators supplying work to [[Fox Comics]], [[Fiction House]], [[Quality Comics]] (for whom Eisner co-created such characters as [[Doll Man]] and [[Blackhawk (DC Comics)|Blackhawk]]), and others. Turning a profit of $1.50 a page, Eisner claimed that he "got very rich before I was 22,"<ref>Mercer, Marilyn, "The Only Real Middle-Class Crimefighter", ''New York'' (Sunday supplement, ''[[New York Herald Tribune]]''), January 9, 1966; reprinted ''Alter Ego'' No. 48, May 2005</ref> later detailing that in [[Great Depression|Depression-era]] 1939 alone, he and Iger "had split $25,000 between us",<ref>Heintjes, Tom, ''The Spirit: The Origin Years'' #3 (Kitchen Sink Press, September 1992)</ref> a considerable amount for the time.

Among the studio's products was a self-syndicated Sunday comic strip, ''Hawks of the Seas'', that initially reprinted Eisner's old strip ''Wow, What A Magazine!'' feature "The Flame" and then continued it with new material.<ref>[http://toonopedia.com/hawkseas.htm ''Hawks of the Sea''] at [[Don Markstein's Toonopedia]]. [https://archive.today/20120717130134/http://toonopedia.com/hawkseas.htm Archived] from the original on March 15, 2012.</ref> Eisner's original work even crossed the Atlantic, with Eisner drawing the new cover of the October 16, 1937, issue of [[Boardman Books]]' comic-strip reprint tabloid ''Okay Comics Weekly.''<ref>{{Cite book|title=Heritage Comics and Comic Art Signature Auction #828|last1=Dowell|first1=Gary|last2=Holman|first2=Greg|publisher=Heritage Capital Corporation|year=2008|isbn=978-1599672489|editor-last=Halperin|editor-first=James|pages=84}}</ref> Another Eisner & Iger product - created by Eisner, but soon left to  his stable of assistants - was the 1938 short-form comedy strip ''[[Archie O'Toole]]''.

In 1939, Eisner was commissioned to create [[Wonder Man (Fox Publications)|Wonder Man]] for [[Fox Publications#Victor Fox|Victor Fox]], an accountant who had previously worked at [[DC Comics]] and was becoming a comic book publisher himself. Following Fox's instructions to create a [[Superman]]-type character, and using the pen name Willis, Eisner wrote and drew the first issue of ''Wonder Comics.'' Eisner said in interviews throughout his later life that he had protested the derivative nature of the character and story, and that when subpoenaed after [[National Periodical Publications]], the company that would evolve into DC Comics, sued Fox, alleging Wonder Man was an illegal copy of Superman, Eisner testified that this was so, undermining Fox's case;<ref name=spirited44-45>Andelman, Bob. ''Will Eisner: A Spirited Life'' (M Press: [[Milwaukie, Oregon]], 2005) {{ISBN|978-1-59582-011-2}}, pp. 44–45</ref> Eisner even depicts himself doing so in his semi-autobiographical graphic novel ''[[The Dreamer (graphic novel)|The Dreamer]]''.<ref>''[[The Dreamer (graphic novel)|The Dreamer: A Graphic Novella Set During the Dawn of Comic Books]]'' ([[DC Comics]] : New York City, 1986 edition) {{ISBN|978-1-56389-678-1}}. Reissued by [[W. W. Norton & Company]] : New York City, London, 2008. {{ISBN|978-0-393-32808-0}}, p. 42</ref> However, a transcript of the proceeding, uncovered by comics historian Ken Quattro in 2010, indicates Eisner in fact supported Fox and claimed Wonder Man as an original Eisner creation.<ref>Quattro, Ken. [http://thecomicsdetective.blogspot.com/2010/07/dc-vs-victor-fox-testimony-of-will.html "DC vs. Victor Fox: The Testimony of Will Eisner"], ''The Comics Detective'', July 1, 2010.</ref>