The Spirit

The Spirit is a fictional American comic book superhero created by writer-artist Will Eisner in 1940 in a Sunday-newspaper comic book insert. The character's namesake, seven-page weekly series is considered one of the comics art medium's most significant works, with Eisner creating or popularizing many of the styles, techniques, and storytelling conventions used by comics professionals decades later.The Spirit chronicled the adventures of a masked crime-fighter who fought crime with the blessing of the city's police commissioner Dolan, an old friend. Despite the Spirit's origin as a detective named Denny Colt, his real identity was virtually unmentioned again and for all intents and purposes he was simply The Spirit . The stories ranged through a wide variety of styles, from straightforward crime drama and noir to lighthearted adventure, from mystery and horror to comedy and love stories, often with hybrid elements that twisted genre and expectations.The Spirit, referred to as the only real middle-class crimefighter , was the hero persona of young detective Denny Colt. Presumed killed in the first three pages of the premiere story, Colt later revealed to his friend, Central City Police Commissioner Dolan, that he had in fact gone into suspended animation caused by one of archvillain Dr. Cobra's experiments. When Colt awakened in Wildwood Cemetery, he established a base there and, using his newfound anonymity, began a life of fighting crime wearing only a small domino mask, blue business suit, red necktie, fedora hat and gloves for a costume. The Spirit dispensed justice, funding his adventures with the rewards for capturing villains.The Spirit was based originally in New York City which soon changed to Central City, but his adventures took him around the globe. He met up with eccentrics, kooks, and beautiful but deadly femme fatales, bringing his own form of justice to all of them. The story changed continually, but certain themes remained constant: the love between the Spirit and Dolan's feisty protofeminist daughter Ellen; the annual Christmas Spirit stories; and the Octopus (a psychopathic criminal mastermind who was never seen, except for his distinctive gloves).And...He was once an ordinary man, an honest, intrepid police officer named Denny Colt. Massacred by vicious gangsters, he miraculously returned to the realm of the living as a super-powered avengerThe Spirit. Now, clad in a stylish fedora, blood-red necktie and a bandits mask, he watches over his old hometown with the selfless devotion of a lover. Central City is his cityand woe to the luckless criminal who forgets it! Show less «