Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities The Spirit!

Yeah, I must have totally missed that one! That sounds exactly like the kind of style Winslade used for the 8 page Spirit back-up.

Hm, another awesome Vertigo series I have to hunt down!

^It was really awesome! All the trademarks you want from an Ennis-written comic. But it still stands apart and doesn't fill like a retread. And, again, the Winslade art is jaw-droppingly gorgeous!!!

And there's this scene with a shark....

BTW, did you ever pick up Cooke's Spirit issues? They'll melt your face off, they're so awesome!

I've got 'em in two hardcovers but haven't read yet. I guess I'm saving them for just the right moment. My current Fables obsession ain't helpin'!

David Hine and Moritat continue to make the Spirit an absolute pleasure to read, and Hine’s first story-arc is already fantastic. I keep saying this, but David Hine has suddenly really emerged as a powerful force to be reckoned with in terms of comic book writers—everything he seems to touch lately is comics gold.

Moritat, whose work since #1 has been nothing short of excellent, is proving himself to be *the* Spirit artist right now. In this issue, the Spirit carries Ebony across a frozen Central City, through the roughest sections and across the frozen river on ice: each page was just full of tension & excitement and I think Will Eisner would be very proud.

This is really great stuff. It takes a lot for me to say I’m enjoying Spirit stories longer than the traditional one-issue route the character usually takes, but both the first story and now especially this one, are making me change my tune.

^Caught up on the finale to the above referenced Spirit story by Hine & Moritat and I'm equally impressed by the ending. This is, IMO, by far the best non-Cooke Spirit story to come out in recent times. Great stuff and I'm glad to finally be reading some awesome Spirit stories again!

This issue also had one of the best back-ups to date, with the uber-talented Richard Corben (who I have been raving about in the Hellboy thread) providing a really cool horror/mystery mash-up featuring the Spirit vs. a werewolf. Most of all, I loved how Corben made it read like a newspaper strip, which he obviously did as a tribute to the original format of the character.

The black & white back-up stories will be sorely missed when the series goes to 32 pages. Of all the $3.99 / 40 page comics with back-ups, the Spirit has consistently been the best.

I may be the only one collecting the Spirit, so I’ll give one last review for Comic Book Review Month, and reiterate one more time how damn good I think the relaunched series has been. David Hine and Moritat just wrapped up a really excellent Spirit story with a great build-up of tension, some twists and turns, and the Spirit smartly and forcefully figuring his way out of it to benefit Central City. It was a great 2-parter that exemplifies why I think this series is working so well right now.

They also do a great job at making these stories feel timeless. It’s hard to tell if the story takes place in 2011 or 1934, but either way, the story works perfectly.

The last of the back-ups (I think) is in the latest issue, as Paul Dini and Mike Ploog present a really great little Spirit B&W back-up. Mike Ploog once worked for Will Eisner and his style is really similar, so it felt like Eisner himself drew this story. Dini is perfect at these type of smaller, heartfelt, complete stories and with Ploog they craft a story that fits in with the best Spirit stories from the past. Dini & Ploog channel Eisner really well here. Once again, the B&W back-up is a huge highlight of the issue and I can’t praise the back-ups enough—they are by far the best usage of a back-up in an issue in the last 15 years. Really great stuff.

Great series!

I agree. There was a lot to like and there is a lot of potential for this series to take off, but the opening issue was only "good", verging down to "pretty good".

I think the Spirit being missing as the premise of the series is a mistake. Though sequence with Ebony and his partners had some subtle humor to it, Wagner doesn't quite capture the fun and whimsy of the Spirit--probably because everyone is sad and missing the Spirit. He may be trying to start with the tone downbeat and then lighten it up, but the more Eisner-ian approach would be the opposite.

While #2 was much like #1, I have to say that #3 was a really nice step in the right direction. It seems like Wagner is finding his "by himself but inspired by Will Eisner" voice. It certainly helps that the plot is now going somewhere with Denny Colt officially back in the mix.