I haven’t had the opportunity to work on a Near Mint Memories since November. I finally sat down and began this column on January 3rd. You may ask why I am mentioning this. Well, in a rather strange coincidence the very day I began to write about Will Eisner’s creation The Spirit, the comic legend passed away due to complications following open heart surgery.
I will not try to turn this into a celebration of Mr. Eisner’s long career in comics. There are so many wonderful pieces that have been written about Will Eisner that I could never compare to. The best informational source that I’ve read since Eisner’s death was DC Comics’ magnificent remembrance. The piece features a detailed history of Will Eisner’s life, contributions to the comic medium, quotes from friends, and a links to more great information about the legend.
This Near Mint Memories will remain as I originally envisioned: a look at Mr. Eisner’s most famous creation, and why I love the character of The Spirit. I’ll do my best to point you to further resources about the legendary Will Eisner. If you’d like to find out more about Will Eisner there’s no better source than his official site.
How I got started…
I can’t claim to be a person enlightened long ago to Will Eisner’s genius. Sure I knew who he was, and how important he was to comics, yet I didn’t start reading The Spirit until the summer of 2003. I still remember the day fondlyâ€â€I should, it was only a year-and-a-half ago. I was visiting Mid-Town Comics in Manhattan when I finally purchased one of the most revered comics in annals of history. Although I’m not a frequent visitor to Mid-Town, they offer a great deal where you earn twenty-dollars back every time you spend one-hundred dollars on printed material. Fresh off of a $20 gift, I decided it was high-time to sample The Spirit. It seemed to be de rigueur for both writers and artists to tout Will Eisner’s creation as one of the most influential in their development. It was time to see what all the hype was about, and, from my thinking, prove them wrong. Of course, I was wrong, and The Spirit lived up to all the “hype,” and became an all-time favorite almost immediately.
The Creation of the Spirit
The Spirit was born on June 2, 1940 as a seven-page story that was included as an insert in local newspapers across the U.S. This new comic section, known as The Spirit Section, was the brainchild of Will Eisner. Each section would contain a total of four stories, the primary story always featuring The Spirit, with a variety of characters, and run sixteen pages. This was Eisner’s chance to tell compelling, adult comic book stories. Eisner didn’t drop the ball with his opportunity as he began to craft some of the finest stories ever in the sequential art format.
One of the more famous elements to each Spirit story is the magnificent opening image used for each installment. Somehow the Spirit name was worked into the initial piece of artwork. This was a fabulous way to start off each story. With this ingenious title page, you were given the beginnings of the tale, and had very clear idea of what was to come next, without any wasted space.
The Origin of the Spirit
Denny Colt was a criminologist and private eye that worked closely with Commissioner Dolan in Central City (not the Silver Age Flash’s hometown). Colt was great at his job, but he had a large ego as well. Colt’s ego got in the way as he tried to foil the villain Dr. Cobra without police help. He was seemingly killed when a vat of chemicals caused a paralysis that mimicked death. Colt woke up buried alive in Wildwood Cemetery, and legally dead. After escaping the coffin, Colt decided to play on his new legal status and fight crime as The Spirit. With the legalities of the living out of the way The Spirit could go places and do things outside of the law, but still working for the goals he held dear. The Spirit formed a long, at times troubled, but enduring partnership with Commissioner Dolan.
Thus the legend was born.
Like any great comic hero, The Spirit had a secret headquarters. Unlike Batman’s Batcave or Superman’s Fortress of Solitude, The Spirit used Wildwood Cemetery.
During the course of The Spirit’s early adventures he continued to bump into the same cab driverâ€â€a youthful African American named Ebony White. Ebony would join The Spirit on most of his adventures. Ebony served as a sidekick, but was mainly comic relief. Ebony’s mannerisms were racially insensitive at times, which is something that Eisner expressed regret over. Still, Ebony White was a strong character, and one that saved The Sprit many times.
The July, 21 1940 story “Eldas Thayer” featured The Spirit being framed for murder by Mr. Thayer. In a rather neat storyline, Thayer commits suicide in a way that makes it appear like The Spirit was to blame. This cast The Spirit out from his place of respect within Central City. The Spirit now had to act outside of the law, and if captured he’d be arrested. He still fought crime, but the stories had a slightly different tone. Rather quickly The Spirit was cleared of the charges, off “camera,” and worked closely with Commissioner Dolan from that point forward.
It seems like each of the favorites that I write about in Near Mint Memories has one thing in commonâ€â€an amazing cast of supporting players. The Spirit is no exception. Will Eisner created a bevy of classic characters that joined The Spirit on many adventures. The relationships and characterizations are what made this book great. The wonderful interactions between The Spirit and Ebony, it was really a brotherly-type relationship, and the respectful, but dueling egos of The Spirit and Commissioner Dolan were comic gold.
Every hero has to have his female interest. The Spirit’s most enduring female friend would be Dolan’s daughter Ellen. Ellen was a well written female character. Although she got caught up in various schemes and was cast as a damsel in distress many times, she also moved beyond that quite often. She was a strong, smart, resourceful woman that made her voice heard.
These are just the primary cast members. Many, many other characters graced the pages of The Spirit’s stories over the years. Whether characters were involved in only one story or were in recurring roles Will Eisner always found a distinctive voice and strong creative purpose for their involvement.
A handful of favorites…
To be honest, I have not read all of Will Eisner’s Spirit stories, and I don’t own everything that has come back into print thus far. As of right now, DC has released fifteen volumes of Spirit archives. Each archive collects six months worth of stories. Personally, I have read the first seven volumes. I own the eighth and ninth volumes, but I just haven’t had the time to enjoy them, yet.
With my ignorance to more than half of these stories, I can only feature a handful of my favorite stories.
The October 20, 1940 story “Conscription Bill Signed” is one that mirrors real life events perfectly…and, honestly, this is essentially a method of propaganda, but a wonderful bit it is. Conscription, compulsory service in the military, went into effect a little more than a week after this story appeared. It was the first time in the history of the United States that conscription was enacted during a time of peace. Of course most of the Western Hemisphere was already at war, and the United States was being dragged inexorably closer.
The story saw The Spirit go to the Army and doing his duty and joining the service. He asked to keep his identity secret, and the Army agreed to the offer. From this point forward a number of stories centered on the war-effort were interspersed with the regular dose of crime fighting. It wasn’t a weekly thing with The Spirit’s stories, but it was a rather regular part of the series throughout the war years.
As a brief addendum to the idea of joining the war effort, it should be noted that Will Eisner followed The Spirit into the armed forces. He was drafted in 1942 and served in the United States Army until 1945 (The Sprit‘s weekly adventures were carried on my other talented individuals in Eisner’s absence, but the book wasn’t the same). Eisner used his cartooning talents to the benefit of the government. Not only did Eisner create entertainment for the troops, but he also made educational materials.
The June 22, 1941 story “The Tale of the Dictator’s Reform” is the one that sticks with me the most. In the story, a dictator modeled after Adolf Hitler, journeys to Central City. During his time there he sees the error of his dictatorial ways. He goes home and is promptly killed by his brain trust and replaced with a duplicate. It’s interesting to see the treatment of Hitler at this point, prior to the entry of the U.S. into World War II. Eisner showed that people could change, but that it’s hard to change the system. This is one of those odd little tales that tells you so much about the world at the time of the writing.
The August 19, 1942 story “M-U-R-D-E-R” is a superb example of the odd techniques that Eisner would use at times to tell stories. This story follows the Spirit’s attempt to solve a murder. Each of the first six pages is filled with alliteration. The first page uses the letter “m,” while page two uses the letter “u,” and so on with the next four pages, which eventually spell out the word “murder.” This is just another example of Eisner’s magnificent talent for telling stories in an original way.
One other bit that I must call attention to are the wonderful Christmas stories that came out each holiday season. These adventures are a fixture in every other Spirit Archive. Each one I have read was truly heartwarming. There’s nothing better than a well-done Christmas story.
A look back at history
History has always been my favorite subject in school. I absolutely love to read and watch historical accounts. It’s one of the real joys I have in life. Part of what I like about history is reading older fiction or watching old television shows to get an idea of what life was like in those time periods. I find it an absolute gas to watch programs on DVD such as the original Charlie’s Angels, Good Times, or The Honeymooners. These shows give me a window into what life was like when they were filmed. It’s a way to understand values, trends, and how people interacted, and what was important to them, all while being entertained.
So much of what I love about The Spirit is this same idea. Reading these adventures shows me, if you’ll forgive me, the spirit of the 1940s. These stories show what people were thinking and interested in. The values of the time, and the way we treated one another is so well translated. These are primary source documents that offer a fascinating study into life that you’re not going to get from a textbook. Plus these stories are as entertaining as can be. You get a history lesson and one of the most enjoyable reads all rolled into one.
After the end…
The Sprit’s weekly adventures may have ceased in 1952, but Will Eisner continued to create stunning comic work for the ensuing decades. The Spirit only returned a few times under the hand of Eisner. In 1966 there was a one-time return of the Spirit Section to the New York Herald Tribune for a five-page tale. The Spirit never disappeared, but most material in the ensuing decades has reprinted classic stories.
Amazingly, the final story featuring the Spirit written and drawn by Will Eisner has not yet hit the comic stands. In April, as a part of Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Chabon’s Michael Chabon Presents: The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist #6, Will Eisner wrote and drew a story featuring the Spirit meeting The Escapist. Eisner’s final Spirit story is due in stores April 12, 2005. That’s going to be a hot read!
From Boob Tube to Silver Screen
My first exposure to The Sprit was in the television movie shown in the summer of 1987. I was on vacation with my mother in Hawaii. I don’t remember very much about the film anymore, and most online reviews are not kind, but as a teenager, I recall enjoying the adventures of The Spirit. Looking at the IMDB entry for the film there was certainly an interesting cast. The Spirit was played by Sam J. Jones, the star of the wonderful 1981 Flash Gordon film, and Nana Visitor, Major Kira Nerys on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, played Ellen Dolan. The recently deceased Robert Pastorelli also appeared, as did Phillip Baker Hall.
On the modern front, it was announced this past summer that Odd Lot Entertainment had acquired the rights to make a Spirit film. Very little information has come out thus far, but Eisner seemed excited by the announcement. The property appears to be in good hands with Michael Uslan, who has produced or executive produced most of the Batman franchise since the 1989 Michael Keaton film. A November interview with Uslan at Comic Book Resources, made it seem that Uslan gets the character and seems to have had Eisner’s blessing. Hopefully it’ll happen sooner rather than later.
Closing up shop…
The death of Will Eisner while I was preparing this column helped to bring focus to my work. I didn’t want it to divert my original goal. This column is about getting people interested in The Spirit. I have attempted to link to as many interesting and inspiring pieces on both Will Eisner and The Spirit throughout the column. Hopefully my brief thoughts on the character will make you interested enough to read more about the legend that is Will Eisner, but more importantly it will set off a chain of events that will brings more readership to The Spirit. These stories shouldn’t be missed by any comic fan.
There are many seminal works in comics. The Spirit is THE seminal work that tops them all. You’ll never read a more smartly written, beautifully drawn, thought provoking, action-packed story then Will Eisner’s adventures featuring The Spirit! I guarantee you of that!
The Reading Rack
The easiest Reading Rack that I’ve ever written. The Spirit Archives 1-15 are currently available. Each volume contains six-months of Spirit stories. These books are well worth their $50 price tag. DC plans to release the entire Spirit run, which should be 24 volumes. Once you get started you’ll have years of reading enjoyment ahead of you.
