Sometimes there’s some stunningly good cover artwork coming out from the big boys and girls, and the new Spirit series issues 1 & 2 by artist Ladronn are truly great:
The last time DC tried to do something with Will Eisner’s Spirit character they hired Darwyn Cooke & J. Bone to create a staggeringly good dozen issues. Sadly J. Bone couldn’t continue so Cooke walked away from the series, which limped on for a while with a host of very good artists who often just failed to properly “get” the character in the way Cooke & Bone so obviously did. Because there’s something so magnificently unique about Eisner’s mysterious champion, it’s always a double edged sword to hear about yet another revamp or return. The good news with the new Spirit series due from DC, aside from these gorgeous Ladronn covers, is that it’s main feature has Mark Schultz doing the writing. Schultz is one of those modern writers who seems to be a good fit for Eisner’s Spirit. The bad news – three issues is all we get of Schultz. (see this story from CBR). But at least Schultz, with these three issues seems to have the right idea for Denny Colt:
“Schultz confirmed his two-parter is set squarely in Azzarello’s world but there will be faint evidence in the first two issues of “The Spirit” that Bruce Wayne and Clark Savage exist within it alongside Denny Colt.”
Which brings me to that mention of “Azzarello’s world” from the quote above. This is the DC “First Wave” shared universe mini-series thingy that’s being written by Brian Azzerello. It seems like DC have decided to throw all of their pulp-y characters (Doc Savage, The Avenger, Blackhawk and a gun-toting Batman) in to one big event comic, including Will Eisner’s Spirit. Who knows, maybe the idea will play out well, but I have to admit I’m just full of dread and a huge feeling of “WHY?”, especially when I read Azzerello say this in a recent CBR interview:
“Will Eisner created that character and he was riffing on a lot of stuff. And with The Spirit, now we get to riff on some modern stuff. I’ve got the blessing of the Eisner estate to take The Spirit in a different direction. Not just The Spirit, but also Batman and Doc Savage and we’re tweaking all these characters to sort of make their stories work together in one universe.”
Why? Why? Why? However, those Ladronn covers and Mark Schultz writing, plus the promise from Schultz that his issues are clean-ish of the First Wave idea will see me picking them up in time.
Release dates: First Wave #1 (Mar 4th) , #2 (Apr 8th). The Spirit #1 (Apr 22nd), #2 (May 20th)
Sat, Feb 20, 2010
Comics and cartoons