Cover: Will Eisner

A Contract with God #[nn]

Oct 1978 · Baronet Publishing · 4.95 USD

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About this Collection

This is the seminal graphic novel that launched the modern graphic novel movement, collecting four interconnected stories set in a 1930s New York tenement. Written and illustrated by Will Eisner, the book explores themes of faith, loss, and urban life through the lives of its struggling residents. The title story follows a devout man who confronts God after a personal tragedy, while the other tales examine poverty, loneliness, and the harsh realities of the immigrant experience.

"A Contract with God" by Will Eisner is a powerful, quietly devastating story that begins with a man’s desperate plea to God for safe passage to America, sealed in a moment of faith on a stone. Years later, in the heart of a New York tenement, a childless man finds an abandoned baby on his doorstep, and his life becomes a quiet testament to love, loss, and the fragile line between hope and despair. The story, written and illustrated by Will Eisner with full creative control over both interior art and cover, is a landmark in the evolution of the graphic novel form.

Contains 4 stories

A Contract with God

59 pp · Drama

Frimme Hersh

In this poignant 1978 story, Frimme Hersh, a man of deep faith, makes a solemn promise to God on a stone as he journeys from Europe to America—pledging devotion in exchange for safe passage. Years later, after settling into a New York tenement, he finds a baby girl left on his doorstep, and raises her with love and care, only to be shattered by her tragic death. The weight of loss transforms him, leading him to reject his vow and seek a new path, forever changed by faith, grief, and the quiet cost of hope.

The Street Singer

28 pp · Drama

The Super

27 pp · Drama

Cookalein

55 pp · Drama