Dynamite Entertainment along with Francesco Francavilla are introducing a new story featuring Will Eisner’s The Spirit. Surprisingly enough this year is the centennial year for Mr. Eisner so this series is the perfect addition to all the other celebrations happening for this event–if you get a chance to check it out, there’s also a Will Eisner week in March. The new story is based around some seemingly unrelated murders and disappearances in Central City. The Spirit isn’t initially concerned but some circumstances finally catch his attention. Can he find out the connection before more lives are taken? Is it good?
Will Eisner’s The Spirit: The Corpse-Makers #1 (Dynamite Entertainment)
If the opening sequences don’t get you excited about this issue I can’t help you. Francesco Francavilla has put so much effort into his work and it’s just amazing to me that he’s done everything himself. The attention to the history of the character’s look and personality really shows in the pages. There’s not an obnoxious amount of dialogue so you’re not going to get any useless information. Everything said is important to the story which also makes it a great read. There’s simple nod to a notebook in some of the narration that just really works. They’ve also used highlights in some of the text; I’m going to guess that the information will become relevant in the future of the series.
The art definitely holds its own as well–Franavilla’s style here is fantastic. Just look at the cars. The scenes between detective and The Spirit as well as EB in the cars look amazing and give that vintage feel you want to see in this kind of book.
The issue itself is pretty short, with not a lot of information. There’s not any unnecessary information but it would have been nice to get a little more in the issue. There’s also some weird lighting usage. The smoke from a pipe and a few brake lights just have a very dull effect. They could really use a bit more definition especially compared to the rest of the illustrations.
All in all this is a great tribute to Eisner. Definitely something you should check out if you’ve ever been interested in his work.
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