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The Spirit Archives #19
The Spirit Archives, Vol. 19
Collects stories from classic Spirit adventures in which a murdered detective fights crime from beyond the grave.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1949
72 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 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 6, 2019
Finally, with this volume I can finally stop talking about how the character of Ebony White, who appeared as a stereotypical black minstrel character from the beginning of Will Eisner's run on The Spirit is a problematic construct, what with his origins in frankly racist views held by whites contemporaneously with Eisner's adventures of his crime fighting protagonist. By the end of this volume, Ebony is nowhere to be found, and won't be found for the remainder of Eisner's run. This is done without any pomp and circumstance--one week Ebony is there and the next he isn't.
If this was going to be a "normal" review of a volume of the comics that essentially put Eisner on the map, I would likely tell you that the strips in this book are indicative of the quality of Eisner's best work, but that after four years back on the helm of The Spirit after being separated from the strip by his induction into the U.S. Army during World War II, one might feel that Eisner is getting tired of the strip. There are absolute stand outs in this volume ("The Christmas Spirit of 1949" immediately springs to mind) but given where Eisner would eventually take the genre, reading The Spirit as it moves into a new decade, I am going to assume The Spirit is starting to wear thin with its creator. I could be incorrect, but that's how it feels to me.
However, this isn't going to be a "normal" review. Instead, I think we should take a moment to eulogize Ebony White. Yes, the character is problematic on the surface--every time he appears one can only ignore the stereotypical black minstrel characteristics by engaging in intellectual dishonesty. In this, Eisner was wrong in portraying Ebony in such a way. However, after almost ten years in the strip, where often times Ebony was the main driver of the action, Eisner was able to create a more well defined character who was definitely not the black minstrel he was presented as. I guess in context with the times, Eisner probably thought the best way of dealing with the problematic Ebony was just to make him go away and not mention him again. But this is also a disservice to the character and how he had grown. There is value in a character like Ebony White, which is evident from the fact that the DC Comics version of The Spirit by the late Darwyn Cooke had Ebony as a street wise kid who also just happened to be African-American. This is how the character should have been dealt with from the beginning, but I am certain it was difficult for Eisner to divorce racial attitudes from the War era from his work. As Amber Tamblyn says of her husband David Cross in her book Era of Ignition , white males execute their privilege all the time without realizing it. We are more aware of it in 2019, but is expecting a very young Will Eisner (he was 23 when The Spirit began publication) to be aware of it in 1940 too much to ask? Maybe, since an older and wiser Eisner found the character to be problematic, but issues of race were not discussed like this at the time.
It's impossible for me to read these strips and somehow divorce myself from race relations in the United States, and the modern day prism with which we will view Ebony White. Eisner would go on to do bigger and better things after The Spirit helping to legitimize the comic form as being more than just "for kids." When we look at his body of work, we need to acknowledge the warts along with the beauty. The human condition means that we will be imperfect. To me, the existence of Ebony White does not diminish Eisner's accomplishments on The Spirit--so long we acknowledge why Ebony was problematic in the first place. His disappearance in late 1949 from The Spirit does not mean that the issue goes away--it's just not there in the foreground for us to notice whenever it appears on the page anymore. I can't decide if that's a good or bad thing.
If this was going to be a "normal" review of a volume of the comics that essentially put Eisner on the map, I would likely tell you that the strips in this book are indicative of the quality of Eisner's best work, but that after four years back on the helm of The Spirit after being separated from the strip by his induction into the U.S. Army during World War II, one might feel that Eisner is getting tired of the strip. There are absolute stand outs in this volume ("The Christmas Spirit of 1949" immediately springs to mind) but given where Eisner would eventually take the genre, reading The Spirit as it moves into a new decade, I am going to assume The Spirit is starting to wear thin with its creator. I could be incorrect, but that's how it feels to me.
However, this isn't going to be a "normal" review. Instead, I think we should take a moment to eulogize Ebony White. Yes, the character is problematic on the surface--every time he appears one can only ignore the stereotypical black minstrel characteristics by engaging in intellectual dishonesty. In this, Eisner was wrong in portraying Ebony in such a way. However, after almost ten years in the strip, where often times Ebony was the main driver of the action, Eisner was able to create a more well defined character who was definitely not the black minstrel he was presented as. I guess in context with the times, Eisner probably thought the best way of dealing with the problematic Ebony was just to make him go away and not mention him again. But this is also a disservice to the character and how he had grown. There is value in a character like Ebony White, which is evident from the fact that the DC Comics version of The Spirit by the late Darwyn Cooke had Ebony as a street wise kid who also just happened to be African-American. This is how the character should have been dealt with from the beginning, but I am certain it was difficult for Eisner to divorce racial attitudes from the War era from his work. As Amber Tamblyn says of her husband David Cross in her book Era of Ignition , white males execute their privilege all the time without realizing it. We are more aware of it in 2019, but is expecting a very young Will Eisner (he was 23 when The Spirit began publication) to be aware of it in 1940 too much to ask? Maybe, since an older and wiser Eisner found the character to be problematic, but issues of race were not discussed like this at the time.
It's impossible for me to read these strips and somehow divorce myself from race relations in the United States, and the modern day prism with which we will view Ebony White. Eisner would go on to do bigger and better things after The Spirit helping to legitimize the comic form as being more than just "for kids." When we look at his body of work, we need to acknowledge the warts along with the beauty. The human condition means that we will be imperfect. To me, the existence of Ebony White does not diminish Eisner's accomplishments on The Spirit--so long we acknowledge why Ebony was problematic in the first place. His disappearance in late 1949 from The Spirit does not mean that the issue goes away--it's just not there in the foreground for us to notice whenever it appears on the page anymore. I can't decide if that's a good or bad thing.
September 10, 2023
While maybe not the best Spirit edition it is still a five star because of the art and the stories and the story telling. You get a master class in story telling with every 7 page story. Will Eisner transformed the comic into what we know today. The Spirit, at its heart is a bunch of short stories with some comedy, some drama and a lot of heart.
I did find the art here to be a little more ragged than earlier volumes - I prefer cleaner and more minimalist drawing, however it is still jaw dropping how good it is. there are so many panels I just stare out seeing how he uses shadows and framing to convey the story or atmosphere.
The stories aren't all classics (we get a nice ongoing story of the Spirit running away from home to the tropics) but every story is so unique and Eisner effortlessly changes styles and POVs and tone from story to story. Some stories only tangentially involve the Spirit but that has always been the case. Sure I prefer the Spirit focused stories BUT when you have been doing something for a decade you need to change it up or things get stale.
and sotry telling - how is that different than a story itself? Well you can have a story idea and tell it hundreds of different ways. Eisner always pushed himself for an interesting hook to a story. Which character does he follow? What angles will he choose in his art? His genius wasn't just his art and creative talent but his craftsmanship to be able to clearly tell a story in the small little panels of his strip.
Overall - another brilliant work from the man who basically perfected comic books.
I did find the art here to be a little more ragged than earlier volumes - I prefer cleaner and more minimalist drawing, however it is still jaw dropping how good it is. there are so many panels I just stare out seeing how he uses shadows and framing to convey the story or atmosphere.
The stories aren't all classics (we get a nice ongoing story of the Spirit running away from home to the tropics) but every story is so unique and Eisner effortlessly changes styles and POVs and tone from story to story. Some stories only tangentially involve the Spirit but that has always been the case. Sure I prefer the Spirit focused stories BUT when you have been doing something for a decade you need to change it up or things get stale.
and sotry telling - how is that different than a story itself? Well you can have a story idea and tell it hundreds of different ways. Eisner always pushed himself for an interesting hook to a story. Which character does he follow? What angles will he choose in his art? His genius wasn't just his art and creative talent but his craftsmanship to be able to clearly tell a story in the small little panels of his strip.
Overall - another brilliant work from the man who basically perfected comic books.
October 4, 2024
My first experience with Will Eisner and I'm not as impressed by his work as legend portrays him. But I did find the reading enjoyable and I love the illustrations and the colors.
Being a collection of weekly comics that fit into 7 pages, they are limited in what they can achieve with the narrative and usually have to keep it straight forward and avoid subplots and red herrings. There are also no multi-part stories in this volume, but there is a vague continuation between the stories, without becoming a proper arc. I don't mind that they are dated and I like that the author doesn't shy away from violence and killing characters, but I just think overall they are not that great.
The Spirit is a one dimensional character that solves everything with a punch or a kick, making the stories where he's sidelined the better ones.
I'll give it a 3.5 and encourage you to give it a try, especially for the quality of the print, but I don't think I would buy other volumes.
Being a collection of weekly comics that fit into 7 pages, they are limited in what they can achieve with the narrative and usually have to keep it straight forward and avoid subplots and red herrings. There are also no multi-part stories in this volume, but there is a vague continuation between the stories, without becoming a proper arc. I don't mind that they are dated and I like that the author doesn't shy away from violence and killing characters, but I just think overall they are not that great.
The Spirit is a one dimensional character that solves everything with a punch or a kick, making the stories where he's sidelined the better ones.
I'll give it a 3.5 and encourage you to give it a try, especially for the quality of the print, but I don't think I would buy other volumes.
March 23, 2018
More classic material concluding the Spirit's 1949 strips, including the debut of the Spirit's new (non-racially offensive) sidekick Sammy. Eisner does some really terrific stuff with framing sequences, myth, sci-fi, children's storybook-style storytelling and more, and even the classic noirish/femme fatale Spirit stories still have some life in them.
Very innovative, creative stuff. I love it.
Very innovative, creative stuff. I love it.
January 31, 2008
If there were cellphones in the 40's, Eisner would've pissed out these drawings while tapping on two iPhones and dictating a grocery list to secretary, he makes this shit look so loose and easy. Solidly racist/xenophobic in the Tin-Tin/Flash Gordon style, which gives you a heads-up as to how "Aladdin" and "Shrek" are gonna look in sixty years. Or "goan look", if you will.
February 7, 2009
I didn't like it at first, as it's a little dated (1949), especially in the bizarro black-face negro guy. But he faded into the background. And it became a series of short stories about this sort-of superhero guy. But no super powers, really. And the stories were short, reasonably self-contained, interdependent in an interesting way. Nice use of "colorful" characters and names.
August 14, 2015
Eisner is killing it at this point. Aside from a few clunky perspective studies the art is amazing. And the storytelling is revolutionary.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews