[The Ghost Man]

Australian Panther: "In fact, I find myself wondering, how much Eisner was visually influenced by Lou's style?"

Doubling back to your comment AP. I just dedicated hours today to tracking down and winnowing out authentic Lou Fine works compared against digitised original artworks by him. I discovered that there's much to substantiate your query here. Both Fine and Eisner worked on Jumbo Comics, Fine producing art for The Count of Monte Cristo, The Diary of Dr. Hayward and Wilton of the West. In the early editions, Will Eisner produced Hawks of the Seas and other stories but you can see him struggling to find or more at, exploring to find and define his now signature style. You can see him trying and working out different influences as Jumbo Comics issues progress, but don't take my word for it, take a look yourself. By contrast, Fine shows up with and delivers his own signature creative style albeit a tone less refined.

So if Fine's work arrives in a visual cohesion with his later work, but then Eisner's changes to a later major upgrade, it seems logical that Fine had influenced Eisner and not the converse initially. No shade on Eisner because when his style kicked in, he redefined comic illustration and storytelling. When Fine took over the chores for The Spirit it was then he changed up his style to deliberately emulate Eisner's to retain a visual continuity in the artwork.

[The Australian Panther]

Wow! I'm impressed! Thank you!
Where a thoughtful comment can lead! Pleased that it led you to undertake that research!
I've often thought that some comic artists should be taken much more seriously as working artists than they generally had been.
Also, Given that Artists of the calibre of Fine and Eisner could have made careers in more traditional ways, (like Portraiture for example) It shows that they clearly loved the form and deliberately chose to stay with it while it was economically viable to do so.
As you said earlier, it's a shame nobody to date has done a biography of Lou Fine.
As an aside, I was surprised that you seemed unfamiliar with the work of George Evans. Since he never did Superheroes he is under the radar of many comics buffs.
The thing that impressed me was that his knowledge of aeroplanes was such that he criticized Joe Kubert's Enemy Ace on the grounds that he depicted the wrong planes!
Here is a good Bio.
Artist Spotlight: George Evans
https://www.jimkeefe.com/archives/10223

And here is a selection of his work
https://www.comicartfans.com/comic-artists/George_Evans.asp

Much of which is to be found here on CB+

I am often disappointed by current comic book art, the tools and production techniques used today are superior to pre-SilverAge work, but there is a serious lack of style from many artists, [No, not all} and I can't see much evidence that the 'schools' they go to, teach them much about the great golden age artists, let alone the great strip artists.   
Cheers and thank you!

[The Ghost Man]

Lou Fine's son Elliot is still living and a few years back there was an author whom I believed was Roger Hill who floated out online that he was interested in a Lou Fine bio. I recall he put that idea out in a post reply on a site and I responded that I'd be his immediate first customer and purchase two copies. Hill had recently published the brilliant bio on Reed Crandall titled "Reed Crandall: Illustrator of the Comics" but sadly he died this past winter in 2023 of bone cancer. https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/wichita-ks/roger-hill-11572506 So it appears that this Lou Fine bio may never see the light of day at least for now. Honestly, I have such an fond and sincere affinity for Lou Fine that I considered taking up such an endeavour, but I hardly have the time to dedicate to such a huge project. I do have an idea that I have kicked around on the back burner that will honour his memory well if I get the chance to pull away the time. I'm absolutely grateful to hear that my post brought your attention to his magnificent work.

Cheers for the George Evans information, I looked into it and he indeed was a brilliant illustrator just as you described and lauded. Very competent in aircraft rendering which only stands to reason as he was a pilot and aircraft mechanic prior to becoming a comic illustrator.

So, I found a great visual representation regarding my assertion that early on, Eisner was influenced by Fine. Examine Eisner's The Hawk and Fine's Stuart Taylor in Weird Stories of the Supernatural https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=31146 and judge for yourself. These are great examples because they are the earliest expressions showcasing the foundation of their illustrative works.

You had stated:

I am often disappointed by current comic book art, the tools and production techniques used today are superior to pre-SilverAge work, but there is a serious lack of style from many artists, [No, not all} and I can't see much evidence that the 'schools' they go to, teach them much about the great golden age artists, let alone the great strip artists.

Your assessment is spot on the mark and exactly why I started up The Vintage Inkwell Academy to turn this sorry state around. I have committed to plans that I'm pursuing in my own emerging publishing business to revitalise and revolutionise this failing, soul-less industry. I will achieve this as a man of action with cohesion in both my word and deeds.

Best to you friend for all of your continued belief and support, much gratitude.