The Spirit Archives, Vol. 3

The Spirit Archives #3

by Will Eisner

Continuing the comprehensive and chronological reprinting of Will Eisner's most famous creation, the Spirit, this full-color hardcover edition contains the Sunday strips that originally appeared in newspapers from July 6 - December 28, 1941. Reflecting the current affairs of World War II, the Spirit joins the fight against real world evil as he travels to Damascus and goes up against Nazi spies in occupied France. Also included in this volume are the returns of Silk Satin, Dusk, and the Christmas Spirit.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Crime, Comic Strips, Thriller, Fantasy

218 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1941

About the author

William 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.

Reviews

[StrictlySequential · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know whether it has generally escaped me or if it was only early in the chronology (and I still missed it in book 2?) but why doesn't a man of such constant self-initiated athletic action wear socks? Even if he does wears an invisible (sub-ankle) pair, it's still absurd with dress shoes and a suit!

In this stretch, more than any I've read, he and "The Batman" are the most intimately similar- as if he and Kane were competing -whether friendly or for supremacy- on who had the better set-up and execution for the "better-than-police detective, outside-of-the-law yet endorsed by the Commissioner, living with a boy sidekick, using an underground hideout, having highly advanced gadget-vehicles, never using a gun" (and whatever else I'm forgetting).

The art is absolutely stunning for the reproduction and color limitations of the time! He already had nearly mastered action-sequence and sports orchestration- making me think that he had taken advanced classes in such things. Then, in still poses, the facial expressions often wowed me or even tickled my emotions bodily. Speaking of bodies, the female figures are so enticing, especially with his renditions of waists and that subtle bulge underneath!

[tony dillard jr · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could have finished this book in September. Only there was a Halloween story. So, I took a break until the week before All Hallow's. I read that seasonal tale and progressed until I hit the Thanksgiving story. Hitting the breaks again, this was my last Turkey Day read for 2023. I then kept reading until there came a Christmas caper! So I waited until I got a little bit closer to Santa's arrival. And then I forgot all about this book.

I had picked up a collection of all of Will Eisner's Christmas Spirit stories. I think after I did the review, I probably got all mixed up in my head and combined that book with this one and just moved on. Thankfully, working on my comic book inventory and filing, I realized that I still had this book to finish. To my delight, I didn't mind all the delays because I really, really love The Spirit.

This collection is early Will Eisner Spirit. At book's start, the Spirit has only been running in syndicated Sunday newspapers for a year. This edition marks the beginning of year 2 of the Spirit. Eisner's genius is showing through. However, many of those iconic villains have yet to be introduced yet. Arch-enemy, The Octopus and femme fatale P'Gell are about 5 years away from becoming a part of the Spirit's Rogue's Gallery. Childhood love turned law breaker Sand Sarif won't come back into the former Denny Colt's life for another decade. Despite some of these notable absences, there are still some memorable characters to be found inside.

The pint-sized P.S. Smith causes trouble for the Spirit and baddies alike for at least 2 hilarious stories. Spirit sidekick Ebony White has a number of misadventures with his cousin and other family members. And we can't forget Commissioner Dolan's daughter Ellen, who is madly in love with the Spirit. She works so freaking well as the Gal Friday and Kate Hepburn to the Spirit's Cary Grant/Spencer Tracy. But she's also great on her own; especially in a romp where Ellen joins an all-women's football team that's playing a team that is nothing but tough guys in drag attempting to beat the point spread!

By the start of break #1 in my reading of this book, I took to Amazon to buy up a couple more volumes. I knew that my wife wasn't going to get me these for my birthday or Christmas, so I was clear in buying up a couple of books. Thanks to remembering that I needed to review this collection, I went back to Amazon to snag a couple more. These Archive editions are not cheap. They retail for $49.99 and many are either out of print and that means whatever copies of those I manage to find are not cheap. But hopefully, I wind up with all 26 volumes and the complete run of original Will Eisner Spirit stories in my possession.

[Stewart Tame · Rating 5 out of 5]

More Eisner goodness. Some of these stories don't hold up very well plot-wise. You can feel the pressure of the eight-page limit closing in on stories that need more room to breathe. And some things that may have seemed funny in 1941 are now just painful to read. Overall, though, these stories are still top notch. One quality that doesn't come through as much in Eisner's later work, with which readers may be more familiar, is his sense of humor. Some of the Spirit stories get quite silly indeed, and Eisner reveals a sense of comic timing and cartooning that's a delight to read. While not absent in his later work (A Contract With God and beyond), it seems decidedly more pronounced in these earlier works.

[Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume goes early into The Spirit series and every story is amazing. Will Eisner had a three-dimensional perspective on his hero. Stories are told from his sidekick's perspective, two kids standing by the sidelines, a bunch of homeless tramps, a Spanish troubadour, and even a Thanksgiving turkey. There's never been another noir comic strip like The Spirit. Will Eisner has clearly earned his reputation.

[Jeff McIntosh · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The Spirit" created by comic great Will Eisner, originally started "life" as a newspaper supplement in the newspapers....The Spirit, secretly Denny Colt...was an costumed adventurer (wearing a blue suit and a domino mask)....who aided the police in fighting crime.

Published from 1940-1952, the supplement chronicled the adventures of the Spirit, police commissioner Dolan, and his daughter Ellen...an on and off love interest of the Spirit.

If you haven't heard of the Spirit...its time you did.


Jeff McIntosh

[Matt Sautman · Rating 4 out of 5]

The apologetics for how Eisner's faults at perpetuating racist stereotypes in the beginning, along with the actual stereotypes themselves, prevent this from being five stars for me. However, as far as Golden Age comics go, The Spirit is by far one of the strongest at telling compact, imaginative stories in a compressed page layout.

[Mark Stratton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Central City is home to most of the stories in this volume. And the overall quality levels out and is more consistent.

[Ángel Javier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Es en este tomo donde Will Eisner comienza de verdad a desplegar todos los recursos narrativos que lo convertirían en leyenda del cómic: desde los experimentos visuales con el título de la tira, hasta las historias de tipos corrientes en las que Spirit apenas aparece de refilón, pasando por aquellas de corte más humorístico que de acción o misterio, tienen cabida en este volumen magnífico. Eisner hace lo que quiere, como quiere y cuando quiere porque es el puto amo. Su narrativa es impecable, y lo demuestra con una cantidad impresionante para la época de viñetas completamente mudas, puesto que es uno de los primeros historietistas en darse cuenta de cuánto sobran las palabras si eres capaz de decirlo todo mediante imágenes. En esto, como en tantas otras cosas, Eisner fue pionero; pero no hay que confundir la parquedad de diálogos con la morosidad a la hora de contar cosas: este mítico autor logra condensar en ocho páginas relatos completos, redondos, con una habilidad inigualable, creando, ya de paso, personajes complejos, como la ambigua Silk Satin o toda la panda que rodea al controvertido Ebony White, por no hablar de los pasos de gigante que da en la caracterización de secundarios de la talla del comisario Dolan y su en principio voluble, pero pronto devota, hija Ellen. Leyendo este tomo, no podemos sino darle la razón a Alan Moore cuando afirma que probablemente nunca habrá, en el campo del cómic, un talento comparable al de Will Eisner.

[Travis · Rating 5 out of 5]

More comic book gold.
Will Eisner deserves every bit of praise he gets and the Spirit is basically a masterclass on how to do a continuing series and how to experiment with the medium.

And, on top of that, it's a great read.

[Tankboy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quantum leaps in draftsmanship and story construction here. Masterful.