The Stop Button

Eisner and studio start the new year one big change for the strip—The Spirit now takes place in “Central City,” and has always done so. Then there’s also the approach to the war in Europe; Eisner’s still not using the proper nouns, but this strip’s all about the influx of European refugees fleeing from the Nazis.

The strip opens introducing the title villain and how immigrants from a particular country are terrified of The Black Bow. Fortuitously, some of these immigrants bury the Bow’s latest victim in a desolate corner of Wildwood Cemetery, where Spirit’s curious about the gaggle of old men doing an illicit burial. So he eavesdrops.

There’s some wild present action going on this time; the inciting incident happens in October (of the previous year), then the Spirit and Ebony (who’s just around for this scene) cook up a scheme to investigate the mysterious burial. Presumably, other strips were happening during this investigation, which involves accent work, disguises, and home rentals.

While Spirit sets himself up as a sitting duck for the Black Bow, another victim literally stumbles into Commissioner Dolan’s arms, asking for help. Dolan sees it as an excellent opportunity to get one over on the Spirit and solve the case before Spirit even knows what’s happening.

Of course, by that time, Spirit is in the middle of spirited (no pun) fisticuffs with the Black Bow; the two acrobatic adversaries even banter at one another through the fight scene.

It’s a good action strip. The movement during the chase (the fight starts inside an abandoned mansion, moves to its exterior, ends in its basement) is phenomenal. The banter’s solid. The patriotism is a tad much. These European immigrants are just too embarrassed to go to the cops about their problem, which they consider imported: the Black Bow’s their country’s historical extorting murderous archer. We get a little back story on that setup, but not enough. Especially not for a villain who keeps up with Spirit so much.

1941’s off nicely to the races; we shall see if the strip continues to find ways to incorporate Spirit into current events-related adventures.