The Spirit #3 - DC (2007)

The first two issues of Darwyn Cooke's resurrection of The Spirit were outstanding but issue #3 is the first one that felt like the Eisner comics. This is not to say that Cooke (who is writing as well as drawing) is doing Eisner all over again. With this issue, Cooke has made the character his own while building on the original material. It's like a cover of a jazz standard. The same melody is there but the new performer makes it different with his voice and interpretation. The words and images mesh so smoothly that I actually heard voices in my head during the voiceover panels.

J. Bone (inks) and Dave Stewart (colors) build on Cooke's pencils to turn each issue into a travelogue of The Spirit's world. Said world owes as much to Bruce Timm's Gotham City and psychedelia as it does to Eisner. It's a cool, scary, dangerous-looking place. You can keep your Sin Cities, I want to move next door to The Spirit.

The Spirit is the kind of guy who just doesn't get down. Bad things happen to him on a regular basis but he continues to leap into danger with a grin and a wink. The story in this issue is my favorite so far. Issue #2 gave it some stiff competition but I'm a sucker for "Secret Origin" stories. The characters are well-developed and interesting. Even the "Central-Casting" mad scientist has some entertaining quirks.

If you like things that are cool, check out The Spirit.

Also, check out the cover for issue #2. This is one of my favorite covers ever. It's an excellent shorthand for the tone of the series. Other cover artists should pay attention to how effective Cooke's images are. You know what you're getting into but it leaves all kinds of room for surprises.