The Dolans—both Commissioner and Ellen—are back this strip after a few weeks off. The Commissioner’s sick of Ellen just going to teas or dances; it’s high time she settles down with a husband or gets herself a job. Ellen’s already ahead of Dolan (a theme this strip)—she’s got a new job as a boxer’s manager. She’s found a poet palooka named Winthrop Boombershlag (because Eisner was in a fun mood). The Commissioner doesn’t approve but is interrupted by the Spirit’s call.

Spirit’s calling to report information about a plot to kill Winthrop Boombershlag in the ring. The reader already knows about it because the opening scene features the bad guys (including the evil scientist, who appears to be a racial caricature of some kind, but they lost their nerve to put the finishing touches on). Then the reader knows about the danger in the second scene with Ellen and the Commissioner, and goes into the Spirit’s briefing scene knowing more than anyone. Except Ebony, who’s overheard the bad guys (presumably some time after the opening scene).

Commissioner Dolan’s not interested—and Ebony doesn’t have information about the other boxer, though the reader knows the mad scientist has deadened all Dipsy Dooble’s nerves to make him a more lethal opponent–so it’s a good thing Spirit pisses off Winthrop. Without the delightful page of Winthrop’s feats of strength and their eventual payoff, Commissioner Dolan may never have listened to Spirit’s plan, which would have narrative repercussions.

The resolution’s a lot of fun, with Eisner and studio keeping things moving once we’re in the ring, but Ellen and Spirit don’t get to catch up at all. It’s an interesting narrative actuality of the comic strip—sometimes you’ve got characters to use without much reason to use them, so they fit another function. Here, it’s Ellen’s boxing manager career, which gets no resolution. Her character development had veered towards romance with Spirit, but she’s all business—especially since her star (and only) client Winthrop Boombershlag is very protective.

The result’s a good strip, but not one with anything particularly standout. They’ve never really done a character like Winthrop as comic relief, and it’s interesting to see Eisner lean heavier on comedy beats. The finale’s got some excellent visuals, the fights have some excellent visuals. It’s all very well-executed comics.

Commissioner Dolan and the Spirit doing bickering bits, however, need a little more work. They get into it over Ebony’s reliability as a witness, and it gets personal for both of them rather quickly. It resolves on a comedy beat, and they do get to bond a little at the very end, but the strip’s seemingly satisfied with contriving whatever type of friendship they need (or don’t need) for the plot.

Satin is an incredible strip. It’s a mostly action strip, with three master thieves planning a team-up heist in Central City. They’re all displaced from Europe: Cedric’s British, Anton’s French, and Satin’s… Satin. They’ve also got an American sidekick monikered “Asphalt,” who doesn’t figure in much except during the setup.

The strip opens with men all waiting for Satin to arrive; she shows up with a bullet wound. They all get excited watching her dig it out before getting down to the heist planning.

The main action takes place at a ball; the thieves are going to do a switch on a famous medal, only the Spirit’s wise to them. He interrupts Satin dropping off the goods, and they get into a multi-page fight scene. By the second page, it’s clear they’re both enjoying it, which is a vibe from the weekly newspaper comic strip for the whole family. To be clear–Introducing Silk Satin is neither sexy nor horny, but Spirit and Satin clearly think rolling around with one another is sexy. And Eisner knows how to visualize it, which is accomplished, albeit arguably unnecessary. Though without Spirit’s pent-up frustration at loving to wrestle with the lady criminal but knowing it’s wrong, there’s not much to the strip.

The setup seems another of The Spirit’s WWII-aware but not directly referenced strips, but once the rolling around starts, it’s all about flexed muscles, exposed flesh, and unexpected lust. Spirit and Satin’s first rumble seemingly leaves him addled and vulnerable, which she exploits, only to discover she too is unable to dismiss her feelings.

It’s the most human Spirit’s been in ages, partially because he’s clearly losing control.

Art’s great, the comic bits are awesome—their tussle gets interrupted, leading to a turning point but also a good comedic beat amid the action—and the other thieves are always mugging out at the reader to emphasize the humorous potential in one moment or another. Again, it’s accomplished, but it’s accomplished at being about the good guy and the bad girl getting horny for each other.

And it’s infinitely impressive how well Eisner and studio pull it off.

Ebony pops in for the last few panels to give the story a postscript but also wonder why Spirit’s not in a friendly mood. Will Satin return? Perhaps… and it’ll be interesting to see if Eisner’s able to find a narrative more “Sunday Funnies” than late-night cable.

Magnificent comics.

Spirit and Ebony are on the job for the G-men, trying to crack a spy ring planning on destroying munitions factories with “robot planes.” The robot planes, as the Spirit will later explain, are really aerial torpedoes. The villains launch them from Europe with such precision, they don’t need adjustment until they near their target, when a light signal can aim them.

And, so, when it comes time for the Spirit to counter these intercontinental missiles, he will utilize Toy Planes. And Eisner and studio get away with any potential silliness because the art is moody and gorgeous. Turns out the Eisner studio’s really good at dramatic silhouettes and vehicles. Even the fisticuffs are outstanding. Right up until the last page, Planes is a recent art standout. It’s still a recent art standout with the poorly conceived finish, where Spirit has to make his report; that scene just doesn’t deliver narratively or visually.

Not to mention portraying the G-men as flakes, which is a tad odd for such an otherwise jingoist strip (and recurring plot line). Eisner’s still staying coy about the home nation of the baddies, with one named Hogh—is it supposed to be Danish because Denmark was occupied, or is Hogh just a European name?

Still, the strip is getting much bolder about the Nazi threat. These villains aren’t fifth columnists; they’re actual Nazis who fly over in their superior, silent airplanes. They’re planning an invasion. It’s approximately nine months before Pearl Harbor, and the Nazis have flying torpedo planes and silent running. Despite their disbelief at the autoplane, they’ve got better technology, and it might be enough to beat us.

While it’s an action strip, with beautiful art, fantastic action, and the Spirit unveiling his gliding suit, it’s also a comic strip in newspapers telling readers to be on the lookout. Report those potential Nazi invaders. So, you know, it’s like a public service announcement, really.

But they’re still not saying Germany.

Ebony’s around almost the entire strip, helping capture the bad guys, and he’s got a bunch during the toy plane sequence. He’s the Greek chorus for some of the toy vs. robot plane battle, which would be fantastic if not for the (racist) caricaturing. With the caricature… well, there’s a lot going on with Spirit this strip. Lot to think about, lot to enjoy, lot to appreciate, some to question, some to regret.

Well, right up until the end, when it doesn’t go anywhere. Not with the art, not with the alarm-raising, not with anything. Dolan’s been absent before, but his absence has perhaps never been felt more greatly than on this last page. Still a great strip, just got that off finish.

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.

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.

WLXK is a beautifully plotted strip, with lots happening in a very short amount of time. A rather unlikely amount of time, actually, but considering part of the plot has kids listening to the Spirit kick ass on the radio and cheering along… Eisner and studio have all the slack they want.

The strip opens with radio station owner Marion Dale refusing to let fifth columnists threaten her. They’ve promised to blow up the station if she doesn’t report an Eastern European country welcomed their invasion by a certain (still unnamed) bad guy. She reports the truth, and boom goes the station.

Luckily, the bomb goes off during Ebony’s radio serial, which piques the Spirit’s interest, and he goes down to the station. He finds Marion very enthusiastic about his plans to foil the spies, regardless of the scant details. She’s too busy throwing herself at him. Her amorous intentions end up being the proverbial rifle on the wall, to great effect.

After repairing the station by flying new wiring between the antennas in the autoplane, the Spirit reveals his great idea. They’re going to do a radio play about the attempts to silence the station. The idea is all the attention will piss off the wrong people, who will send thugs to the station. At that point, the Spirit will beat them up and get the necessary information to foil the ring.

Lots could go wrong with the plan, but Commissioner Dolan happens to be listening to the radio broadcast with an acquaintance, and—again—the strip moves so well, works so well, has such good fisticuffs—Eisner can get away with pretty much anything. Especially since everyone gets in on the radio play energy, including Dolan. It’s less proof of concept for a Spirit radio series and more Eisner exploring how Spirit’s particular celebrity fits right in with radio’s fictional adventurers.

The art is solid throughout, with some great long shots to move the story along quickly. They slow down for the fight scene, of course; Ebony’s nowhere to be found, but Marion tries her best to help. The strip’s neatest bit is how the Spirit’s fight on the radio plays out with Dolan, who’s as thrilled as the kids listening.

It’s a great one. The end joke is a particular standout, with Eisner hanging onto the moment to get a better bit. Excellent work, start to finish.

A week has passed since last strip, and the Spirit still hasn’t let Commissioner Dolan know he’s alive. Ebony points out he’s being unkind to a friend, and Spirit’s surprised to realize he’s got affection for Dolan. Now, despite Dolan constantly trying to pull one over on Spirit, Dolan’s always concerned for him. They’ve been pals since the first strip; the strip’s used to open with a preamble mentioning Dolan being his only friend; not to mention they spent Christmas together. Spirit not thinking they’re friends is profoundly weird.

And Ebony can’t convince Spirit otherwise, either. Spirit is happy to let Dolan think he’s dead the rest of the strip.

In addition to mourning, Dolan’s got a concerned citizen with money very upset the cops aren’t doing anything about the fake yogi fleecing his wife. Spirit doesn’t get a pass for the racial and religious caricatures, because although the yogi is indeed a fake and completely ignorant, Spirit’s going to do accent work. So it’s cringe but less offensive than if anyone weren’t knowingly conning. Ish.

And the “Eastern” visuals are additionally complicated by the gorgeous damn art in the fight scene. Eisner and studio do a big Buddha statue fight panel. Breathtaking page.

Most of the strip’s great looking. Eisner intersperses the yogi mystery with Dolan and some other cops getting it in their heads—independently of one another—they should wear all blue, don some distinctive masks, plop on a fedora, and fight crime as the new Spirit. None of them are very good at it, though some of them are worse than others. The bumbling leads to a nice constraint—visually and narratively–then to the Spirit and the fake yogi’s showdown.

While the fight is the central visual spectacle, the last couple pages are quite good, too, particularly as an example of Eisner and studio’s accomplished flexing. Spirit’s got an idea for keeping himself dead; great panels, but also a very nice visual callback to early Spirit attempts at stagecraft.

With the humor threaded throughout, the strip moves at a fine pace. The cops get their setups—though one of them is Dolan’s assistant, Finnegan, who’s multiple times tried to arrest the Spirit, and his decision to carry on the good work is bewildering. It’s hilarious because Eisner’s only ever used Finnegan as comic relief; the implication he’s a secret Spirit fan is profound.

The other cop, O’Rourke, may also be a returning character. He gets some very funny material, but is only interested in the Spirit II gig because he can’t get any respect at work. So he’s doing it as an ego thing, Dolan’s doing it as sincere homage, and Finnegan’s doing it for his own reasons.

It’s an outstanding strip. The bumbling pseudo-Spirits contrast the relative calm and very moody temple, giving the strip a lot of energy.

Davy Jones’ Locker is a straightforward strip, but only because Eisner doesn’t allow it to get bogged down. There’s plenty of potential for it to drift, and Eisner doesn’t want any of it; any tangents would affect the verisimilitude.

The strip opens with a group of sandhogs (underground urban construction workers) deciding they’re sick of the politicians and builders taking credit for their work, so they decide to become underwater robbers. The Davy Jones of the title is their leader, who presumably came up with the idea to steal a section of the underwater tunnel they’d been working on, and use it to destroy and loot merchant vessels.

The story takes place over eight weeks (as usual, presumably the Spirit has other cases during those weeks, but they’re unacknowledged). Jones and his crew convert their tunnel section into a base, loaded with mines. Whenever a large ship full of gold goes over them, they send up a mine, sink the ship, and collect the gold at their leisure.

Those activities raise numerous unanswered questions Eisner avoids asking. He also avoids explaining how the Spirit, inserting himself into the investigation and taking advantage of Dolan’s reluctance to be benched when the FBI arrives, somehow commands a team of Central City’s finest. Who are armed with rifles capable of firing underwater.

There’s lots of underwater battling, but nearly all of it happens off-page. The first skirmish between the cops and the bad guys quickly goes topside, where Ebony and Dolan worry about the Spirit. These sections are good, but nothing compared to when Spirit encounters Jones himself and the two face off. There’s a lot of mood to the art, and there’s a lot of mood to the interaction. Spirit’s at a disadvantage, so’s Jones, and they’ve got to resolve their hostilities (one way or another) before the police’s depth charges find them.

The finale’s got a surprising amount of heart, with Eisner leaning into it to a fine result. Even though the undersea battle only gets cursory attention from the creators, it’s all the characters have been thinking about.

Very little jealous Dolan here, and even less foreign intrigue. There’s just a single mention musing about foreign powers being behind the sinking of the ships. And we get to see the west side of Central City (at least the river) and the plains beyond. Nice landscape work throughout, too.

Locker’s finely executed.

The strip takes place in Mexico, where the Spirit foils an attempt by some treasonous Mexican army folks to side with foreign powers to overthrow the government. The foreign powers are presumably German, but Eisner’s still not being specific.

But Spirit doesn’t show up until page three, with the strip opening instead on a young man named Pedro arriving in town to tell everyone about enemy aircraft. No one believes him, so he keeps trying; the sequence gives Eisner and studio the chance to do some slice-of-life panels for the village. Lots of good little panels establish the setting before the action turns to the villains.

Using their silent bombs, the bad guys take out a different village, which is explained in the expository text, but, visually, it seems like it’s the opening village. These silent bombs do all the damage and exploding of regular bombs, only with no sound whatsoever. All of a sudden, Spirit’s flying car becomes a lot less far-fetched.

The Spirit arrives and tries to take on the baddies himself, only to get captured and dropped out of a flying plane. Luckily, he’s got those gymnastics skills and is able to save himself; he then comes across Pedro and enlists him in the effort.

There’s a somewhat complex setup involving Pedro using the silent bombs against their makers while Spirit goes in for the direct approach. The last few pages have some wonderful art, whether Spirit’s fisticuffs or the bad guys walking around the ensuing wreckage.

The strip feels a little forced with its politics, and, despite the villains being indistinct, spends a lot of time with them. Spirit’s never really the protagonist (it’s either Pedro or the bad guys running scenes); he’s presumably in Mexico on assignment from the U.S. government. It’s never clarified. Missed opportunity for a very humorous scene of Spirit gassing up the autoplane for his approximately two-thousand-mile trip.

Eisner’s characterization of Mexico has the accent and portrays all of the villagers as so layabout they literally do nothing but layabout, while also putting Mexico as comparable to the United States as both countries threw off the imperial yoke. A 1941 version of ahistorical good vibes.

The art, action, and timing make up for the rockier bits.

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.