The Spirit: The Corpse-Makers #1 Review- A Return to Noir
Dynamite Entertainment Brings Back The Spirit in Grand Fashion
By Nolan P. Smith
Will Eisner is a master of the sequential art craft. He created a plethora of books throughout is amazing career, with arguably his biggest creation being The Spirit. The blue suited, red tie wearing detective who cheated death gave the world years of amazing noir mysteries. Since Eisner passed, we have still seeing some amazing books following the iconic character, like the run by another late comic book great, Darwyn Cooke. Now, Dynamite Entertainment gives us a new five issue series by artist/writer Francesco Francavilla (The Black Beetle), and all I can say is: wow!
The book starts as a homeless man is found dead. This brings Commissioner Dolan to the scene, and waiting in the wings- The Spirit, also known as former detective Denny Colt. But when the case seems like it’s open and shut, Colt and his cab driving assistant Ebony take the night off, which works as Eb’s cousin is coming to visit- however, it is a cousin with a shady past. By the end of the issue, we see how Eb’s cousin is more intertwined with the death at the beginning of the issue, and how it all fits in to the title of this series, the corpse-makers.
Francavilla is a master of the craft, and this book serves as a tribute to Eisner’s classic creation as well as new chapter in its stories history. The mark of a great issue is when you reach the end, it feels like it ended way too soon. That is the feeling I had when I reached the last panel here. The opening title sequence evoked thoughts of Eisner’s classic title pages, the panel shapes, the color hues, it all matched exactly what we want when revisiting The Spirit. The one page tribute to Eisner and Cooke at the beginning of the book is a great way to kick off this new series, which might take “best new series” before its all said and done. The Spirit is back, and I couldn’t be happier.
Rating: 10 out of 10.
This comic book review was created in conjunction with QBC Toys and More, a local comic book and collectible shop located in Victorville, CA. Featuring new comic books every week, collectibles, action figures, original artwork, and more, QBC has something for the pop culture lover in us all. You can find them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/QBCToysandMore/.
