The greatest comic ever: The Spirit by Will Eisner

[Corky]

As the supreme master of sequential storytelling, Will Eisner really needs no introduction. Best known as the creator of The Spirit and the creator/inventor of the Graphic Novel genre, Will is also a passionate voice for the educational use of comics and the advancement of sequential art as a practical form of communication, universally recognized and clearly understood.

Unfortunately, Hollywood keeps trying to make his masterpiece comic into movies. It has been tried several times in the past and each attempt has failed.

The most recent attempt one came and went quickly around Christmas.

But the original THE SPIRIT comic can still be easily found in reprints.

 

[Sefton]

Eisner's work was truely ahead of it's time (to use a well worn expression). Perfectly cinematic and yet as you point out, totally unsuccessful each time it's been attempted. It's too bad that the script treatment that Harlan Ellison wrote in the 70s (?) was never filmed. With the right director and cast it would have been interesting to see.

 

[Mahagonny Bill]

I think it is interesting to note that The Spirit was also unique in it's distribution. It was not a comic strip or a newsstand comic book, but a comic book sized supplement that was syndicated to Sunday papers. I have always wanted to get one of those original supplements for my collection, but being printed on newsprint not many survived.

As for the recent movie, I have not seen it. I might catch it on DVD, but as any comic book geek can tell you The Go**amn Frank Miler is Go**amn crazy. I would much rather read the original Eisner books or the newer Darwyn Cooke series and keep my memories.

 

[The Wolf]

I never heard of Ellison's screenplay. Have you read it, Sefton?

The only other screen adaptation I know of is the tv version with Sam (Flash Gordon) Jones and Nana Visitor.[huh]

Sincerely,
The Wolf

 

[docneg]

As for the recent movie, I have not seen it. I might catch it on DVD, but as any comic book geek can tell you The Go**amn Frank Miler is Go**amn crazy. I would much rather read the original Eisner books or the newer Darwyn Cooke series and keep my memories.

I'm with you. Couldn't bring myself to go see the movie after seeing the "dark" formula Miller touch in the trailer. Heartbreaking if I think about it, actually--what a movie it would be if someone just filmed ONE of Eisner's story lines intact.

I looked at a few issues of the new SPIRIT comic, but I am just not enamored of the artwork of today and the excessively cartoony feel. Eisner always maintained a balance of drama and the comical, stark realism and the light-hearted. But I guess I can't really criticize anyone else for not getting it perfect. There was only one Eisner.

I'm so glad someone started this thread. Anyone with vintage tastes who has not experienced The Spirit should seek out some of those great stories from the '40s.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

The greatest comic ever? Lenny Bruce.

.

 

[Sefton]

I never heard of Ellison's screenplay. Have you read it, Sefton?

The only other screen adaptation I know of is the tv version with Sam (Flash Gordon) Jones and Nana Visitor.[huh]

Sincerely,
The Wolf

There were excerpts published in the late 70s in some comic book magazine (about the industry. I forget the mags title) and also possibly in a one-off Ellison fanzine of the time. Sorry that I can't remember the titles, but it was a long time ago.
The one part that really sticks with me is the way that Ellison set up the films titles. It involves a lone figure walking down a dark, rain slicked street. He finds himself being followed by a sinister shadowy figure who kills him and tosses his body over a bridge into a river. The bundle of papers that the victim was carrying spread out into the water to form the title: "The Spirit". I thought that would have made terrific opening.
There was more to it, but time (and the bottle of Ebisu that I just finished) have taken their toll with my memory...