The Spirit Archives, Volume 21 [Hardcover]

Will Eisner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 25, 2007

Criminologist Denny Colt let the world believe he was dead in order to continue his war against crime as the masked vigilanted known only as The Spirit. Through his career, he fought some of the world's deadliest villains with nothing more than his wits, his fists and his tongue planted firmly in his cheek.

The blue-suit clad, fedora-wearing crime fighter created by Will Eisner starred in hundreds of newspaper adventure stories that thrilled readers, and Eisner's groundbreaking style utilized the comics format to its greatest strengths.

Eisner's masterwork continues through one of its greatest periods in WILL EISNER'S THE SPIRIT ARCHIVES VOL. 21, collecting stories featuring such classics as "The Moment of Glory," "The Wreck of Old 78" and "Camp Wachoobee."

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

These two volumes collect Eisner's landmark comic book The Spirit from 1950, its last great year (in mid-1951, Eisner turned writing and drawing over to assistants). Eisner is at the top of his game, switching effortlessly from noir melodrama to lighthearted humor, often in the course of a single story. With nary a dud to its tally, the year saw a disproportionate number of what came to be seen as peak moments. Volume 20 includes the saga of Sand Saref, the Spirit's childhood sweetheart, who turned to a life of international crime, as well as a serial taking the masked crime fighter to the Middle East in search of a jewel of immortality. In volume 21, the Spirit and a handcuffed prisoner make a harrowing trek across a sweltering desert, femme fatale P'Gell takes a post as a college French instructor, and an onomatopoeia-laden tale about a paranoid cartoonist shows Eisner's mastery of his medium. Flagg, Gordon

Product Details

• Hardcover: 204 pages
• Publisher: DC Comics (April 25, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401212549
• ISBN-13: 978-1401212544
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 0.7 x 10.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #638,812 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eisner is htting his stride., June 5, 2007

By 

M. B. RENTZLER (Brooklyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Spirit Archives, Volume 21 (Hardcover)

Eisner hits his stride in this volume. Mixing humor with the hard boiled crime action we have come to expect from the Spirit. Outstanding is a parody of a Spirit section done within one of the stories, and a story about a man who must be the first for the opening of a new tunnel. And don't worry this volume does not skimp on the Femme Fatales Eisner is famous for.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spirit Archives Vol. 21, June 10, 2007

By 

Michael C. Delich "JSA Fanatic" (Kansas City, KS. USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Spirit Archives, Volume 21 (Hardcover)

Another great Archive from the master writer/artist, Will Eisner, as this series begins to wind down and end soon. Features a good mixture of named villains, crime and adventure stories that carry the tongue-in-cheek humor and irony trademarks that made Eisner the genuis he was.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars No Ebony?!? Something is missing. 3 and a half stars only., August 15, 2007

By 

Glen Hubbard (Palatine, IL USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Spirit Archives, Volume 21 (Hardcover)

Eisner is a Graphic Story telling genius. I own all the Spirit Archives and starting with #21 the character of Ebony White is missing. I know this just reprints what was already done in the past, but because of the loss of Ebony the stories in this volume seem lacking. To some Ebony may seem like a "Step and Fetch-it" stereotype (which he is to a degree) but the character is so much more than that. He is the Spirits partner and companion, a troublemaker, comic relief, but also a true hero in his own right. It is sad that he is missing in this volume. This is probably an inevitable and understandable change made due to the social pressures of the times, but to me it is devalues the book. This volume is better than the few books re-printing the Eisener absent stories during the war years, but it is not a high point in the series to me. More of a medium point. I do not know what happens in future volumes, but I am hoping Ebony returns. In either case I will continue to buy these until the entire series is completed. Eisner is just that important of a graphic story teller.