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The Spirit Archives #12
The Spirit Archives, Vol. 12
Collects stories from classic Spirit adventures in which a murdered detective fights crime from beyond the grave.
196 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1947
About the author
Will Eisner
766 books540 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 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 6, 2016
After several lackluster volumes, it's good to have Eisner back. Fine, et. al., are perfectly good craftsmen--the non-Eisner stories are decent enough by 1940's standards--but there's a deftness and liveliness to Eisner's work that's simply not there in the preceding few volumes that coincide with his stint in the army. Just compare volume 11 with this one and you'll see the difference.
In fact, the story, "The End of the World" (Feb. 3, 1946), is very much the sort of story people think of when they talk about why Eisner's work on The Spirit is so great. It's only incidentally about the Spirit, and feels more like a short story than an action yarn. The ending is beautiful.
Some of Eisner's comic tropes are very much of their time. I've mentioned Ebony White before. To Eisner's credit, he attempts to upgrade the character a bit. Ebony goes off to finish school, and his dialect gets toned down a bit. The drawing style for black characters in general though--big lips, often childish stature--still makes me cringe occasionally. It was the times, after all, but I still feel a twinge now and then when reading. The story, "Pool's Toadstool Facial Cream" (June 9, 1946), has some ... interesting views on women and marriage. Dolan's sister, Mathilda is in town to get married, her sixth. She urges Ellen to set her sights on the Spirit. While I certainly agree that it works better for the strip if they don't get married, the idea that a woman has to trick a man into proposing and that a man wanting to get married means that he's bewitched and needs rescuing ... It just seems really archaic, at the very least.
Still, with this volume, we see The Spirit beginning to climb to the heights that make it such a beloved part of comics history. The series is absolutely worth reading from the beginning. Just keep this volume in mind as you're working your way through the war years, and remember: it really does get better.
In fact, the story, "The End of the World" (Feb. 3, 1946), is very much the sort of story people think of when they talk about why Eisner's work on The Spirit is so great. It's only incidentally about the Spirit, and feels more like a short story than an action yarn. The ending is beautiful.
Some of Eisner's comic tropes are very much of their time. I've mentioned Ebony White before. To Eisner's credit, he attempts to upgrade the character a bit. Ebony goes off to finish school, and his dialect gets toned down a bit. The drawing style for black characters in general though--big lips, often childish stature--still makes me cringe occasionally. It was the times, after all, but I still feel a twinge now and then when reading. The story, "Pool's Toadstool Facial Cream" (June 9, 1946), has some ... interesting views on women and marriage. Dolan's sister, Mathilda is in town to get married, her sixth. She urges Ellen to set her sights on the Spirit. While I certainly agree that it works better for the strip if they don't get married, the idea that a woman has to trick a man into proposing and that a man wanting to get married means that he's bewitched and needs rescuing ... It just seems really archaic, at the very least.
Still, with this volume, we see The Spirit beginning to climb to the heights that make it such a beloved part of comics history. The series is absolutely worth reading from the beginning. Just keep this volume in mind as you're working your way through the war years, and remember: it really does get better.
March 19, 2019
WILL EISNER RETURNS!
That is the selling point of The Spirit Archives, Vol. 12 which features The Spirit stories from the first half of 1946. From 1942 to late December 1945, Eisner was unable to write and draw the comic owing to his obligations to the U.S. Army, into which he had been drafted after the United States entry into World War II. While the stories were ghost written and drawn by the likes of capable artists like Lou Fine, there was always something missing in the stories published in the three years Eisner was serving in the army, and by the end of Fine's run, the quality was lacking to be sure. In Vol. 11 Eisner returns to the strip on Dec. 23rd, 1945 to save the day and manages to put out two strips in the last two weeks of 1945 that surpass anything else in the volume. However, expectations being what they are, perhaps Eisner coming back so strong in 1945 sets unrealistic expectations for the strips of the first half of 1946.
There are two things hamstringing Eisner is his return to The Spirit (actually three things, but let's hold off on that third thing for a moment.) First, it's obvious that after three years away from The Spirit, Eisner needs time to get back in sync with the rhythm of his character. He makes a preemptive strike in the previous volume--killing off a number of the Spirit rogues gallery in order to have a fresh start from that side of the equation. His problem is that he can't do the same for the Spirit, which is evidenced by the "origin" story penned in January 1946. It feels like Eisner himself needs a re-introduction to the Spirit and I think the origin tale works to remind both the readers and Eisner himself of what the Spirit is all about.
Eisner however, refuses to be boxed in by his crime-fighter and the stories here show Eisner playing with the comic form in a way that no one else was in 1946. The problem is that during the war, newspapers were asked to reduce the amount of paper they were using and The Spirit was reduced from 8 pages to 7, and this limitation is still evident in the 1946 strips. This limits Eisner on his storytelling given the space provided--Eisner liked to present splash pages on the first page of the strip, sometimes leading the story to be pushed into six pages and feeling a bit rushed. However, the story concepts are for the most part brilliant and a distinct improvement over the Fine years (especially at the end.)
The third problem...well...I already addressed the "Ebony White problem" in my review of The Spirit Archives, Vol. 9. In this volume Eisner writes Ebony out of the strip by sending him to school...only to replace him with a new "Eskimo" (Aleutian) assistant named (this is horrifying) Blubber. Blubber fills the Ebony roll while Ebony is at school, only to eventually eat ice cream at a "Welcome Home" party which inspires him to return to the Great White North. I know that the primary defense of such obvious racist caricatures of non-Whites in old comics is that the mores of the age were different, but I think that's bullshit. It's not right here. It's not right when Tom Kalmaku is called "Pieface" in Green Lantern and it's not right when Skolnick sexually assaults a cheerleader in Revenge of the Nerds. Attitudes like this are why segregation and Jim Crow were able to persist, even from someone who was reported to be as "enlightened" as Eisner supposedly was. When reading the stories it's obvious that Eisner treats both Ebony and Blubber as human beings in their thoughts and actions, but their presentations are racist as hell and when Blubber serves his purpose, it's just a big dose of minstrel show Ebony again--a situation that wouldn't be rectified for years. I'd like to say these portrayals don't diminish my enjoyment of The Spirit but they do. And they should.
That is the selling point of The Spirit Archives, Vol. 12 which features The Spirit stories from the first half of 1946. From 1942 to late December 1945, Eisner was unable to write and draw the comic owing to his obligations to the U.S. Army, into which he had been drafted after the United States entry into World War II. While the stories were ghost written and drawn by the likes of capable artists like Lou Fine, there was always something missing in the stories published in the three years Eisner was serving in the army, and by the end of Fine's run, the quality was lacking to be sure. In Vol. 11 Eisner returns to the strip on Dec. 23rd, 1945 to save the day and manages to put out two strips in the last two weeks of 1945 that surpass anything else in the volume. However, expectations being what they are, perhaps Eisner coming back so strong in 1945 sets unrealistic expectations for the strips of the first half of 1946.
There are two things hamstringing Eisner is his return to The Spirit (actually three things, but let's hold off on that third thing for a moment.) First, it's obvious that after three years away from The Spirit, Eisner needs time to get back in sync with the rhythm of his character. He makes a preemptive strike in the previous volume--killing off a number of the Spirit rogues gallery in order to have a fresh start from that side of the equation. His problem is that he can't do the same for the Spirit, which is evidenced by the "origin" story penned in January 1946. It feels like Eisner himself needs a re-introduction to the Spirit and I think the origin tale works to remind both the readers and Eisner himself of what the Spirit is all about.
Eisner however, refuses to be boxed in by his crime-fighter and the stories here show Eisner playing with the comic form in a way that no one else was in 1946. The problem is that during the war, newspapers were asked to reduce the amount of paper they were using and The Spirit was reduced from 8 pages to 7, and this limitation is still evident in the 1946 strips. This limits Eisner on his storytelling given the space provided--Eisner liked to present splash pages on the first page of the strip, sometimes leading the story to be pushed into six pages and feeling a bit rushed. However, the story concepts are for the most part brilliant and a distinct improvement over the Fine years (especially at the end.)
The third problem...well...I already addressed the "Ebony White problem" in my review of The Spirit Archives, Vol. 9. In this volume Eisner writes Ebony out of the strip by sending him to school...only to replace him with a new "Eskimo" (Aleutian) assistant named (this is horrifying) Blubber. Blubber fills the Ebony roll while Ebony is at school, only to eventually eat ice cream at a "Welcome Home" party which inspires him to return to the Great White North. I know that the primary defense of such obvious racist caricatures of non-Whites in old comics is that the mores of the age were different, but I think that's bullshit. It's not right here. It's not right when Tom Kalmaku is called "Pieface" in Green Lantern and it's not right when Skolnick sexually assaults a cheerleader in Revenge of the Nerds. Attitudes like this are why segregation and Jim Crow were able to persist, even from someone who was reported to be as "enlightened" as Eisner supposedly was. When reading the stories it's obvious that Eisner treats both Ebony and Blubber as human beings in their thoughts and actions, but their presentations are racist as hell and when Blubber serves his purpose, it's just a big dose of minstrel show Ebony again--a situation that wouldn't be rectified for years. I'd like to say these portrayals don't diminish my enjoyment of The Spirit but they do. And they should.
October 4, 2015
January through June 1946. The Spirit was important in the development of both the comic strip and the comic book, since it was part of a Sunday supplement section with 7-8 page stories. Extremely dated. Catty women. Dynamic art. Some good stories.
September 24, 2007
I love the art and the efficient story telling, but it's hard to get past the black kid who acts as his side kick. He is drawn in the 'pickininny' stereotype that was so common at that time.
October 20, 2013
Eisner's return displays a quantum leap in confidence and style. Pure genius.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews