The Spirit: The Origin Years #6

  This is an interesting mix of noir, patriotism, and spousal abuse. In this collection of chronological Spirit tales from the 1940s, our intrepid hero must save a damsel from a disfigured paramour, then the Spirit enlists in the US army as a secret agent wiping out Nazi insurgents. Later, when Chief Dolan’s daughter decides to become a bounty hunter, the Spirit actually beats up his lady friend in order to prevent her from getting killed by a thug. Lastly, the Spirit must face off against a villainess whose fatal kiss can literally kill.

 Three of these tales are pure noir classics. But I can’t speak for ‘The Manly Art of Defense.’ Just yesterday, Ray Rice was fired from the Baltimore Ravens and suspended indefinitely from the NFL for doing the exact thing the Spirit did to Ellen Doran! To top it off, Ellen’s father, the city chief of police commends the Spirit for dampening Ellen’s aspirations to be a private eye. I can’t believe this saw print. Even more, I can’t believe that that story didn’t get as much hate mail as the Orang the Ape Man stories from Origin Years #4! It seems in the 1940s people were more upset over a talking ape than violence towards women.

Once again, I read a controversial comic book. But, I still consider it worth reading because I feel the best way to learn who we are is to examine where we’ve been. Today’s society is quick to oust anyone who is offensive, violent, or harmful. But that doesn’t mean people can’t change. This series contain ‘directors cut’ articles with Will Eisner about his past works and in these you can tell that he really regrets a lot of the questionable material in his works. But you can also tell when he’s proud of things that pushed the envelope for social change.

Some of Eisner’s later works is his most socially conscious. It’s a lot like Dr. Seuss whose World War II works depicted the Japanese as bucked toothed yokels. Yet his works such as the anti-war classic Butter Battle Book and his conservationist prose, Horton Hears a Who are considered classics that promote and provoke the next generation to correct the wrongs of the past. Eisner might not as been as deliberate as Seuss, but he was a man who gained wisdom from his sins of youth.

Worth Consuming

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.