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I'll try to avoid spoilers for the purposes of letting people who haven't succumbed catch up to the proceedings.
I love that cover is a cover of an Eisner cover, which I pondered on the walk home from coffee tonight. Jazzed. I also love that little itty-bitty "Action * Mystery * Adventure" icon up in the corner with the logo, where a dishevelled Spirit sits with hands behind his head, collar askew and lipstick upon his cheek.
The retro vibe and style that permeates the work is tempered with some solidly modern elements that are not peripheral. The cell phone use, obviously, is the prime example - it's not just there, it's pivotal to the story. I wasn't sure how I felt about the "modernized" Spirit versus an antiquarian one, but I think I've come around to the sensibility of it. It allows for things like the man with the "enhancement" and his fate - that failed future angle that pops up. This Central City has flexibility to be different things and different situations, even if it isn't readily apparent (especially coming from the NOSTALGIA=GOD DC Comics Juggernaut, especially in a story centered around a reanimated property) and something like a wild-eyed cyberpunk flourish or a bit of the supernatural doesn't seem terribly out of place.
It doesn't *feel* like a first issue, but it doesn't *feel* like you've come in mid-story. It's more like that feeling at the beginning of a story arc. If that makes any sense?
I'm curious abour Ellen's relative absence from the story, I think she's just on the one page, but Cooke's doing a solid job for a first issue in introducing the cast of supporting players (Ellen, Commissioner Dolan, Ginger Coffee, Ebony) and making the opening strokes with each of them. I gather one of Eisner's hallmarks was that the stories could go anywhere, often sidelining the Spirit to focus on his cast and I'm looking forward to Cooke carrying on in that, heh, spirit.
Ebony's a really well-done remake. Plenty of bitchy jabs about his previous incarnation without going over the top with it, and he gets a punchline.
And, as stated, that title page was KEY. |
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