The Spirit #28

   Part three of 'Choices' focuses on the Spirit femme fatale, Plaster of Paris. The Spirit travels to France after he gets a tip that the lethal lady may just have returned from the dead. While in Gay Paree, our hero flashes back to his first meeting with Plaster in the hot desert sands of the Sahara.
   
    While the dangerous dame did have ties to the Spirit villain the Octopus, that's about all that this chapter has to do with the previous two issues. That's very disappointing because after building up a running story involving Spirit trying to rehabilitate his former girlfriend, Silken Floss, the Octopus lackey is nowhere to be found. Plus, except for popping up in flashbacks, the former Denny Colt's archenemy doesn't appear either.

   Now, the story about the possible resurrection of Plaster of Paris was very good and entertaining. It just had nothing to do with the previous two chapters of the 'Choices' storyline despite being built up as such. So, that's going to drop the star rating for this book a little bit but not enough to not be considered Worth Consuming.

   Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

The Spirit #27

The cover by Brian Bolland features a super-creepy
looking Lorelei Rox and the deft fingers of
the ever-unseen Octopus.

   Chapter 2 of 'Choices' features a character named Lorelei Rox. She's a siren with an enchanting voice that at the right frequency she can control minds. The Octopus has decided to take advantage of the chanteuse's gift by setting up a sonic device that could enslave the entire city and eventually the world. It's up to the Spirit, Commissioner Dolan and the Central City police, and Octopus affiliate, Dr. Silken Floss to stop the madman's ploy of global domination.

   One part crime noir, one part Phantom, this story was thrilling and a little hokey. The character of Lorelei is a lot like the 1966 Batman series villain Siren, played by Joan Collins. But the character of Ms. Rox was created first sometime around 1940. But I can see that this character definitely was an inspiration to the writers and producers of that classic ABC series.

   This issue builds upon the previous issue with the Spirit having helped to restore Dr. Floss' reputation. But she's still on the fence where her loyalty lies. The team of DeSanto and Uslan have done a wonderful job in crafting what I think is the first ever multi-part Spirit story. But, I felt like the story flipped from gritty noir to goofy parody the moment the Octopus whisks Lorelei to his subterranean sewer lair. Hopefully, the final chapter in the next issue will not disappoint.

   Worth Consuming

  Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

The Spirit #26

Cover by the great Brian Bolland.

   

    

   Issue #26 kicks off a three-part story devoted to an integral part of the Spirit mythos- the femme fatales. The first dangerous doll featured is Dr. Silken Floss, the former high school sweetheart of Denny Colt before he became the Spirit. This is mostly an origin story that reveals why the former good girl devoted herself to a life of crime as the Octopus' right-hand man- er woman. It's up to the Spirit to tap into that now hardened persona in hopes of convincing her to help stop the Octopus from unleashing a deadly biological agent on Central City.

   This is all-new territory for fans of the Will Eisner hero. First, this marks writer FJ Desanto and artist's Justiniano's inaugural take on the Spirit. With a different tone and new art, I had to prevent myself from saying that this story was better or worse that Aragones/ Evanier/ and Hardin's run on this series.

   This issue is also the first chapter in the first ever multi-part story of  this series. Most of Eisner's original Spirit tales were single issue stories. Thus no cliffhangers. But that didn't mean that there wasn't a degree of continuity throughout the Spirit's classic first run. That's exactly what happens here as this issue has an ending, but there's also a set-up for chapter 2 of this storyline entitled 'Choices.'

   An okay story but it's one fraught with more questions than answers. Hopefully, more will be revealed in issue #27.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

The Spirit #25

   The Octopus seeks to corner the canned mushroom market in Central City. Now, what would a dastardly villain like that be wanting to set up a monopoly in such a thing as that? Well, it turns out, he's rigged a cooking contest where only his brand of canned mushrooms is eligible for the winning recipe. Thus, the Octopus hopes that once the citizens of Central City become poisoned by his tainted fungi, the crime lord will be able to hold the town ransom for the antidote.

   I really loved this issue. One it involves the Octopus- the definitive archenemy of the Spirit. Two- it's a story with heart, brains, and humor. And three- it involves cooking which is my passion and vocation. So for me it was a win-win-win!

   Once again the combined writing team of Aragones and Evanier crafted a masterful tale. The art, however, is quite different. The pencils by Aluir Amanico were good, but they didn't quite match the skilled pen of Chad Hardin who drew the past few issues. Still, that didn't take away from enjoying one of the best modern Spirit tales to come around in quite some time.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.