I’ll be completely upfront with you; Will Eisner’s The Spirit has been one of my favorite ongoing series for the past year. In fact, while double checking how long the series was supposed to last, I found out that what I assumed was only a twelve issue series is actually just the first twelve part story in a series of indeterminate length.

Yeah, I’m pretty happy right now.

The 11th issue in a twelve part arc is rarely ever the friendliest jumping on point for you, but I’m sure you’ve gathered that. But, almost contrary to my last sentence, this isn’t a horrible place to dive in. Yes, you’ll certainly miss ten issues of back story, but there’s enough given to you throughout the issue that you should  be able to keep up fairly well.

Indeed, the strength of the writing is such that the comic moves along at a relatively steady pace, the same as the entire series, that allows the story room to breath, and allows Matt Wagner (who also authored both Batman And The Monster Men and Batman And The Mad Monk miniseries from perhaps ten years ago) to bring some subtle, and not so subtle – humour into the writing.

Will Eisner’s The Spirit has a beautiful modern retro feel to the art; it’s smooth and easy to follow without loosing any detail. The comic – well, the entire series, really – feels as though it’s a genuine comic from it’s 1940’s setting but with enough of a modern twist to be interesting to today’s readers. Dan Schkade and Brennan Wagner are the perfect team here, and their work is right up my alley. I love it.

I honestly can’t say enough good things about this series. whether you jump on now, grab the back issues, or wait for the trade… you have to read this.

Story: Matt Wagner Art: Dan Schkade Colourist: Brennan Wagner
Story: 8.25 Art: 9 Overall: 8.76 Recommendation: Buy

Dynamite provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review