Batman / Spirit & The Spirit - Cooke & Bone

Batman / The Spirit # 1 & Will Eisner’s The Spirit # 1 & 2
Jeph Loeb / Darwyn Cooke.
Inks – J. Bone.

This is simply beautiful. A lot of people have questioned the wisdom of bringing back Will Eisner’s signature character, but I think it’s fairly obvious that this is a pure labour of love from Darwyn Cooke and J Bone. Every panel drips with style, design and it’s a perfect homage to a master storyteller.

The Batman / Spirit story that came out first did a great job of setting the scene. Jeph Loeb was on board to help Darwyn Cooke out with the story, but from then on it’s all Cooke’s show.

And what a show it is. It has the same feel as the early Batman Adventures comics by Dini and Timm. The artist for those was the late Mike Parobeck and he showed, in simple 4 panel pages, exactly how a story should be told. Not a panel was wasted, nothing was out of place and every brushstroke served to tell the story dynamically, simply and beautifully.

And thankfully, seeing how important the legacy of Eisner’s greatest creation is, Darwyn Cooke and J Bone are just as good as Parobeck at telling a story on the comic page. This feels exactly like it should, it’s very much a worthy addition to the Eisner library. And having Cooke and Bone along to create a consistent feel and tone for the book means it wont suffer from the highs and lows that the last attempt to update the character did with Kitchen Sink’s Spirit: New Adventures.

One thing I have seen mentioned online in a review of issue 2 was how well Cooke and Bone capture the essential sensuality of P’Gell. Eisner, for all his mastery, never truly made her into the perfect femme fatale. With the opening splash page of issue 2, Cooke and Bone have done exactly that.
Well worth picking up for fans and interested parties. Whether you choose to see it as homage or simply a brilliantly executed book, showcasing the best in adventure writing and stunning art, it’s up to you.

(Originally posted on PROPAGANDA @ FPI blog here)