The Spirit #2 - Warren

The second issue of the wonderful Spirit series produced by Warren in the early 70s. I think for my money, this was my favorite format for The Spirit--as nice as DC's Archive series is, there's something about reading Will Eisner's stories on grubby newsprint that helps set the mood.

This issue contains eight Spirit stories--"Heel Scallopini", "Powder Pouf", "Fallen Sparrow", "Merry Andrew", "Mortimer J. Titmouse", "The O'Dolan", "UFO", and "Silken Floss, MD", all but one in beautiful black and white. Like the newsprint mentioned above, I think these stories work even better in black and white--the grey tones are superb (of course), as is the artwork itself (ditto). The one story in color--"Mortimer J. Titmouse"--is nicely colored, but I think it shows how much better the rest look in black and white.

I'm at a loss here to say anything else because, what self-respecting comic fan doesn't know Eisner was about the best there was? His stories are so full of atmosphere, great characterization, and breathtaking storytelling that they still hold up, half a century after their first appearance.

So instead of yapping further, I'll just show some of Eisner's trademark splash pages from this issue. They speak for themselves...