My Account
Recent Activity
Profile
Contact Info
My Store
Change Password
Help
Community
Wish List
0
Please
sign in
for full site features
Find
Title
Publisher
Artist
Writer
Cover Artist
Storyline
1st Appearance
2nd Appearance
Origin
Death
Special Appearance
Advanced Find...
Show only in-stock items
The Best of the Spirit
(DC, 2005)
™ and ©1948 Will Eisner. Introduction ©2005 Neil Gaiman
Although often mistaken for just another masked crime fighter, The Spirit really owed more to the radio and B-movie incarnations of such characters as The Saint, Falcon, and Boston Blackie. Like them, he (almost) never worried about earning a living and had an antagonistic yet paternal relationship with an authority figure, a comic relief sidekick, and a steady girlfriend who wanted to be much more.
Will Eisner is lavishly (and rightly) praised for the stories included here, the one-off stories in which his hero retreated into the background, and the writer-artist could focus more on human drama and virtuoso storytelling. It almost goes without saying that, if you’ve never had the opportunity to read The Spirit before, you couldn’t ask for a better primer than this.
But some of Eisner’s best work on the series involved The Spirit and his supporting cast in multi-part stories, and, unfortunately, Dolan, Ellen, Ebony/Sammy, and his signature femmes fatales are almost entirely missing from this volume. Of course, that only gives DC all the more reason to release a Best of The Spirit Vol. 2.
— S. A. Bennett
Jump to issue:
1
Notes
Writer
Artist
#1
January, 1989
Cover Price:
$14.99
1 copy
available for
$5.00
Will Eisner, Neil Gaiman
Will Eisner