The Spirit is a fictional masked crimefighter created by cartoonist

Will Eisner William Erwin Eisner (March 6, 1917 – January 3, 2005) was an American cartoonist, writer, and entrepreneur. He was one of the earliest cartoonists to work in the American comic book industry, and his series ''The Spirit'' (1940–1952) was no ...

. He first appeared June 2, 1940, as the main feature of a 16-page,

tabloid Tabloid may refer to: * Tabloid journalism, a type of journalism * Tabloid (newspaper format), a newspaper with compact page size ** Chinese tabloid * Tabloid (paper size), a North American paper size * Sopwith Tabloid, a biplane aircraft * ''Ta ...

-sized, newsprint comic book insert distributed in the Sunday edition of

Register and Tribune Syndicate The Register and Tribune Syndicate was a Print syndication, syndication service based in Des Moines, Iowa, that operated from 1922 to 1986, when it was acquired by King Features to become the Cowles Syndicate affiliate. At its peak, the Register a ...

newspapers; it was ultimately carried by 20 Sunday newspapers, with a combined circulation of five million copies during the 1940s. "The Spirit Section", as the insert was popularly known, continued until October 5, 1952. It generally included two other four-page strips (initially ''

Mr. Mystic ''Mr. Mystic'' is a comics series featuring a magician crime-fighter, created by Will Eisner and initially drawn by Bob Powell. The strip featured in four-page backup feature a Sunday-newspaper comic-book insert, known colloquially as "The Spirit ...

'' and ''

Lady Luck Lady Luck, a personification of luck, may refer to: Fiction and mythology * Fortuna, in Roman mythology, goddess of fortune * Tyche, in Greek mythology, goddess of fortune * Lady Luck (comics), a character created by Will Eisner Film * ''La ...

''), plus filler material. Eisner, the overall editor, wrote and drew most Spirit entries, with the uncredited assistance of his studio of assistants and collaborators, though with Eisner's singular vision a unifying factor. ''The Spirit'' chronicles the adventures of a masked

vigilante Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without Right, legal authority. A vigilante (from Spanish, Italian and Portuguese “vigilante”, which means "sentinel" or "watcher") is a pers ...

who fights crime with the blessing of the city's police commissioner Dolan, an old friend. Despite the Spirit's origin as detective/criminologist Denny Colt, his real identity was rarely referred to after his first appearance, and for all intents and purposes he was simply "The Spirit". The stories are presented in a wide variety of styles, from straightforward

crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

and noir to lighthearted adventure, from

mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' Films * ''Mystery'' (2012 film), a 2012 Chinese drama film * ''Mystery'' ( ...

and

horror Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction ** Japanese horror, Japanese horror fiction **Korean horror, Korean horror fiction * Horror film, a film genre *Horror comics, comic books focusing o ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

and

love stories Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of meanings is that the lov ...

, often with hybrid elements that twisted genre and reader expectations. From the 1960s to 1980s, a handful of new Eisner Spirit stories appeared in

Harvey Comics Harvey Comics (also known as Harvey World Famous Comics, Harvey Publications, Harvey Comics Entertainment, Harvey Hits, Harvey Illustrated Humor, and Harvey Picture Magazines) was an American comic book publisher, founded in New York City by Alfr ...

and elsewhere, and Warren Publishing and Kitchen Sink Press variously reprinted the newspaper feature in black-and-white comics magazines and in color comic books. In the 1990s and 2000s, Kitchen Sink Press and

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

also published new Spirit stories by other writers and artists. In 2011,

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

ranked the Spirit as 21st in the Top 100 Comic Book Heroes of all time.

Publication history

In late 1939, Everett M. "Busy" Arnold,

publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

of the Quality Comics comic-book line, began exploring an expansion into newspaper Sunday supplements, aware that many newspapers felt they had to compete with the suddenly burgeoning new medium of

American comic books An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'', ...

, as exemplified by the ''Chicago Tribune Comic Book'', premiering two months before "The Spirit Section". Arnold compiled a presentation piece with existing Quality Comics material. An editor of '' The Washington Star'' liked

George Brenner George E. Brenner (1913–1952) was an American cartoonist in the mid 20th-century. He created comics such as '' The Clock'', ''Bozo the Iron Man'', and ''711''. Brenner was first employed by the Comics Magazine Company before moving to Everett ...

's comic-book feature " The Clock", but not Brenner's art, and was favorably disposed toward a

Lou Fine Louis Kenneth Fine (November 26, 1914 – July 24, 1971)Louis Fine
at the United States

Eisner & Iger studio, from which Arnold bought his outsourced comics work. In "late '39, just before

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

time", Eisner recalled in 1979, "Arnold came to me and said that the Sunday newspapers were looking for a way of getting into this comic book boom". In a 2004 interview, Eisner elaborated on that meeting: Eisner negotiated an agreement with the syndicate in which Arnold would copyright the feature but, "Written down in the contract I had with 'Busy' Arnold— and this contract exists today as the basis for my copyright ownership— Arnold agreed that it was my property. They agreed that if we had a split-up in any way, the property would revert to me on that day that happened. My attorney went to 'Busy' Arnold and his family, and they all signed a release agreeing that they would not pursue the question of ownership." This would include the eventual backup features, "

" and "

." Selling his share of their firm to Iger, who would continue to package comics as the S. M. Iger Studio and as Phoenix Features through 1955, for $20,000, Eisner left to create "The Spirit Section". "They gave me an adult audience", Eisner said in 1997, "and I wanted to write better things than superheroes. Comic books were a ghetto. I sold my part of the enterprise to my associate and then began The Spirit. They wanted an heroic character, a costumed character. They asked me if he'd have a costume. And I put a mask on him and said, 'Yes, he has a costume!'" The character and the types of stories Eisner would tell, Eisner said in 1978, derived from his desire The character's name, he said in that interview, came from Arnold: "When 'Busy' Arnold called, he suggested a kind of ghost or some kind of metaphysical character. He said, 'How about a thing called the Ghost?' and I said, 'Naw, that's not any good,' and he said, 'Well, then, call it the Spirit; there's nothing like that around.' I said, 'Well, I don't know what you mean.,' and he said, 'Well, you can figure ''that'' out—I just like the words "the Spirit."' He was calling from a bar somewhere, I think... d actually, the more I thought about it the more I realized I didn't care about the name.""Will Eisner Interview", ''

The Comics Journal ''The Comics Journal'', often abbreviated ''TCJ'', is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books, comic strips and graphic novels. Known for its lengthy interviews with comic creators, pointed editorials and scathing re ...

'' #46 (May 1979), p. 37. Interview conducted Oct. 13 and 17, 1978 ''The Spirit'', an initially eight (and later seven) page urban-crimefighter series, ran with the initial backup features "Mr. Mystic" and "Lady Luck" in a 16-page Sunday supplement (colloquially called "The Spirit Section") that was eventually distributed in 20 newspapers with a combined circulation of as many as five million copies. It premiered June 2, 1940, and continued through 1952. From 1940–1950, Busy Arnold reprinted ''Spirit'' stories under his Quality Comics banner, first individually from 1940–1947 as one of the features in ninety-two issues of ''

Police Comics ''Police Comics'' was a comic book anthology title published by Quality Comics (under its imprint "Comic Magazines") from 1941 until 1953. It featured short stories in the superhero, crime and humor genres. Publication history The first issue of ' ...

'' (#11–102), and from 1944–1950 as twenty-two issues of an associated ''Spirit'' comic book with several stories per issue. From 1952–1954, Fiction House published five issues of their own ''Spirit'' reprint comic book, continuing this process. Eisner was drafted into the U.S. Army in late 1941, "and then had about another half-year which the government gave me to clean up my affairs before going off" to fight in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In his absence, the newspaper syndicate used ghost writers and artists to continue the strip, including

Manly Wade Wellman Manly Wade Wellman (May 21, 1903 – April 5, 1986) was an American writer. While his science fiction and fantasy stories appeared in such pulps as ''Astounding Stories'', ''Startling Stories'', ''Unknown'' and ''Strange Stories'', Wellman is ...

William Woolfolk William Woolfolk (June 25, 1917 – July 20, 2003) was an American writer known for his range of writing output, having achieved success in the areas of comic books, novels, and television screenwriting. A graduate of New York University, Woolfolk ...

, Jack Cole and

Lou Fine Louis Kenneth Fine (November 26, 1914 – July 24, 1971)Louis Fine
at the United States

noir'' outlook of film and fiction in the 1940s. Eisner said in 2001 that he created the strip as a vehicle to explore various genres: "When I created The Spirit, I never had any intention of creating a superhero. I never felt The Spirit would dominate the feature. He served as a sort of an identity for the strip. The stories were what I was interested in." In some episodes, the nominal hero makes a brief, almost incidental appearance while the story focuses on a real-life drama played out in streets, dilapidated tenements, and smoke-filled back rooms. Yet along with

violence Violence is the use of physical force so as to injure, abuse, damage, or destroy. Other definitions are also used, such as the World Health Organization's definition of violence as "the intentional use of physical force or Power (social and p ...

and

pathos Pathos (, ; plural: ''pathea'' or ''pathê''; , for "suffering" or "experience") appeals to the emotions and ideals of the audience and elicits feelings that already reside in them. Pathos is a term used most often in rhetoric (in which it is c ...

, the feature lived on

humor Humour (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) or humor (American English) is the tendency of experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humorism, humoral medicine of the ancient Gre ...

, both subtle and overt. He was shot, knocked silly, bruised, often amazed into near immobility and constantly confused by beautiful women. The feature ended with the October 5, 1952, edition. As ''

'' editor-publisher Gary Groth wrote, "By the late '40s, Eisner's participation in the strip had dwindled to a largely supervisory role. ... Eisner hired

Jerry Grandenetti Charles J. "Jerry" Grandenetti (April 15, 1926 – February 19, 2010) was an American comic book artist and advertising art director, best known for his work with writer-artist Will Eisner on the celebrated comics feature "The Spirit", and for h ...

and Jim Dixon to occasionally ink his pencils. By 1950, Jules Feiffer was writing most of the strips, and Grandenetti, Dixon, and Al Wenzel were drawing them." Grandenetti, who

penciled A penciller (or penciler) is an artist who works on the creation of comic books, graphic novels, and similar visual art forms, with a focus on the initial pencil illustrations, usually in collaboration with other artists, who provide inks, colors ...

as a ghost-artist under Eisner's byline, said in 2005 that before the feature's demise, Eisner had "tried everything. Had me penciling 'The Spirit'. Later on it was Wally Wood", who drew the final installments.

Fictional character biography

The Spirit, referred to in one newspaper article cited below as "the only real middle-class crimefighter", was the hero persona of young detective/criminologist Denny Colt. Presumed killed in the first three pages of the premiere story, Colt later revealed to his friend, Central City Police Commissioner Dolan, that he had in fact gone into suspended animation caused by the villainous Dr. Cobra's experiments. When Colt awakened in Wildwood Cemetery, he established a base there (underneath his own tombstone). Using his new-found anonymity, Colt began a life of fighting

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definit ...

wearing a simple costume consisting of a blue domino mask, business suit, fedora hat, and gloves (plus a white

shirt A shirt is a cloth garment for the upper body (from the neck to the waist). Originally an undergarment worn exclusively by men, it has become, in American English, a catch-all term for a broad variety of upper-body garments and undergarments. I ...

and red

necktie A necktie, or simply a tie, is a piece of cloth worn for decorative purposes around the neck, resting under the shirt collar and knotted at the throat, and often draped down the chest. Variants include the ascot, bow, bolo, zipper tie, cra ...

). While elements of this basic costume occasionally vary (depending on the Spirit's circumstances and where he is in the world), he is always depicted wearing his blue domino mask and blue leather gloves. The Spirit dispensed

justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

with the aid of his assistant Ebony White, funding his adventures with an inheritance from his late father Denny Colt Sr. and the rewards from capturing various villains. The Spirit originally was based in New York City, but this was quickly changed to the fictional "Central City". Not tied to one locale, his adventures took him around the globe and even to the Moon. He met eccentrics, kooks, and

femme fatale A ''femme fatale'' ( or ; ), sometimes called a maneater or vamp, is a stock character of a mysterious, beautiful, and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers, often leading them into compromising, deadly traps. She is an archetype of ...

s, bringing his own form of justice to all of them. The story changed continually, but certain themes remained constant: the love between the Spirit and Dolan's feisty

protofeminist Protofeminism is a concept that anticipates modern feminism in eras when the feminist concept as such was still unknown. This refers particularly to times before the 20th century, although the precise usage is disputed, as 18th-century feminism ...

daughter Ellen; the annual "

Spirit" stories; and his archenemy the

Octopus An octopus ( : octopuses or octopodes, see below for variants) is a soft-bodied, eight- limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttle ...

(a psychopathic criminal mastermind who was never seen, except for his distinctive purple gloves).Eisner, Will (2015). ''Will Eisner's The Spirit: A Celebration of 75 Years'' DC Comics. () p.215

Ebony White

Eisner was criticized for his depiction of

Ebony White Ebony White is a fictional character from the 1940s syndicated newspaper comics series ''Spirit (comics character), The Spirit'', created by Will Eisner. He first appeared in the June 2, 1940 debut instalment of ''The Spirit'' and became one of ...

, the Spirit's

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

sidekick. The character's name is a racial pun, and his facial features, including large white eyes and thick pinkish lips, are typical of racial

blackface Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used predominantly by non-Black people to portray a caricature of a Black person. In the United States, the practice became common during the 19th century and contributed to the spread of racial stereo ...

caricatures popular throughout the "

Jim Crow The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Other areas of the United States were affected by formal and informal policies of segregation as well, but many states outside the Sout ...

" era. Eisner later admitted to consciously stereotyping the character, but said he tried to do so with "responsibility", and argued that "at the time humor consisted in our society of bad English and physical difference in identity". The character, who was consistently treated with respect by the strip's fellow cast-members, developed beyond the stereotype as the series progressed, and Eisner also introduced such African-American characters as the no-nonsense Detective Grey who defied popular stereotypes. Ebony debuted as a resourceful taxi driver in the first "Spirit Section". He became a mainstay of the strip and a principal member of the Spirit's supporting cast until Eisner phased him out of the narrative in mid-1949 and replaced him with another assistant, a Caucasian boy named Sammy. Ebony's last "starring" role in a Spirit story (a semi-regular event in which he was the focus of the story rather than the Spirit himself) was "Young Dr. Ebony", published on May 29, 1949. Sammy first appeared in "The Ballgame", published July 31, 1949, part of a six-episode arc set in the South Seas, in which Ebony does not appear. Sammy returns to Central City with the Spirit in "The Return", published August 14, 1949, and is welcomed into the cast by Ebony, Commissioner Dolan and Ellen Dolan. Ebony makes two wordless, one-panel appearances in the next two installments, "The Candidate" and "White Cloud" (August 21 and 28, 1949) before making his final appearance in five panels of "Lurid Love" (September 18, 1949). After this (and apart from one final mention of his name in the text-based splash page of "The Inner Voice", published November 6, 1949), Ebony left the strip without fanfare or explanation, and Sammy functioned as the Spirit's assistant for the strip's final three years. An adult Ebony appears as an office worker in a one-off Spirit story that appeared January 9, 1966, in the ''

New York Herald Tribune The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the ''New-York Tribune'' acquired the ''New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and competed ...

''. In an accompanying feature article in issue of the ''New York Herald Tribune'', Eisner's former office manager Marilyn Mercer wrote, "Ebony never drew criticism from Negro groups (in fact, Eisner was commended by some for using him), perhaps because, although his speech pattern was early Minstrel Show, he himself derived from another literary tradition: he was a combination of

Tom Sawyer Thomas Sawyer () is the titular character of the Mark Twain novel ''The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'' (1876). He appears in three other novels by Twain: ''Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' (1884), ''Tom Sawyer Abroad'' (1894), and ''Tom Sawyer, Dete ...

and

Penrod ''Penrod'' is a collection of comic sketches by Booth Tarkington that was first published in 1914. The book follows the misadventures of Penrod Schofield, an eleven-year-old boy growing up in the pre-World War I Midwestern United States, in a ...

, with a touch of

Horatio Alger Horatio Alger Jr. (; January 13, 1832 – July 18, 1899) was an American author who wrote young adult novels about impoverished boys and their rise from humble backgrounds to lives of middle-class security and comfort through good works. His wri ...

hero, and color didn't really come into it".Mercer, Marilyn, "The Only Real Middle-Class Crimefighter", ''New York'' (Sunday supplement, ''

''), Jan. 9, 1966; reprinted in ''

Alter Ego An alter ego (Latin for "other I", " doppelgänger") means an alternate self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other self, one with a differen ...

'' #48 (May 2005)

Other characters

* Dr. Cobra is a mad scientist whose chemicals and machinations inadvertently help Denny Colt become the Spirit. * Darling O' Shea is the richest and most spoiled child in the world. * Hazel P. Macbeth is a witch with a

Shakespearean William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

motif and apparent magical powers. (''Vide''

Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...

.) * Lorelei Rox, an apparent

siren Siren or sirens may refer to: Common meanings * Siren (alarm), a loud acoustic alarm used to alert people to emergencies * Siren (mythology), an enchanting but dangerous monster in Greek mythology Places * Siren (town), Wisconsin * Siren, Wisco ...

, appeared in a September 1948 strip and subsequently in 2000s DC Comics Spirit stories. (''Vide'' Lorelei rock.) * Mister Carrion is a morbid con man with a pet

vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...

named Julia. (''Vide''

carrion Carrion () is the decaying flesh of dead animals, including human flesh. Overview Carrion is an important food source for large carnivores and omnivores in most ecosystems. Examples of carrion-eaters (or scavengers) include crows, vultures, c ...

.) * The

is the

archenemy In literature, an archenemy (sometimes spelled as arch-enemy) is the main enemy of someone. In fiction, it is a character who is the protagonist's, commonly a hero's, most prominent and most-known enemy. Etymology The word ''archenemy'' sometim ...

of the Spirit. He is a criminal mastermind and master of disguise who never shows his real face, though he is identified by his distinctive purple gloves. In the second issue of the 1960s

''Spirit'' comic book, his name is given as Zitzbath Zark. The first name is a pun on

sitz bath A sitz bath or hip bath is a bath in which a person sits in water up to the hips. It is used to relieve discomfort and pain in the lower part of the body, for example, due to hemorrhoids (piles), anal fissures, perianal fistulas, rectal surgery, ...

. * P'Gell is a

who perennially tries to seduce the Spirit to a life of crime at her side. She seduces and marries wealthy men who invariably die in mysterious ways, and uses their money to fund her crime empire in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

and expand her influence and control over the underworld. After moving to Central City to find the Spirit, she continues her

modus operandi A ''modus operandi'' (often shortened to M.O.) is someone's habits of working, particularly in the context of business or criminal investigations, but also more generally. It is a Latin phrase, approximately translated as "mode (or manner) of op ...

of selected marriages with the cream of society, even gaining an ally in the form of Saree, the young daughter of one of her deceased husbands. In the 2000s

version, P'Gell was once a young socialite in love with a doctor, working in

Third World The term "Third World" arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Western European nations and their allies represented the " First ...

countries, and turned to a life of crime when he was killed. (''Vide''

Pigalle Pigalle may refer to: Places ;Paris, France *Quartier Pigalle, an area in Paris around the Place Pigalle, on the border between the 9th and the 18th arrondissements *Place Pigalle, public square in the Quartier Pigalle at the foot of the Montmartre ...

.) * P.S. Smith ("Peppermint Stick" Smith AKA Algernon Tidewater) is a silent, baseball helmet-wearing associate of Ebony. Always sucking on a peppermint stick and appearing to be 6–8 years of age, the wordless ''P.S.'' is capable of almost-superhuman feats (always played for comedic effect) and serves as Eisner's comic embodiment of anarchy and disruption. ''P.S.'' first appeared in ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' as the star of a silent pantomime strip appearing underneath the main ''Spirit'' story, before Eisner introduced the character within the main strip (as ''Algernon Tidewater'') in 1941. The character was renamed ''P.S.'' in his first postwar appearance in May 1946. * Officer Sam Klink is a brave, big-hearted but not particularly bright member of the Central City Police Department. A regular member of the postwar ''Spirit Section'' cast list, Klink is a loyal aide to Commissioner Dolan and a frequent ally of the Spirit. * Sand Saref is a childhood friend of Denny Colt, and knows he is the Spirit. Working in espionage, she usually ends up on the opposite side of the law from him. She appears several times, always involved in some criminal scheme. (''Vide'' sans serif.) * Silk Satin is a tall, statuesque brunette with a white streak in her hair, originally an adventuress who later reformed and worked as an international troubleshooter for the insurance company Croyd's of Glasgow. In later stories, it is revealed she has a daughter, Hildie, who motivates her to stay on the straight path. In the 2000s DC Comics revival, she is a smaller, more slender, blond

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...

agent. * Silken Floss is a nuclear physicist and a surgeon, who acts as the accomplice to the Octopus.

"Ev'ry Little Bug"

The song "Ev'ry Little Bug" (with lyrics written by Eisner) appears regularly between 1946 and 1950. The initial lines of were first uttered in the story "Poole's Toadstool Facial Cream" (June 9, 1946). By the end of 1946, all of the lyrics had appeared, sung by various characters. In 1947, Eisner collaborated with his World War II service friend Bill Harr, who composed a melody for Eisner's lyrics. The complete song appears in the April 27, 1947 "Spirit Section", here titled "Ev'ry Li'l Bug", with Ebony credited within the storyline as its composer. In the story "Wiffenpoof" (June 29, 1947), real-life operatic singer Robert Merrill was depicted singing the tune. Shortly afterward, the Robbins Music Corporation of New York published "Ev'ry Little Bug" as sheet music, with an image of Ebony on its cover page. After three more appearances in the strip, "Ev'ry Little Bug" remained dormant until 1987, when music producer John Christensen assembled a recording featuring five versions of the tune, released by Kitchen Sink as a picture disc with an exclusive Spirit/Ebony image illustrated by Eisner on one side and the original art for the sheet music on the other. The record featured actor

Billy Mumy Charles William Mumy Jr. (; born February 1, 1954) is an American actor, writer, and musician and a figure in the science-fiction community/comic book fandom. He came to prominence in the 1960s as a child actor, which included television appeara ...

playing guitar on some tracks.

Song appearances

*June 9, 1946 – "Poole's Toadstool Facial Cream" *July 7, 1946 – "Dulcet Tone" *October 13, 1946 – "The Heart of Rosie Lee" *December 15, 1946 – "The Van Gaul Diamonds" *December 29, 1946 – "Hubert The Duck" *February 2, 1947 – "The Cosmic Answer" *March 16, 1947 – "Hoagy the Yogi" *April 27, 1947 – "Ev'ry Li'l Bug" *June 29, 1947 – "Wiffenpoof" *August 17, 1947 – "The Picnic" *March 27, 1949 – "The Dummy" *April 30, 1950 – "Wanted, Dangerous Job"

The Spirit and John Law

Several Spirit stories, such as the first appearance of Sand Saref, were retooled from a failed publishing venture featuring an

eyepatch An eyepatch is a small patch that is worn in front of one eye. It may be a cloth patch attached around the head by an elastic band or by a string, an adhesive bandage, or a plastic device which is clipped to a pair of glasses. It is often worn ...

ed,

pipe-smoking Pipe smoking is the practice of tasting (or, less commonly, inhaling) the smoke produced by burning a substance, most commonly tobacco, in a pipe. It is the oldest traditional form of smoking. Regular pipe smoking has been cited to carry serious ...

detective named

John Law John Law may refer to: Arts and entertainment *John Law (artist) (born 1958), American artist *John Law (comics), comic-book character created by Will Eisner *John Law (film director), Hong Kong film director * John Law (musician) (born 1961), B ...

. Law and his shoeshine-boy sidekick, Nubbin, starred in several adventures planned for a new comics series. These completed adventures were eventually adapted into Spirit stories, with John Law's eyepatch being changed to the Spirit's mask, and Nubbin redrawn as Willum Waif or other Spirit supporting characters. The original John Law stories were restored and published in ''Will Eisner's John Law: Dead Man Walking'' (

IDW Publishing IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW), itself formed in 1999, and is regularly recog ...

, 2004), a collection of stories that also features new adventures by writer-artist Gary Chaloner, starring John Law, Nubbin, and other Eisner creations, including ''

'' and ''

''.

Assistants and collaborators

Like most artists working in newspaper comic strips, Eisner after a time employed a studio of assistants who, on any given week's story, might draw or simply ink backgrounds, ink parts of Eisner's main characters (such as clothing or shoes), or as eventually occurred, ghost-draw the strip entirely. Eisner also eventually used ghostwriters, generally in collaboration with him. Jules Feiffer, who began as an art assistant circa 1946 and later became the primary writer through the strip's end in 1952, recalled, "When I first worked for Will there was John Spranger, who was his penciler and a wonderful draftsman; better than Will. There was Sam Rosen, the lettering man.

came a little after me and did backgrounds, and Jerry had some architectural background. His drawing was stiff but loosened up after a while, but he drew backgrounds and inked them beautifully. And Abe Kanegson, who was my best friend in the office, was a jack-of-all-trades but mostly did lettering and backgrounds after Jerry left. Abe was a mentor to me." Eisner's studio also included:''Spirit, The'' (Register and Tribune Syndicate, 1940 Series)
at the Grand Comics Database *Art assistants: Bob Powell (1940), Dave Berg (backgrounds, 1940–41), Tex Blaisdell (1940–41),

Fred Kida Fred Kida (December 12, 1920 – April 3, 2014) was a Japanese-American comic book and comic strip artist best known for the 1940s aviator hero Airboy and his antagonist and sometime ally Valkyrie during the period fans and historians call the G ...

(1941), Alexander Kostuk a.k.a. Alex Koster (1941–43), Jack Cole (1942–43), Jack Keller (backgrounds, 1943), Jules Feiffer (1946–47), Manny Stallman (1947–49), Andre LeBlanc (1950), Al Wenzel (1952) *Inkers:

Alex Kotzky Alex Kotzky (September 11, 1923 – September 26, 1996) was a cartoonist best known for his three decades of work on the comic strip ''Apartment 3-G'', originally distributed by Publishers Syndicate. Biography Early life and education Born ...

(1941–43), John Belfi (1942–43), Don Komisarow (1943), Robin King (year?), Joe Kubert (1943–44),

(1948–51), Jim Dixon (1950–51), Don Perlin (1951) *Letterers: Sam Rosen (1940-1942), Martin De Muth (1942-1947), Abe Kanegson (1947-1951),

Samm Schwartz Samm Schwartz (October 15, 1920 – November 13, 1997)Social Security Death Index, for SS# 073-14-0718. was an American comic artist best known for his work in MLJ and Archie Comics, specifically on the character Jughead Jones. Biography Schwa ...

(1951),

Ben Oda Ben Oda (December 21, 1915 – November 1984) was a Japanese-American letterer for comic books and comic strips. He graduated from Chouinard Art Institute and began his career as an apprentice at Walt Disney Studios.''DC Profiles Number 56: Ben ...

(1951-1952) *Colorists: Jules Feiffer (1950–52),

Chris Christiansen Wilbur Norman "Chris" Christiansen (9 August 1913 – 26 April 2007) was a pioneer Australian radio astronomer and electrical engineer. Family The son of Wilhelm Christiansen (1883-1920), and Ilma Clarice Christiansen (1885-1983), née Jones, W ...

(1951) *Ghost artists (pencilers):

Lou Fine Louis Kenneth Fine (November 26, 1914 – July 24, 1971)Louis Fine
at the United States

Jack Cole (variously, during Eisner's World War II service, 1942–45),

(1951), Wally Wood (1952) *Ghostwriters/writing assistants:

Toni Blum Audrey Anthony Blum (c. January 12, 1918 Note: The Social Security Death Index lists no Toni Blum, Audrey Blum, or Audrey Bossert born 1918. – 1972 Bails, Jerry and Hames Ware, eds"Blum, Toni"at ''Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928-1999'' o ...

(1942), Jack Cole,

and

(variously, during Eisner's World War II service, 1943–45),

Klaus Nordling Klaus Nordling (May 29, 1910 – November 19, 1986)Klaus Nordling
at the Jules Feiffer (1951–52)

Latter-day Spirit comics

1960s

A five-page Spirit story, set in New York City, appeared as part of a January 9, 1966, article about the Spirit in the ''

''.

reprinted several Spirit stories in two giant-size, 25-cent comic books published October 1966 and March 1967, each with new Eisner covers. The first of these two 60-page issues opened with a new seven-page retelling of the Spirit's origin by writer-penciler-inker Eisner (with inking assist by Chuck Kramer). Also new was the text feature "An Interview with the Spirit", credited to Marilyn Mercer; and writer-artist Eisner's two-page featurette "Spirit Lab: Invincible Devices". Seven 1948–1949 Spirit stories were reprinted. The second issue opened with a new seven-page story by writer-artist Eisner, "Octopus: The Life Story of the King of Crime," giving the heretofore unrevealed origin of the Spirit's nemesis The Octopus, as well as his given name (Zitzbath Zark). Also new was the two-page text feature "The Spirit Answers Your Mail", and writer-artist Eisner's two-page featurette "The Spirit Lab: The Man from MSD". Reprinted were seven 1948–50 ''Spirit'' stories.

1970s

In 1973, Denis Kitchen's Kitchen Sink Press published two issues of ''The Spirit'' (also known as ''Underground Spirit''), consisting primarily of reprints with original front and back covers, and featuring introductions by Maurice Horn and John Benson. The first issue includes four original single-page stories, while the second issue (cover titled "All About P'Gell") includes the four-page story, "The Capistrano Jewels." During this period, Eisner also released "The Invader", a five-page story in a one-shot Spirit publication Eisner created for his lecture at Sheridan College in

Oakville, Ontario Oakville is a town in Regional Municipality of Halton, Halton Region, Ontario, Canada. It is located on Lake Ontario between Toronto and Hamilton, Ontario, Hamilton. At its Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census population of 213,759, it is List of tow ...

, Canada in 1973. It was reprinted in Kitchen Sink's hardcover ''Will Eisner Color Treasury''(1981). From 1974 to 1976, James Warren's Warren Publishing published 16 issues of ''The Spirit'' (also known as ''The Spirit Magazine''), a large black-and-white

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

consisting of reprints with original covers (primarily by Eisner), concluding with a separate 1975 color issue, ''The Spirit Special'', which includes an afterword by

Bill DuBay William Bryan Dubay (January 11, 1948 – April 15, 2010William Bryan Dubay

Jam Jam is a type of fruit preserve. Jam or Jammed may also refer to: Other common meanings * A firearm malfunction * Block signals ** Radio jamming ** Radar jamming and deception ** Mobile phone jammer ** Echolocation jamming Arts and entertai ...

", with a script from Eisner and a few penciled pages, plus contributions from 50 artists, including Fred Hembeck,

Trina Robbins Trina Robbins (born Trina Perlson; August 17, 1938, in Brooklyn, New York) is an American cartoonist. She was an early participant in the underground comix movement, and one of the first female artists in that movement. In the 1980s, Robbins beca ...

, Steve Leialoha, Frank Miller (comics), Frank Miller, Harvey Kurtzman, Howard Cruse, Brian Bolland, Bill Sienkiewicz, John Byrne (comics), John Byrne, and Richard Corben. In 1976, Tempo Books published ''The Spirit Casebook of True Haunted Houses and Ghosts'', in which the Spirit plays the EC Comics, EC Horror host, host, introducing "true" stories of haunted houses. The Spirit also makes a cameo in ''Vampirella'' #50 (April 1976), in the eight-page story "The Thing in Denny Colt's Grave".

1980s

After ''The Spirit Magazine'' ceased publication with issue #41 (June 1983), Kitchen Sink Press published a complete reprinting of the post-World War II Eisner work in a standard-formatted comic-book series, which ran 87 issues (October 1983–January 1992). The series featured color stories in its first 11 issues, but switched to black-and-white from issue 12 on. Also in 1983, Kitchen Sink published ''Outer Space Spirit: 1952'', collecting the final newspaper sections (July 27, 1952 – October 5, 1952), along with the scripts for what would have been the final three sections of the "Outer Space Spirit" saga. The publisher additionally published the one-shot ''Will Eisner's 3-D Classics featuring The Spirit'' (Dec. 1985).

1990s and beyond

In the 1990s, Kitchen Sink published two hardcover volumes of ''The Spirit Casebook'', the first cover-titled simply ''Spirit Casebook'' (1990), and the second cover-titled ''All About P'Gell: The Spirit Casebook, Volume II'' (1998). Kitchen Sink also published a series of original Spirit stories in ''The Spirit: The New Adventures'' (March–November 1998), including contributions from

, Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons, Brian Bolland, Tim Bradstreet, Kurt Busiek, Eddie Campbell, Marcus Moore (writer), Marcus Moore, Paul Chadwick, Neil Gaiman, Jean “Moebius” Giraud, Joe R. Lansdale, David Lloyd (comics), David Lloyd, and Paul Pope. In the mid-2000s,

began reprinting ''The Spirit'' chronologically in the company's hardcover Archive series, in an approximately 8x10-inch format, smaller than the Kitchen Sink and Warren publications. Eisner's final Spirit story appeared in the sixth issue of ''The Escapist (character), The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist'', from Dark Horse Comics, published on April 20, 2005. This 6-page story featured a crossover between the Spirit and the book's lead character, the Escapist.

DC Comics

The

One-shot (comics), one-shot ''Batman/The Spirit'' (January 2007), by writer Jeph Loeb and artists Darwyn Cooke and J. Bone introduced the Spirit into the DC Universe. The first issue of the ongoing series ''The Spirit'', written and pencilled by Cooke and inked by J. Bone, debuted the following month. The series updated some concepts, with Ellen's Internet skills helping to solve a case, and

stripped of his racial stereotype characteristics. The team of Mark Evanier and Sergio Aragones became the series' regular writers beginning with issue #14 (March 2008), with Mike Ploog and later Paul Smith (comics), Paul Smith providing the artwork. DC'S ''The Spirit'' series ran through issue #32 (Aug. 2009), with most running a single 22-page story. The imprint First Wave, launched in January 2010, featured the Spirit, pulp heroes Doc Savage and Avenger (pulp-magazine character), The Avenger, and DC's Rima the Jungle Girl, the Blackhawk (DC Comics), Blackhawks, and a Golden Age incarnation of Batman into a DC "pulpverse" overseen by writer Brian Azzarello. This imprint incorporated the 17-issue ''The Spirit'' volume two (June 2010 - Oct. 2011), written variously by Mark Schultz (comics), Mark Schultz, David Hine, Lilah Sturges, and Howard Chaykin.

IDW

In 2013, IDW Publishing, IDW published a four issue miniseries, ''The Rocketeer and The Spirit: Pulp Friction'', using the Spirit, Dolan, Ellen, and the Octopus as well as characters from Dave Stevens's ''The Rocketeer'' series. The four issues were collected in a hardcover graphic novel.

Dynamite Entertainment

In 2015, Dynamite Entertainment obtained the license to publish new Spirit comics, beginning with a story by writer-artist Matt Wagner, "Who Killed The Spirit?" In 2017, the Spirit and fellow venerable crimefighter the Green Hornet shared a five-issue series, ''Green Hornet '66 Meets the Spirit''.

In other media

Comic strip

From October 13, 1941 to March 11, 1944, there was also a black-and-white daily newspaper comic strip starring the Spirit. These were later reprinted in several collections, including the complete run in DC's ''The Spirit Archives'' Volume 25. In early 2017, the Spirit returned to newspaper strips as a guest-star in ''Dick Tracy'' by Mike Curtis (writer), Mike Curtis (script) and Joe Staton (art), continuing the trend of Tracy stories reviving characters from defunct strips.

Television film

The character was the subject of a 1987 American Broadcasting Company, ABC television film starring Sam J. Jones as the Spirit, Nana Visitor as Ellen Dolan, and Garry Walberg as Commissioner Dolan. The film served as a pilot for a planned TV series.

Planned animated film

An animated feature to be directed by Brad Bird was in development in the 1980s. Steven Paul Leiva, animator Jerry Rees, and producer Gary Kurtz also were involved, and a presentation trailer was produced. The Spirit's voice was supplied by animator Randy Cook.

Film

The film adaptation ''The Spirit (film), The Spirit'', written and directed by Frank Miller (comics), Frank Miller, was released in theaters by Lionsgate on December 25, 2008. The film stars Gabriel Macht as the Spirit and Samuel L. Jackson as the Octopus.

Radio

Denis Kitchen, the Eisner estate's agent, said in a July 8, 2006 online interview that a radio program, radio series had been in development: "It was pitched to the estate by a couple of producers, one of whom is very experienced with NPR, so we have been back and forth on how that would work. Again, it would be premature to tell you it is going to happen, but it is in serious discussion".

Collected editions

The comic strips and comics have been collected into a number of trade paperback (comics), volumes: * ''The Spirit Coloring Book'' (1974, Will Eisner Studios/Poor House Press) * ''The Daily Spirit'' #1–4 (1974–1975, Real Free Press) * ''The Spirit - The First 93 Dailies'' (1977, Funny Paper Bookstore/Ken Pierce) * ''The Spirit, Volume 2 - 200 Dailies'' (1977, Funny Paper Bookstore/Ken Pierce) * ''The Spirit, Volume 3 - 200 More Dailies'' (1980, Funny Paper Bookstore/Ken Pierce) * ''The Spirit, Volume 4 - The Last 245 Dailies'' (1980, Funny Paper Bookstore/Ken Pierce) * ''Will Eisner Color Treasury'' (1981, Kitchen Sink) () * ''Spirit Color Album'' (1981, Kitchen Sink) () * ''Spirit Color Album, v2'' (1983, Kitchen Sink) () * ''Spirit Color Album, v3'' (1983, Kitchen Sink) () * ''The Art of Will Eisner'' (1989, 2nd ed, Kitchen Sink) () * ''The Outer Space Spirit'' (1989, Kitchen Sink) () * ''Spirit Casebook'' (1990, Kitchen Sink) () * ''The Christmas Spirit'' (1995 Kitchen Sink) () * ''Will Eisner's The Spirit'' (CD-ROM), collects the 1947 Spirit sections (1995, Byron Preiss Multimedia) () * ''All About P'Gell: Spirit Casebook II'' (1998 Kitchen Sink) () * ''Spirit Jam'', collects ''The Spirit Magazine'' #30 and the Spirit section of ''Cerebus Jam'' (1998, Kitchen Sink) () * ''The Spirit Archives:'' (DC Comics) ** Volume 1 (2000) () through Volume 26 (2009) () * ''The Best of The Spirit'' (2005 DC Comics) () * ''The Spirit'' Book 1, collects ''Batman/The Spirit'' and ''The Spirit'' (Volume 1)#1–6 (2007 DC Comics) () * ''The Spirit'' Book 2, collects ''The Spirit'' Volume 1 #7–13 (2008 DC Comics) () * ''The Spirit: Femmes Fatales'' (2008 DC Comics) () * ''Will Eisner's The Spirit: The New Adventures'', collects Kitchen Sink's ''The Spirit: The New Adventures'' #1-8 (2009, Dark Horse) () * ''The Spirit'' Book 3, collects ''The Spirit'' Volume 1 #14–20 (2009 DC Comics) () * ''The Spirit'' Book 4, collects ''The Spirit'' Volume 1 #21–25 (2009 DC Comics) () * ''The Spirit'' Book 5, collects ''The Spirit'' Volume 1 #26–32 (2010 DC Comics) () * ''The Spirit: Angel Smerti'', collects ''The Spirit'' Volume 2 #1–7 (2011 DC Comics) () * ''The Spirit: The Clockwork Killer'', collects ''The Spirit'' Volume 2 #8–14 (2011 DC Comics) () * ''Rocketeer/The Spirit: Pulp Friction'', collects ''Rocketeer/The Spirit: Pulp Friction'' #1-4 (2014 IDW Publishing) () * ''Will Eisner's The Spirit: A Celebration of 75 Years'' (2015 DC Comics) () * ''Will Eisner's The Spirit Returns'', collects Dynamite's ''Will Eisner's The Spirit'' #1-12 (2016 Dynamite Entertainment) () * ''The Green Hornet '66 Meets The Spirit'', collects Dynamite's ''The Green Hornet '66 Meets The Spirit'' #1-5 (2018 Dynamite Entertainment) () * ''Will Eisner's The Spirit: The Corpse-Makers'', collects Dynamite's ''Will Eisner's The Spirit: The Corpse-Makers'' #1-5 (2019 Dynamite Entertainment) () * ''The Spirit: An An 80th Anniversary Celebration'', collects ten Eisner ''Spirit'' stories (five recolored by Laura Martin and Jeromy Cox) (2020 Clover Press) ()

References

External links

* Archive of Heintjes, Tom

AdventureStrips.com. Reprinted from ''The Spirit: The Origin Years'' #1–4 (Kitchen Sink Press, May–November 1992). Original pag

*

at Don Markstein's Toonopedia
Archived
from the original on August 8, 2017. {{DEFAULTSORT:Spirit (Comics) Comics characters introduced in 1940 1940 comics debuts 1952 comics endings American comics characters American comic strips Characters created by Will Eisner Comics by Will Eisner American comics adapted into films DC Comics titles Fictional detectives Fictional police officers in comics Comics about police officers Crime comics Crime film characters Harvey Comics titles Kitchen Sink Press titles Quality Comics titles Television shows based on DC Comics Superhero film characters Male characters in comics Vigilante characters in comics

Publication history

Fictional character biography

Ebony White

Other characters

"Ev'ry Little Bug"

Song appearances

The Spirit and John Law

Assistants and collaborators

Latter-day Spirit comics

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s and beyond

DC Comics

IDW

Dynamite Entertainment

In other media

Comic strip

Television film

Planned animated film

Film

Radio

Collected editions

References

Further reading

External links