The Stop Button

Argos is a singular Spirit strip. Not because of its formal artistic qualities, which are strong in places, particularly in the establishing shots, and altogether perfectly fine. Rather, its content and connotations. The strip’s about a regular Joe who encounters a space alien and can’t get anyone to believe him. Eventually, this fellow—Sam Smith—will enlist the Spirit’s aid. And the Spirit’s not sure whether or not to believe him, because even though they’re hunting giant robot monsters in the cemetery, turns out Spirit’s got bad eyes. Especially on foggy nights.

First, the most obvious—aliens exist in the Spirit-verse. Eisner presents it as a “what do you think?” but the Spirit’s evidence is conclusive. I mean, as far as within the context of the story, it’s conclusive. So… neat. It doesn’t really matter. It does allow for this strip having a bit of a horror vibe—even though the alien means Sam Smith no harm (and, arguably, no one any harm), Sam’s repulsed and must find allies to help him destroy.

The alien told Sam only primitive minded beings are racist, and, if you’re always so violent, you’re going to kill yourselves off. Sam’s going to take them out to prove the opposite. And the Spirit’s going to help.

The strip’s almost entirely from Sam’s perspective. Even when the Spirit takes over, it’s just for exposition’s sake; even though Sam’s not present in the finale, the conversation’s about Spirit’s adventure with him. We find out about Sam’s racist lodge brother, his unsympathetic landlady, and his ability to bust out of jail. While briefly in custody, Sam finally finds someone who believes him–a prisoner in a straitjacket compares Sam’s story to Jesus’s.

It’s actually kind of hard to understand the point Eisner’s trying to make with the interaction. Best to take it objectively, but the other implications are fascinating. Contradictory and fascinating.

But then Sam meets up with the Spirit on his way to the tallest, most likely spot for a spaceship takeoff around, which just happens to be in Wildwood Cemetery. Spirit flies Sam around and acts as a sounding board. He’s superfluous, just as superfluous as Commissioner Dolan, who takes Sam’s statement. It’s a Spirit strip because it’s Eisner and studio and Spirit and Dolan, but it’s a sci-fi horror thriller appropriate for newspaper readers.

I’m leaving out Sam Smith’s moral imperative; with it, the strip’s far more fascinating than “are aliens for real” could ever be. And the strip taking Spirit out of the driver’s seat (in his scenes) is a milestone.