The Stop Button

Eisner wastes no time getting this strip started—the first panel has Commissioner Dolan asking daughter Ellen what ever happened with her former beau, Homer Creep (né Creap). She hasn’t seen him since he was last in the strip, getting some loving attention from a nurse after Ellen threw him over for the Spirit; she never wants to see him again.

So, of course, he knocks on the door with a wife in tow, one Peppi Tamale. Eisner and studio are introducing Cubans this strip, which—outside making fun of the accent—doesn’t require much buckling up.

Homer and Peppi got married in Havana and are now on the run from her murderous thug brother, Pancho the Bull (spelled Bool because accents are funny). Pancho is on his way to Central City to find the man who’s run off with his sister.

Hearing all this drama, Commissioner Dolan orders police protection for his house (Peppi’s going to stay with them until things blow over). The Spirit (and Ebony) hear that order on the police scanner and, thinking Ellen’s in danger—despite telling Ebony she’s a “silly” and not a love interest—Spirit zooms to her rescue.

At the same time, the gangs in Central City are running up against Pancho and his men. And losing. So they all plan to band together and take out Pancho, except the cops know they’re planning on banding together. Dolan’s able to counter their attempted attack properly.

Meanwhile, things at the Dolan house get complicated when Ellen pretends she’s the one in danger to get the Spirit to swoon over her—Ellen and Peppi sadly don’t pass Bechdel, but it’s nice for Ellen to have a pal for once. Except then one of the gangsters comes to the house, actually looking for Ellen as retribution for Dolan launching the counterattack on the gangs. And Ebony may not know what he’s looking for when standing guard for Pancho.

There’s a lot of iffy sight gags for the finale (Eisner’s got a bit lined up for Pancho, not racial; the strip thinking the accent’s a laugh riot doesn’t help the bit), but also some absolutely beautiful action pages, as well as just great narrative building. It’s the first strip of the year to flex, albeit in some problematic ways. It also gives Dolan a full arc separate from his Spirit jealousy, which is nice. Well, maybe not for Dolan. The last page’s a lot of fun.