Spirited Advertising!

These exceedingly handsome advertising and promotional items  appeared in Eerie #54, a comic magazine I've long wanted, but frankly never imagined I'd find or be able to afford. It's a nice example of the horror material Warren was producing at the time, but the reason I coveted this issue is that it features The Spirit's debut at Jim Warren's publishing house. The Spirit magazine from Warren was a watershed event for me as a comics reader. I'd read of The Spirit, even seen a rather bland example of the comic in Jules Fieffer's The Great Comic Book Heroes, but I didn't appreciate the magnificence of Will Eisner's creation until I got to read the reprints from Warren.

And I also found this.

It's the back cover ad for the upcoming Spirit magazine in the every next issue of Eerie, issue #55. I found both of these magazines for very nice money a few weeks ago. The condition is suspect a bit, but still and all it's sweet to have both these early Spirit appearances.

When The Spirit finally appeared, the magazine was unusually handsome, featuring a slick modern straightforward logo and a lush Sanjulian painting over an original Will Eisner comics image. Beautiful.
Now my Warren Spirit collection is complete...almost.

I still need that Spirit cameo in Vampirella #50. Admittedly that's not a classic Eisner story, but I did own it once upon a time and remember it fondly. My comic obsessiveness pricks me to seek it out. Aarrrggh. There's always something else.

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