The Outer Space Spirit

by Will Eisner, Jules Feiffer, Wallace Wood (Illustrator)

Includes the final 10 episodes of the famed Spirit newspaper comic book, as well as roughs and/or layouts for three other installments that were never published due to the strip's cancellation.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Science Fiction

87 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1952

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

[Dominick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice collection of the complete set of Spirit in space stories illustrated by Wally Wood, including Jules Feiffer's rough layouts and the scripts for the final, unpublished installments. Probably a must-have for Spirit fans, and the art is nice to look at, but the stories are pretty forgettable. Ill-conceived attempt to turn the detective strip into a SF strip.

[Rex Hurst · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some nearly forgotten stories from the end of The Spirit's run, drawn by the master Wally Wood when he was the premier sci-fi artist. It wasn't appreciated when initially published in 1952, but there is some great material here, beautifully drawn. I can see why some Spirit purists discount these stories as the main character's presence is purely incidental. He almost doesn't need to be there. In fact, the Spirit doesn't do much at all. Most of the stories focus on other characters and their problems, the Spirit is simply there to witness. And while that's not totally unheard of in a Spirit story, usually this is covered up by the main character dealing with some criminal in the background. Here he literally just walks about and stares at things. Still, the are fun stories, well drawn and well plotted. And while they are not the best Spirit tales, they are still beautiful works of art.

[Tom M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the best storyline, but still a solid tale. The mock-ups of the never-finished final chapter was back to the humor so missing in this story.

[Javier Avilés · Rating 2 out of 5]

En los ochenta un póster de The Spirit presidía la pared de mi habitación. Eisner siempre me ha parecido Dios. Pero esta no me gusta demasiado. :-)

[Jimmy Slattery · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wally Wood art - beautiful

[Sylvester · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Spirit goes to outer space, it was nicely illustrated and had a decent storyline.

[Mallika Soni · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the art.