The Spirit

• Title: Will Eisner’s The Spirit #5 (of 12)
• Comic Vine: link
• Writer: Matt Wagner
• Artist: Dan Schkade

The fifth issue of Dynamite Entertainment’s twelve-issue maxi-series Will Eisner’s The Spirit opens with Ebony White and Sammy Strunk caught in the Octupus‘ death trap while the Spirit searches for both his missing friends and answers about his own disappearance as he continues to let his friends (and enemies) believe the masked vigilante is dead.

I’m coming in a little late to the party with issue #5, but Matt Wagner provides the kind of story I want to see the hero tackle, and I enjoyed artist Dan Schkade’s version of the character balancing his bright blue coat and hat with the noir shadows that surround his world. The pairing of Wagner and Schkade works well to offer fans an old school version of the character (particularly important with the creator’s name in the series’ title).

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• Title: The Rocketeer & The Spirit: Pulp Friction #3
• Comic Vine: link
• Writer: Mark Waid
• Artist: J. Bone

The third issue of The Rocketeer & The Spirit: Pulp Friction #3 moves the investigation back to Central City where Cliff follows Betty after she is given her first big break as a television star but, sadly, not by someone who actually has her best interests at heart.

Along with offering the opportunity for The Spirit to play host to The Rocketeer (and scare the hell out of Cliff when he discovers just who and what The Spirit really is) the third issue of the mini-series also gives us a look at how the villains plan to use television not just to broadcast signals but people and objects across great distances.

Of course there is still a problem with the teleporting power of the signal. Although Betty’s insides aren’t scrambled like those of the poor victim who found himself in California, her mind is emptied allowing her to be the perfect pawn of and the Octopus and Trask who turn poor Betty into another of The Spirit’s femme fatales and set her loose on the hero. Worth a look.

[DC, $3.99]

• Title: The Rocketeer & The Spirit: Pulp Friction #2
• Comic Vine: link
• Writer: Mark Waid
• Artist: Loston Wallace
  

The unusual team-up between The Spirit and The Rocketeer continues as the pair of heroes investigate the odd murder of a Central City man whose body was impossibly found in Los Angeles without enough time for it to be transported there under any conventional means. The autopsy reveals that isn’t the only thing shocking about their victims whose innards seem scrambled beyond comprehension and the man’s spirit seems to have somehow gotten trapped inside a television.

While dealing with these facts The Spirit and his new friend also have to take on an air assault on The Rocketeer’s home base which puts Central City’s hero high above the ground in action without the luxury of jet-pack or parachute.

Writer Mark Waid and and new artist Loston Wallace showcase each of the heroes’ girls as Ellen shares a tender moment with Cliff and one of the mini-series’ villains finally shows his face to offer Betty a starring role on this newfangled television contraption. Worth a look.

[IDW, $3.99]

• Title: The Rocketeer & The Spirit: Pulp Friction #1
• Comic Vine: link
• Writer: Mark Waid
• Artist: Paul Smith

When a murder occurs in Central City but the body is discovered the next day in Los Angeles The Spirit, Commissioner Dolan, and Ellen take a trip to the coast to investigate in this new cross-promotional comic from DC Comics and IDW. On arriving in LA, the good folks from Central City are ambushed by masked man with a jetpack in a classic hero misunderstanding that introduces The Spirit to The Rocketeer for the first time.

Fans of both characters will get their money’s worth here, although The Spirit does seem a little out of place in the sunny settings of Los Angeles rather than the shadow streets of Central City. Mark Waid provides some nice humor not only for both heroes (who spend a good part of this issue fighting in the sky) but also for Ellen and Betty, both of whom take a shine to the other woman’s man.

I’m glad to see Waid and Paul Smith bring these two characters together, but it reminds me of the vast library of great characters DC’s New 52 has closed the door on (which I guess is better than the ones they’ve gotten completely wrong). Worth a look.

[DC/IDW, $3.99]