The Spirit #1

The Spirit #1
DC Comics
Mark Schultz & Dennis O’Neil
(a) Moritat & Bill Sienkiewicz
FC 40 pgs w/ ads $3.99 US / Higher in Canada

After Frank Miller wrecked the character with his crappy movie, DC has decided to try and relaunch Will Eisner’s Spirit back into his own ongoing series again.

This version of the character is part of Brian Azzarello’s First Wave comic series. The setting is once again more modern but there’s more of a gritty crime noir feel to the comic. The Spirit is still just a vigilante working outside of the law but the Spirit’s love interest Ellen Dolan is more of a do-gooder here while her father, police Commissioner Dolan is more of a corrupt cop on the take.

This issue has the Spirit trying to take down the Octopus and an international crime syndicate. The syndicate have sent an assassin to deal with the Spirit. This isn’t a bad first issue. I like the network of informants that are at the Spirit’s disposal and Moritat’s art is amazing and surprisingly well suited for the Spirit. There’s a black and white back-up story by Dennis O’Neil and Bill Sienkiewicz that was short and effective. It’s not Will Eisner’s Spirit but it’s a thousand times better than Frank Miller’s Spirit. (Shane Hnetka)

Elephantmen: Wounded Animals

Elephantmen: Wounded Animals
Image Comics
Richard Starkings and others
(a) Moritat and others
FC, 224 pgs, $24.99 US / Higher in Canada

Elephantmen is a spin off from the series Hip Flask. It’s set in the same dystopian future and expands on various minor characters from the main series. Each issue features two stories. The first puts the focus on a different Elephantman, a genetic hybrid between man and animal, to give us insight into their current and former lives, thus providing more information about these characters, many of whom play supporting roles in Hip Flask. The second stories are pieces of a longer story involving Hieronymus “Hip” Flask trying to obtain an African artifact.