Children Of The Atom!

Captain Atom created by Steve Ditko and Joe Gill for Charlton Comics, is almost certainly the most famous and most enduring of the many superheroes who were born of the atomic age. He was the very byproduct of an atomic blast, a man transformed by the destructive power of an atomic bomb into something which could use atomic power for the betterment of the world. But while he was the most famous, he was hardly the only hero. 

From Atoman by Jerry Robinson from Spark in 1946 to Radioactive Man from Bongo in 1996, here are fifty years of fun-loving characters who adore nothing so much as to play with the very fabric of nature and reality. But then, that's what comics are all about anyway Enjoy a good look at these four-color "Children of the Atom"!

More Atomic Action tomorrow!

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The Spirit Archives Volume Twenty-Seven!

Following on after DC's long run of The Spirit archive editions, Dark Horse Books in conjunction with longtime Kitchen Sink owner Denis Kitchen put out a twenty-seventh volume in the style of the DC books which gathered together the nine issues of The Spirit - The New Adventures. After many years of trying to talk Eisner into allowing other creators to play with The Spirit's universe, he at last convinced him of the idea in 1998. Some of the best comic men of the time took a dip in those Central City waters. 

The debut issue of The Spirit - The New Adventures features three tales by the super-star team of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, who also produced the cover. "The Most Important Meal" features Dr. Cobra who tells his origin story. "Force of Arms" offers up a possible clue to the identity of The Octopus. And the final story "Gossip and Gertrude Granch" tells us what really happened to Dr. Cobra's muscle-bound assistant. These stories all are connected in strange ways with that subtle Moore magic. 

The second issue offers up a cover by Will Eisner Mark Shultz. Under it is "The Return of Mink Stole" by Neil Gaiman and artist Eddie Campbell and combines a Spirit story with one torn from the realm of Quentin Tarrantino which propels a timid writer into a shady story of theft and more. "Sunday in the Part with St. George" by Jim Vance and artist Dan Burr has The Spirit race to the aid of a woman dangling from a flagpole where he meets an old enemy. "The Sphinx the Jinx in the Game of Life" by John Wagner and artist Carlos Ezquerra features a hapless chap just released from jail but doomed by fate to return. 

The third issue features a striking cover by Brian Bolland. The first story "Last Night I Dreamed of Dr. Cobra" by writer Alan Moore and artist Daniel Torres is a strange affair set in a distant future in which Central City is the site of an archeological endeavor and in which strange discoveries are made. "Ellen's Stalker" by Mark Kneece and artist Bo Hampton features Ellen Dolan when she is at first saved then pursued by a man who imitates the look of The Spirit. 

The fourth issue sports another new cover by Will Eisner, this time with the assistance of William Stout. "The Samovar of Shooshnipoor" was written by Kurt Busiek and drawn by his partner on Astro City Brent Anderson. It features Sand Saref in a tale in which she tries yet again to manipulate The Spirit in a bid to gain riches. This issue also has a pin-up by Moebius of The Spirit looking a lot like Humphrey Bogart. "The Weapon by Michael Allred, Matt Brundage and Michael Avon Oeming has The Spirit fighting Nazis and their robot allies on the docks of Central City. "Dr. Broca Von Bitelman" by Mark Schultz and artist David Lloyd features Satin and a mad doctor and his deadly "Super-Beetles". 

The fifth issue features a cover by Paul Chadwick and John Nyberg and is a key scene from the issue-length story titled "Cursed Beauty" by the same team. This one deals with a gorgeous woman who leaves the scene of a murder naked save for a barely concealing overcoat. There are lots of twists and turns in this story which also showcases Ebony White in a key role. 

The sixth issue features a gritty cover by Tim Bradstreet. The first story titled "Swami Vashtibubu" was written by John Ostrander and drawn by Tom Mandrake, and has The Spirit go around in drag to knab a gang of fraudsters led by a murderous couple. "Baby Eichbergh" by Scott Hampton on both script (with assistance by Mark Kneece) and art tells of a terrible kidnapping which features a strange quartet of good Samaritans. 

The seventh issue features a cover by Peter Poplaski. Under it is a story titled "Golf Anyone?" in which Commissioner Dolan cajoles The Spirit onto the links for a game to relax him, but of course that only ends in the duo finding more crimes to solve. A long-missing cast member shows up unexpectedly. "The Pacifist" was written by Eddie Campbell and Marcus Moore and drawn by Campbell and Pete Mullins and tells the tale of a bullet with ambitions beyond that for which it created. "The Ghost of Tiger Traps" written by Jay Stephens and drawn by Paul Pope features a trio of boys including Sammy and P.S. Smith as they try to get to the bottom of a notorious gangster who seems to rise from his grave. 

In the final issue we get a cover by Mark Nelson. The story "Sweetheart" was written by Joe R. Lansdale and drawn by John Lucas. This issue-long adventure features a naked woman who refuses to stay dead and in the morgue despite repeated attempts. It's a ghoulish ending to a strange series which seemed to want to update The Spirit for a modern audience. 

In a later edition of this same volume put out by Dark Horse a story originally intended for the series by Gary Chaloner was added. In the meantime, Chaloner had adapted it in his John Law edition reversing the order of things with the epic Sand Saref tale from so long ago.  

There are lots of very good stories in this volume and I recommend it. But if you're looking for the same jolt you got from those classic Eisner tales, beware as the creators here go off the reservation as they should have done when given the okay. Eisner only limited them in two ways -- The Spirit could not be married nor could he be killed. As we've learned killing The Spirit is virtually impossible. It's been fantastic this past year reading these classic tales. I'll have wee bit more to say on this year-long odyssey later. 

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The Spirit Archives Volume Twenty-Six!

The twenty-sixty and final volume of DC's Will Eisner's The Spirit Archives features work done by Eisner for the character from the 1950's through his final work on his most famous character in the early 2000's. That quite a range of time, but this volume delivers. This one will read quite quickly because the bulk of the page count is made up of artwork and covers produced by Eisner for Kitchen Sink. The importance of Denis Kitchen and his Kitchen Sink independent underground brand cannot be overstated. Let's take it decade by decade as does the book. 

1950s 

We get two pieces from the 50's, the thumbnails by Jules Feiffer for the story labeled "Outer Space" which tells what happened to the farmer and the alien who kidnapped him in the final published Spirit tale. And we get the typed script for a story about a cigar-smoking villain and his henchmen who try to kidnap Professor Skol and Captain Delf, two of the survivors who traveled to the Moon with The Spirit. 

1960's

This section starts out with a five-page story produced for The New York Herald Tribune Sunday Magazine. In this story The Spirit lives and works in the actual New York City and not its fictional counterpart "Central City". This story sounds very much like a typical Spirit story but deals with the real mayoral race between candidates John Lindsey, Abe Beame, and William F. Buckley. My favorite moment comes when The Spirit tries to recruit Ebony only to find him fifteen years older and working as an executive and having no desire to follow on after his former pal. We even get appearances by Ellen Dolan and an eighty-seven-year-old Eustace Dolan. 

Then we focus on the Harvey Comics reprints from the mid 60's. The superhero boom was beginning, and Harvey was looking for heroes and snatched up The Spirit and cajoled Eisner to do some new stories. In the first issue we get a new version of his origin story and in the second we get an origin story for the archfiend The Octopus. Both issues also feature short two-page efforts called "Spirit Lab" in which a scientist pitches keen gimmicks to enhance The Spirit's crime-fighting skills, but ends up contacting a parody of the UNCLE organization. 

1970's

The 70's begin with The Spirit and Commissioner Dolan making a cameo appearance on a 1972 cover of the underground comic SNARF. This is the first of many appearances The Spirit will make for Kitchen Sink Comics. 

Then in 1973 we get what are called the "Underground Spirits" from Kitchen Sink. In the first of these collections which gather vintage tales we get four new Eisner pages, each a spoof of sorts about changing times and attitudes toward crime. Ebony does an interview with black journalist and attempts to kill the notion that he was demeaned by his role in the stories. In the second issue, Eisner uses his four new pages to give us a stunning P'Gell yarn in which she plays The Spirit as well as her two lovers against one another in a bid for a jewel. 

Then again in 1973 we get "The Invader", a full-color story from Tabloid Press which resulted from a class Eisner taught at the Sheridan College in Canada. This the story of a man from outer space who is the vanguard of an invading force but who finds life difficult on the Earth when he's mugged and then manhandled by various gangs before being saved by The Spirit. 

In 1974 we are treated to The Spirit Coloring Book from Eisner's own Poorhouse Press. This book takes classic Spirit splash pages and offers them up to the reader to color for themselves. I could never do that to a book and have never even thought of doing that to my copy. 

We then are treated to quite a bit of vintage Spirit artwork, including the The Spirit Portfolio plates as well as many pages of pencil drafts for that project. 

One thing not included in this volume are the covers from the Warren run of the series. It's an unfortunate oversight and I cannot fathom aside from page count why they didn't include what are some of Eisner's strongest images of the classic hero. 

But we are treated to ALL of the Kitchen Sink covers beginning with issue seventeen of the series which continued the Warren numbering. This includes a few pages by Eisner and Kitchen. 

1980's

We also get ALL of the covers for The Spirit comics produced by Kitchen Sink both for the magazine and the later comic. 

We also get the pages Eisner created for the "Spirit Jam" issue of the magazine's run in which other creators were invited to create a story. We also get four pages created by both Eisner and Dave Sim for a mash-up of Cerebus the Aardvark and The Spirit. 

Some novelty items like the cover of Will Eisner's 3-D Classics are included. Other bits of artwork that Eisner produced using The Spirit to promote things like conventions and other good causes pop up as well. 

1990's

We are treated to the rest of the Kitchen Sink covers as well as sundry spot art for various events such as the eightieth anniversary of Batman. 

2000's 

We get Will Eisner's final work on The Spirit with a few great illustrations and a story in which The Spirit joins forces with Michael Chabon's The Escapist. This is the final Spirit story produced by Eisner. 

This is an exceedingly fun volume, a proper peek at some of the more obscure Spirit artwork over the decades. There are pieces not included, save for the Warren oversight nothing too significant. And that's a wrap on my year-long look at these archive editions...almost. 

Next time we take a gander at the unofficial twenty-seventh volume of the series which was produced by Dark Horse Comics and gathers together the Will Eisner sanctioned stories by various talents from Kitchen Sink in the late 90's. 

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