Will Eisner is among the greatest cartoonists in the history of comics. Will Eisner’s work on comics represents the earliest attempts to prove comics could function as literature.

With the Spirit, Eisner pushed comic book panelling techniques beyond the medium range, monotonous rigidity of the Golden Age. With A Contract with God, Eisner created what is widely recognized as the first graphic novel.

Life on Another Planet is Eisner’s tour de force in non-paneled comics storytelling.

Life on Another Planet begins when humanity receives a signal, seemingly from extraterrestrial life. Soon the entire world finds itself racing to respond, with nearly everyone looking to exploit the situation to advance their own agendas.

Eisner’s panel layouts are nothing short of genius. Eisner rarely uses panel borders at all, instead choosing objects from the environment to indicate the passage of time. Here Eisner demonstrates his masterful ability to guide the reader’s eye, creating a story where moments flow smoothly between one another. Without panel borders Eisner risks depicting the entire page as one moment but he cleverly uses speech bubbles and staging to help the reader understand the flow of time.

Originally titled Signal from Space, the story was serialized in The Spirit #19-26 from 1978-1980. Collections have been printed titled both Life on Another Planet, and Signal from Space. Unfortunately this story is unavailable on digital platforms. The collection is available on amazon and the issues can be found at your local comic book store.