Awesome Cover Friday: The Spirit Part Two

Hey, Kids! It's part two of my Spirit coverfest! Part one is over here.

What I said yesterday still stands but I want to point out Eisner's use of shadow and line. Especially in the first two covers below. Also, I want to reiterate how awesome it is that each of these covers tells a story. Each image feels active as if there are things happening before and after it instead of just being a portrait.

Awesome Cover Friday: The Spirit Part One

I love The Spirit. I have a deep fondness for Will Eisner's work and I am a big fan of Darwyn Cooke's recent reboot. I have such a love for this comic that I am making this Awesome Cover Friday last two days. The covers below are from Kitchen Sink Press's reprints of the post-WWII spirit issues.

I'm not going to comment on each one because they speak for themselves. Each one is an exemplar of what comic-book covers should be. They are evocative and each one practically tells a whole story in a single image. It really makes me want to see how The Spirit got into that predicament and, more importantly, how he's going to get out.

Blog Positivity Week! The Spirit #8 - DC (2007)

Heidi Meeley recently proposed Blog Positivity Day. I think that's such a good idea that I'm declaring Blog Positivity Week on Noetic Concordance.

Darwyn Cooke makes being positive about comics easy. This latest issue can be summed up quickly:

The Spirit
Special Agent Silk Satin
Nuclear Time Bomb

I don't really need to say more than that, do I?

But I will.

Cooke's art and writing are as good as ever. There's a single panel that I want on a T-shirt. It's The Spirit standing in shadow, having just freed himself from handcuffs saying "Come and get it, Psycho". Hee hee! This is the stuff that just makes me clap my hands in glee.

We learn an iota more about the Octopus, Silk Satin gets that sort of amnesia that only happens in fiction, and The Spirit messes with his hat and does a silly accent. Comic-book gold, people.

This comic is freakin' awesome. Flip through a few pages at your local comic shop and see if it's for you.

The Spirit #7 - DC (2007)

Darwyn Cooke drew the excellent cover but otherwise he took this month off. Fill-in issues are always a crapshoot but when your backup team includes Walt Simonson, Chris Sprouse and Jimmy Palmiotti you're doing something right.

This issue is divided into three stories. The first is by Simonson, Sprouse and Karl Story. It captures the feel of The Spirit in the same manner Cooke does. It features a socialite who reports the theft of a HUGE diamond. The Spirit investigates the crime in his usual manner and it's a blast to read.

Next up are Palmiotti and Jordi Bernet with my favorite story of the three. The Spirit chases a crook into an apartment building which is straight out of Batteries Not Included. As he chases the crook around, our hero inadvertently improves the lives of the residents. It's so much fun I read it twice.

Kyle Baker's story is a mess. Normally, I really like Baker's art and writing but I was turned off by both in this story. I read this one twice, too, in an attempt to figure out what was going on but it's so disjointed that I wonder if the panels were arranged in the right order.

This Summer Special was entertaining and you don't even have to know anything about The Spirit to enjoy it. If you like any of the creators mentioned above, (maybe you'll even like the Baker story) give it a look.

Super Bad Linkblogging

Shortpacked brings us an alternative version of the new Fantastic Four movie.

The Wayans Brothers' comic Super Bad James Dynomite has been optioned for a movie. This raises the question: The Wayans Brothers wrote a comic book?!?

In other news, I'm still pretty pissed off that Frank Miller is directing The Spirit. I'll just focus on this Darwyn Cooke cover instead:

And, hey, I had no idea until a few minutes ago that there was a TV pilot for The Spirit.

From the mouths of webcomics

Shortpacked echoes my feelings about Darwyn Cooke's The Spirit and Frank "Testosterone" Miller's involvement in the proposed movie.

What I said about it wasn't as funny but it does have a keen scan of an old-school Spirit cover.

Spirits In The Material World

There are a few things in this report from NYCC that do not fill me with hope regarding the proposed Spirit movie. Chief among them: Frank Miller's involvement. I am really enjoying Darwyn Cook's comic and I adore Eisner's work but it looks like they might Sin City-ize this film and that would not be a good thing. Denny Colt does not need to be played by Bruce Willis.

Although the possibility of an animated version makes me feel a bit better.