Tag Archives: Will Eisner

On The Spirit’s title pages – part 2

Posted on April 23, 2020 by I.M. Baytor

The Spirit (v2) #3 I tend to be quite distrustful of attempts to update Will Eisner’s The Spirit. Because most creators cannot begin to match Eisner’s experimentalism, the appeal ends up being little more than the curious, nostalgic exercise of … Continue reading →

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On The Spirit’s title pages – part 1

Posted on April 16, 2020 by I.M. Baytor

At its best, Will Eisner’s post-World War II work on the noir comedy series The Spirt gave us some of the greatest comics ever – not just groundbreaking stuff at the time, but a string of truly ingenious approaches to … Continue reading →

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More brilliant sci-fi short stories

Posted on May 23, 2019 by I.M. Baytor

Jordan Peele’s The Twilight Zone has started off on the wrong foot. It’s not just that most episodes so far have been weaker than 90% of Rod Serling’s original series  (or, at least, 90% of the first three seasons, since … Continue reading →

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Spotlight on Greyshirt

Posted on July 21, 2016 by I.M. Baytor

If you read the last posts, you know that this month I’ve been discussing eccentric vigilante comics. Hence Greyshirt. I have little doubt that the seeds for Greyshirt grew from Alan Moore’s contributions to The Spirit: The New Adventures, in … Continue reading →

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Bronze Age Splashes

Posted on March 1, 2016 by I.M. Baytor

Even though Archie Goodwin was an amazing writer (not to mention a legendary editor), I’m not as big a fan of his 1970s’ run on Detective Comics as others are. I gladly admit, though, that in terms of art, those … Continue reading →

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Top 5 stories of The Spirit, without Will Eisner

Posted on March 5, 2015 by I.M. Baytor

Let’s face it, what made Will Eisner’s The Spirit so awesome wasn’t its regular cast or profound themes, but the way in which Eisner kept coming up with innovative narrative techniques, exploring the potential of sequential art. This is why … Continue reading →

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Top 20 stories of The Spirit, by Will Eisner

Posted on March 2, 2015 by I.M. Baytor

To celebrate Will Eisner week, today Gotham Calling pays homage to The Spirit, Eisner’s crime series from the 1940/50s whose legacy has been echoing around Batman comics ever since. Cue moody saxophone. The thing about The Spirit is that the … Continue reading →

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Smells Like Will Eisner’s Spirit

Posted on February 5, 2015 by I.M. Baytor

Detective Comics #600 In terms of stylish, offbeat crime stories featuring a masked vigilante and a pipe-smoking, irresponsibly lenient police commissioner, it’s hard to beat Batman comics. However, while The Spirit didn’t have such an engaging protagonist, such a fascinating … Continue reading →

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Underrated Batman stories – part 1

Posted on November 20, 2014 by I.M. Baytor

If you’re looking for classic Batman graphic novels and must-read stories, there are plenty of listicles on the web to serve your needs. (I’ve provided some tips myself.) But perhaps you’ve already read those and are wondering what to get … Continue reading →

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Denny O’Neil’s pulpy Batman

Posted on October 30, 2014 by I.M. Baytor

Denny O’Neil has shaped modern Batman more than any other creator. And while he consciously sought to put the ‘dark’ in ‘Dark Knight,’ part of what makes his output so appealing is the fact that the ‘knight’ side is usually … Continue reading →

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