Will Eisner ‘The Spirit”  Week 5

Will Eisner’s “The Spirit” has somewhat reminded me of a less serious version of Batman with similarities with both protagonists being vigilantes and both having a detective theme to it although Batman is more action focused than “The Spirit”. One of the most interesting things about “The Spirit” is the main character’s sidekick Ebony White. Out of all the characters in “The Spirit” had had the most defining visual characteristics that follow a stereotype of a black person. When Eisner was questioned with why he had such an exaggerated character, he simply said he intentionally created an exaggerated character, but he tried to do it with responsibility and that the humor at the time was much different.

Aside from that, “The Spirit” entertained me a lot because of its visual language being used, more specifically the poses that the characters take. In each frame there is always an interesting pose the characters take form on which makes “The Spirit” full of silhouettes that tell a story much differently than the other comics. Even the more realistic characters such as the Spirit himself had almost exaggerated poses that make this comic feel very cartoony and light even though it’s a noir detective comic.