Will Eisner is a legend in the comic business, inspiring generations with his work, ranging from superhero adventurers to real pioneers in graphic storytelling, such as Art Spiegelman (Maus) and Robert Crumb. The comic industry's top annual awards, "The Eisners," are named in his honor. He died in January at the age of 87.

The just published The Contract with God Trilogy collects Eisner's graphic novels A Contract With God, A Life Force and Dropsie Avenue. After his legendary run on his comic strip The Spirit, Eisner released chapters of The Contract with God Trilogy in single-issue format over three decades.

This collection is a rare gem of Eisner's work inspired by the bittersweet neighborhood in which he spent his youth. The majority of the collection chronicles a fictional street known as Dropsie Avenue during the Great Depression, but the stories range over four centuries.

The faces and names change, but the stories of love, life and faith are the same. Historic events and political and social movements influence the residents' lives, from the rise of Nazism and left-wing politics to Roosevelt's New Deal and the great blizzard of 1934. Eisner captures the grit of the streets. Dropsie is a rough neighborhood -- dirty and dangerous. We see its decline from proud brick buildings to decrepit slums. But underneath we also see the innocence, hope and the struggle for the American Dream.

A Contract with God is several short stories, introducing the tenants of Dropsie Avenue. First, we find a disillusioned Frimme Hersh discarding a stone onto which he has etched a binding promise to God. The sudden death of his daughter enrages Hersh to accuse God of violating their pact. In the preface, Eisner informs us that this is based on his own rage at God following the loss of his 16-year-old daughter.

"Cookalein," Yiddish-English for "cook alone," describes a summer resort in the country where guests cooked their own meals. Here poor Dropsie residents head to the farms for "vacations" in the Catskill Mountains. This is the first story with a myriad of characters. A young boy comes of age, which Eisner writes in the preface is an honest recollection of his own experience. "Cookalein" is brutal and very sexual at points, breaking down any preconceived notions that comics are only for kids. These stories capture every emotion in images and expressions that would take pages to describe.

In A Life Force, the second installment, Eisner pits Darwinism and Creationism as his character Jacob Shtarkah compares his life without meaning to a cockroach. A Life Force is a solid narrative, as we follow the Shtarkah family through interfaith marriage, the conception of Mafia and the Jewish flight from the Nazi regime.

A Life Force has fleshed-out stories, rather than the vignettes of A Contract with God. We develop more of a rapport with Dropsie Avenue and its residents, which enhances the third installment.

Dropsie Avenue begins with some vignettes. As we travel through the decades, we see the lifecycle of the neighborhood, from its beginning in the 1870s to the 1980s. Eisner expands our rapport begun in A Life Force with his characters as we follow them through their lives affected by the times a-changin', as waves of new immigrants force older residents out and a rampant drug culture strangles the last of the innocence out of the neighborhood.

The obvious main character of The Contract with God Trilogy is Dropsie Avenue itself. The street and its residents have a symbiotic relationship, affecting their appearance and mood. Eisner creates more than a backdrop of a neighborhood; the pavements and brick reflect each character. Dropsie is any American neighborhood.

Eisner's moody black-and-white line art might be difficult for a first-timer to graphic novels, but the emotions are captured in every line. New York City comes alive from generation to generation and the rich diversity of stories makes it worth the investment. The Contract with God Trilogy is an essential tome for anyone who loves graphic novels. ©