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The Spirit Archives #16
The Spirit Archives, Vol. 16
Collects stories from classic Spirit adventures in which a murdered detective fights crime from beyond the grave.
- GenresComicsComic Book
216 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1948
67 people want to read
About the author
Will Eisner
761 books534 followersWilliam Erwin Eisner was an American cartoonist, writer, and entrepreneur. He was one of the earliest cartoonists to work in the American comic book industry, and his series The Spirit (1940–1952) was noted for its experiments in content and form. In 1978, he popularized the term "graphic novel" with the publication of his book A Contract with God. He was an early contributor to formal comics studies with his book Comics and Sequential Art (1985). The Eisner Award was named in his honor and is given to recognize achievements each year in the comics medium; he was one of the three inaugural inductees to the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 25, 2019
Note: This rating takes into account the Ebony White problem, which I have discussed elsewhere. By 1948, it is becomes obvious that Eisner was slowly phasing Ebony out of the strip (Ebony would make his last appearance in Eisner's version of The Spirit in 1949) and in fact portrayed other African-American characters (like the Carter City police officer Lieut. Gray) in a more normal, less minstrel-like manner. This rating reflects what I would think of the work if there wasn't an "Ebony White problem." This is not to excuse Eisner's use of stereotypical black minstrel mannerisms, visages and speech patterns and if you think that evaluating this work without considering the "Ebony White problem" invalidates my rating and review, that is fair.
When I review one of Charles Schulz's The Complete Peanuts volumes, instead of writing how great Peanuts is in each of the volumes, I always include my favorite strip from that collection and let the work stand for itself. I wish I could do the same for Will Eisner's The Spirit.
By the time that the strips in this collection had been published in 1948, Eisner had been back in control of the strip for over two years and was at the height of his abilities as a storyteller in the comic medium. Anyone who digs into the volumes of The Spirit Archives after Eisner resumed creative control over the strip after leaving it in the hands of ghost writers and artists while he was in the army will be able to notice how visionary Eisner is with The Spirit. An prime example is the strip "The Torch" in which Eisner uses his seven pages to lampoon the increasing commercialism on the radio, by "advertising" a fictional cure for baldness throughout the strip--often at the most inopportune times. By the end of the strip, Eisner throws up his hands and lets the reader know he won't be repeating the experiment in next week's strip. As always with Eisner, even though the strip is called The Spirit, the title character wasn't always essential to getting the point across.
The one thing that those who have read Eisner's post-war strips of The Spirit have to admit is that Eisner was about a half-century ahead of his time and that his vision for using the comic form for storytelling contains comic paradigms that we take for granted today. But like the great rock and roll band whose record sounds as fresh today as it was when it was first recorded decades ago, so too with Eisner and The Spirit. These stories are as fresh and perfectly executed in 2019 as there were in 1948. That, to me, is the best thing that someone can say about any sort of literature, comic or otherwise.
When I review one of Charles Schulz's The Complete Peanuts volumes, instead of writing how great Peanuts is in each of the volumes, I always include my favorite strip from that collection and let the work stand for itself. I wish I could do the same for Will Eisner's The Spirit.
By the time that the strips in this collection had been published in 1948, Eisner had been back in control of the strip for over two years and was at the height of his abilities as a storyteller in the comic medium. Anyone who digs into the volumes of The Spirit Archives after Eisner resumed creative control over the strip after leaving it in the hands of ghost writers and artists while he was in the army will be able to notice how visionary Eisner is with The Spirit. An prime example is the strip "The Torch" in which Eisner uses his seven pages to lampoon the increasing commercialism on the radio, by "advertising" a fictional cure for baldness throughout the strip--often at the most inopportune times. By the end of the strip, Eisner throws up his hands and lets the reader know he won't be repeating the experiment in next week's strip. As always with Eisner, even though the strip is called The Spirit, the title character wasn't always essential to getting the point across.
The one thing that those who have read Eisner's post-war strips of The Spirit have to admit is that Eisner was about a half-century ahead of his time and that his vision for using the comic form for storytelling contains comic paradigms that we take for granted today. But like the great rock and roll band whose record sounds as fresh today as it was when it was first recorded decades ago, so too with Eisner and The Spirit. These stories are as fresh and perfectly executed in 2019 as there were in 1948. That, to me, is the best thing that someone can say about any sort of literature, comic or otherwise.
March 20, 2018
Eisner didn't miss a beat, as he plunged well into the Spirit's 8th year. Great splashes, powerful, moody pages, and creative, challenging stories are the hallmarks of the Spirit, and those things are all on display here. Eisner's cartooning is emotive and powerful, and he is single-handedly changing and evolving the visual language of comics with these stories. This book is absolutely essential for anybody interested in the creative evolution of comics.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews