My only prior experience with The Spirit comes from a reprint of one of Eisner’s stories and the 30 minutes or so I was able to watch of the feature film before I had to stop. So I wasn’t really sure what to expect going into this new series, but I came out feeling cautiously optimistic about its future. The art is absolutely the star here, Moritat’s work is flat-out amazing, looking like a slightly less cartoony Darwyn Cooke. The story was basically just a setup for an introduction to Central City and the main players, framing the conflict for the first arc, as a legendary assassin has been hired by the Octopus to put an end to the Spirit’s interference. My concern going forward is whether this story will successfully balance the old-timey feel of the Spirit with the more modern take of the First Wave books. Doc Savage at least had the courtesy to make clear from the beginning that it was not going to pull that off; for The Spirit, I’ll have to wait and see.

And of course, there was also the Denny O’Neil and Bill Sienkiewicz co-feature, which was excellent. Sienkiewicz’s black and white art was very interesting–it almost looked like it was unfinished in some parts, but given his style, it’s hard to say if the art was rushed or if that’s just the look he was going for. There are those who will buy this book on the strength of these names alone, and I suspect those people won’t be disappointed. It was definitely a nice little addition to the story, though I am confused about where/whether it is supposed to fit in with the rest of the book.