The Spirit Archives, Vol. 1: June 2 - December 29, 1940 [Hardcover]

Will Eisner (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Eisner's reputation as one of the most important and influential figures from the comics' early days is based primarily on his best-known creation, the masked crimefighter called the Spirit. The Spirit's exploits, which started as comic-book inserts for Sunday newspapers, have been reprinted before but never as lavishly as now. It is treatment they richly deserve, and DC Comics plans to faithfully reproduce their entire run of more than 10 years in full color and hard covers. The stories from 1940 featured in the inaugural volume are relatively primitive, but already evident are Eisner's hallmarks: layouts influenced by German expressionist film composition (and presaging film noir, which would emerge in the mid-'40s), moody drawings drenched in atmospheric black ink, subject matter culled from outside genre conventions, and unwillingness to treat the figure of a do-gooder in a domino mask with a straight face. The stories slated for future volumes are among the most accomplished and memorable ever done for comics, but even this premiere collection constitutes an ideal introduction to Eisner. Gordon Flagg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Hardcover: 200 pages
• Publisher: DC Comics (June 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1563896737
• ISBN-13: 978-1563896736
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 6.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #583,197 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

WILL EISNER was born William Erwin Eisner on March 6, 1917 in Brooklyn, New York. By the time of his death on January 3, 2005, Will Eisner was recognized internationally as one of the giants in the field of sequential art, a term he coined.

In a career that spanned nearly eight decades -- from the dawn of the comic book to the advent of digital comics - Will Eisner was truly the 'Orson Welles of comics' and the 'father of the Graphic Novel'. He broke new ground in the development of visual narrative and the language of comics and was the creator of The Spirit, John Law, Lady Luck, Mr. Mystic, Uncle Sam, Blackhawk, Sheena and countless others.

During World War II, Will Eisner used the comic format to develop training and equipment maintenance manuals for the US Army. After the war this continued as the Army's "PS Magazine" which is still being produced today. Will Eisner taught Sequential Arts at the New York School of Visual Arts. The textbooks that he wrote based on his course are still bestsellers. In 1978, Will Eisner wrote "A Contract with God," the first modern Graphic Novel. This was followed by almost 20 additional graphic novels over the following 25 years.

The "Oscars" of the Comic Industry are called The Eisner Awards, and named after Will Eisner. The Eisners are presented annually before a packed ballroom at Comi-Con International in San Diego, America's largest comics convention.

Wizard magazine named Eisner "the most influential comic artist of all time." Michael Chabon's Pulitzer-prize winning novel "Kavalier and Clay" is based in good part on Eisner. In 2002, Eisner received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Federation for Jewish Culture, only the second such honor in the organization's history, presented by Pulitzer-prize winning cartoonist Art Spiegelman.

You can always find more information about Will Eisner at www.willeisner.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Spirit of '00 is alive and well, May 31, 2000

By 

themouseholecat - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Spirit Archives, Vol. 1: June 2 - December 29, 1940 (Hardcover)

This volume should be required reading for anyone who isinterested in the art of innovative graphic storytelling. Although'The Spirit' newspaper strip didn't hit its peak until around 1948, these 31 stories from 1940 still contain the seeds of greatness scattered on every page. At first glance, the art is in a 'classic' style similar to that of other 'Golden Age' illustrators such as Bill Everett, Bob Kane or Alex Toth. But although Eisner is using a fairly rigid 9-panel page layout, each panel is brimming with new ideas, techniques and perspectives. Even at this early stage, Eisner is already a consummate storyteller, and although these stories are not as 'dark' as some of the post-war Spirits, he is already displaying his mastery of light and shade, both in terms of story and artwork. It's ironic that at a time when Marvel are happy to reprint the greatest works of their founding creators(Lee, Kirby, Ditko) as cut-price black & white paperbacks, DC have committed themseleves to publish this series of 15 hardback volumes over the next 5 years, to showcase the work of a man who (as far as I know) has never even worked for them. Hopefully their efforts will bring the adventures of the Spirit to a new generation of readers, following in the footsteps of people like Jim Warren & Dennis Kitchen. Oh, and don't let the fact that this is called an 'archive' edition put you off - these stories are as vibrant today as when they were first published. Happy 60th birthday, Denny Colt.

40 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good stories, but problem with format, October 27, 2000

By 

Yakov Hadash (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Spirit Archives, Vol. 1: June 2 - December 29, 1940 (Hardcover)

Others have talked about Eisner's remarkable talent, even in this early volume. The paper is nice, the three articles in the beginning (one by Eisner, one by Alan Moore, one by someone else whose name I don't remember) are nice. But there's a problem: Since the strips are seven pages long, every other story starts on the left page. But they originally were on the right! Eisner had a great eye for layouts, and this includes facing pages. This effect is killed in every other story. I hope this oversight is corrected future editions, especially the later, more visually impressive strips.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, but the best is yet to come, August 18, 2000

By 

Steve Miller - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Spirit Archives, Vol. 1: June 2 - December 29, 1940 (Hardcover)

I feel about the first volume of the "Spirit Archives" the way I feel about Takahashi's "Lum: The Perfect Collection"... both books are worth having for fans because they give fans a glimpse into the evolution of the creator's style and story-telling abilities. However, there is no question that later works produced after the creator found his or her voice are far better from a pure entertainment viewpoint.

Volume One of DC's "The Spirit Archives" is primarily interesting for the glimpse into the evolution of master storyteller Will Eisner's grasp of his style and craft. There are some glimmers of the greatness that the Spirit strip will eventually display, but from the jaded eye of 60 years past, the stories in this volume are merely remarkable because they... well, were 60 years ahead of their time.

Even in its earliest stages, Eisner's "The Spirit" shorts were heads and shoulders above the vast majority of its comic contemporaries and even much of what creators are putting out today. Volume Two, which apparently won't be available through Amazon until next month, even more of the gem that is emerging as Eisner and his assistants continue to improve. The most remarkable thing about the tales in that book is that even the ones that are very clearly tied to the politics of the time (Spirit battles a number of facist agents and even tries to convince Hitler of the error of his ways), remain powerful and entertaining tales where many other such comic book adventures fall flat when read today. Further, Silk Satin puts in her first couple of appearances. She was nifty from the very beginning. :)

This is not the first time a publisher has brought the masterful Spirit comics to light, but it is the first time an effort has been made to print ALL of them, in order. My hat is off to DC Comics for giving everyone the chance to enjoy this cornerstone of American comic book history in its entirety. I hope this venture becomes the commercial success it deserves to be... because I want to own all 15 volumes of the series.