Will Eisner’s wartime hiatus from the workaholic regime he had established to bat out weekly installments of ‘The Spirit‘, served him well, at least in terms of aesthetics if not in terms of financial remuneration.
What had happened in the intervening years was that in stepping back from the punishing schedule, he’d had an opportunity to live rather than merely work to met deadlines. His drawing had matured and showed an enhanced plasticity, that was merely hinted at in his pre-war work.