Disappointed with The Spirit

[The_Spirit]

Since Darwyn Cooke and J. Bone left The Spirit, the book seems to be getting more and more routine. When Cooke was writing/drawing, the story just flowed so well that there was no real discernable "beginning, middle, end." The pages just kept turning, and the stories were so intriguing and full of character that I felt like the book was too short.

Since Mark Evanier and Sergio Aragones have been writing, the stories seem to drag. They are more like detective stories, easliy discernable beginning-middle-end, all neatly wrapped up by the end of the issue. Almost like an episode of CSI/Law & Order, etc. The humor seems purposely inserted, and the art, while not bad, seems lacking. In my opinion, they've drawn the Spirit's chin too big, the hat too short or comical, Ellen or P'Gell far too slutty and skinny, etc. The Spirit and P'Gell I can forgive (not the hat, though .. Eisner never scrimped on the hat), but Ellen is supposed to be Denny's girl, and she is supposed to be classy. Not written as a vapid, man chasing harlot with a 2 inch waist and a top-heavy chest.

Maybe I'm just crazy. Does anyone here care about/read The Spirit? Opposing opinions?

[stealthwise]

Spirit since Cooke left has been poor at best, atrocious at worst. I dropped it after three issues. It's become a generic junkpile for story.

[Jack-In-The-Box]

It's ok but I definitely don't excited for it like I used to. Issue #14 was the last good one, imo.

[The_Spirit]

Darwyn went out in such a way that was so hard to follow. Issue #10 was so good, I would have almost believed Eisner himself had written it. Issue #11 was especially strong, and #12 was also very good. His cover for the holiday issue was classic Spirit, so to Evanier and Aragones' credit, they do have a tough act to follow.

Though, that doesn't excuse the whole thing. If I wanted something resembling an honest detective story, I'd read Detective Comics (which I do). The new books feel like they're cookie-cutter, connect-the-dots-yourself, dime pulp crime fiction with seemingly purposeful humor inserted here and there to avoid too much grit and grimace.

Cooke's stories had grit, grimace, blood, and guts. They were out there, and they kept you coming back for more. I miss him.

[The Xenos]

Hmm. I didn't think the recent issues were really that bad. Though looking back and in comparison to the stong previous stories, they do seem pretty bland. It is a tough act to follow. I'm still going to give them some time to get going though.

[Ilash]

Good to know that I made the right choice in dropping this after Cooke left. I have to say though that after recently reading Argiones' superb issue of Solo, I'm surprised that he isn't doing at least a good job here.

[Herr Mike]

Crap, it wasn't even good when Cooke was on it.

[mgs]

Have to admit, it is pretty shocking to me considering the level of talent that Sergio and Mark have.

[Ilash]

Crap, it wasn't even good when Cooke was on it.

What, really? If you don't rate Cooke's Spirit, what exactly do you like?

[Mia]

To be frank, I bought the book primarily for the artwork. After I saw the quality of the book after Cooke left, I just dropped it.

[Herr Mike]

What, really? If you don't rate Cooke's Spirit, what exactly do you like?

Eisner's Spirit?

[Ilash]

Eisner's Spirit?

Damn, should have seen that one coming.

[Jack-In-The-Box]

Anybody else notice that the cover of #17 has absolutely nothing to do with the story inside?

Besides that, I thought it was a step up from the last few. A little gratuitous sure, but still good.

[Batman Fan 31593]

I dropped the book after the April issue.

[ultramandingo]

........ you think your disappointed now , millers movie version will make the last few issues look like millers spirit ripoff ( homage ) issues of daredevil

[The_Spirit]

Crap, it wasn't even good when Cooke was on it.

I have to respectfully disagree with you here. The Spirit has always been very modern; he never stayed in the 40's as time went on. He was always in the now, dealing with modern issues and situations, and I really feel like Cooke's Spirit kept this tradition up. In issue #4's "Almost Blue," Cooke wrote an entire Spirit story that barely had The Spirit in it, which Eisner used to do all the time. Half of issue #10 was played out on YouTube (named BoobTube to dodge copyrights), and you couldn't deny the emotion behind #9 and 11's El Morte stories.

It's easy to say you pick the master's work over the apprentice's (Eisner vs. Cooke), but comparing what was done in the first year of the new series to what is being done now, it's easy to see just how close to the mark Darwyn really hit.

Anybody else notice that the cover of #17 has absolutely nothing to do with the story inside?

Yeah, which I thought was weird. This month's issue would have been FAR better off with Joe Kubert's alternative art (as seen here: http://www.dccomics.com/media/product/9/5/9535_400x600.jpg) than it was with what they ended up going with. I absolutely could not stand the way Evanier and Aragones wrote Ellen Dolan in that issue, nevermind my issues with how unrealistic and trashy she was drawn.