The fourth volume of The Spirit Archives presents us a strip which as fully ripened, as open to comedy as to noir suspense or perhaps even more so. World War II has kicked off officially for the United States and Eisner prepares to be drafted. Other talents will be needed to step in while he's away. We see that transition begin in this volume as well.
Gorilla Gage January 4, 1942
Gorilla Gage is the most wanted gangster in town, and he gets a crush on Ellen Dolan who just happens to be leading the Women's Club effort to track him down and put him in jail. And it turns out Ebony and Pierpont are in the matchmaking game. The Spirit has a difficult time bringing this fellow to justice.
Mr. Fly January 11, 1942
The small spectacled Mr. Fly gets big when he captures and trains a Yeti to work for him doing crime. The Yeti was much too powerful for the Spirit to contend with straight on, so he had use his noggin to defeat this exotic foe and his diminutive master. I love seeing Yetis in stories of any kind and this was a real treat to find the beast in a Spirit yarn.
Blowing Up the Dam January 18, 1942
We meet the vile Squid, a spy whose face we never see. He has cooked up a scheme to blow up critical dams but is thwarted by both Silk Satin and the Spirit. The war is well and truly on at this point and the Spirit stories will reflect that. The Squid, who is much like the later Octopus will be a recurring baddie in the series.
The Super-Short-Wave Mechanical Spy January 25, 1942
Ebony thinks he has a money-maker with his robot and so do some spies who work hard to get their hands on it. This one was a farce, like most stories that Ebony leads. I did find the storytelling a bit difficult at times in this as there are a number of twists and turns.
The Devil's Shoes February 1, 1942
The titular shoes are the key to unmeasured wealth because they hold the secret to making limitless gold. The Spirit travels to Hawaii to get to the bottom of this lucrative but highly dangerous legend and is confronted by a spy called the Duchess. She's not alone but a certain surprise attack proves critical to the story's ending. Because of that ending, we can be certain this was a story produced after the beginning of the war,
Goobleclutch & Michleholler February 8, 1942
Picture short Marx Brothers, specifically Groucho and Harpo and you gave the strange pair named Goobleclutch and Michleholler. Their names are endlessly confused but they seek particular mummy cases. This all takes place while the U.S. is practicing blackout conditions in fear of air attack from overseeas.
Madam Minx February 15, 1942
The scheming Squid returns and this time uses the agent Madame Minx to try and kill the Spirit. Silk Satin turns up again as she and Spirit try not only to stop the spies but survive on a deadly ship. Minx imagines her charms will be sufficient to woo the Spirit but learns differently. Satin's jealousy rears up in full form.
The Ghost of Post 12 February 22, 1942
King Hobo returns in this strange tale of murdered and missing plane spotters. The answer is in the mud as the Spirit works overtime to solve this strange mystery. It seems important to Eisner to work in as much of the current experience of readers as possible. Spinning a story around plane spotting is a clever way to do just that.
Aunt Mathilda March 1, 1942
Mathilda Dolan shows up to check in on her brother-in-law and her niece. The latter she's shocked to learn is not married and she takes steps to get Ellen hitched to her sweetie the Spirit. Mathilda is an expert on marriage as he's had five as the story begins. Aunt Mathilda seems totally unaffected by the Spirit's mask when she meets him. When the Spirit is knocked out by a hidden drug, he an Ellen are taken to the Justice of the Peace, but there's a snag.
Mr. Hush March 8, 1942
Mr. Hush comes to the big city and uses the power of gossip to get Commissioner Dolan accused of wanting to murder his friend Mayor Aldrich. It results in all sorts of mayhem when the Mayor believes the rumors and both he and Dolan fall with bullet wounds. The story is related to us by sneaky Mr. Hush as he fumbles around the logo of the Spirit, both on the front page and within.
For Mayor: Dolan March 15, 1942
It's a follow up to the previous story in which a group of politicians want Commissioner Dolan to run for Mayor. He resists but circumstances and chicanery get him on the ticket. The Spirit recommends he subvert his run for office by telling voters the truth about taxes and such things. It has the opposite effect. When an escaped criminal who just so happens looks like Dolan falls into hands of the pols pushing his candidacy, they see a chance to achieve their aims.
The Men Whom Time Forgot March 22, 1942
The Spirit must confront a Spanish galleon which has been sailing the seas for three hundred years. The legends are true, and the Spirit's hardest job is to get these phantoms to understand their situation. The threat of drowning or worse is quite real for our hero as he confronts these bizarre phantoms.
The Weird Case of Mr. Ebony and Mr. White March 29,1942
Ellen is kidnapped and the Spirit works on a formula which will alter personality in order to get the truth from a captured thug. Ebony gets hold of the formula, drinks it and becomes a Jekyll-Hyde like characters, switching between shy around girls to downright aggressive. While the Spirit works to rescue Ellen, Ebony tries his new personality out on the girls.
Drying Up the Reservoirs April 5, 1942
The Squid returns once more and again he plans an attack on the United States water supply. Before it was blowing up dams, but now it's using some weirdo crystal to dry up all the water. He assembles and sends his agents across the land in blimps to do his will, while he guides the operation from high in the sky. Of course, the Spirit gets wise and attacks the blimp. It's a furious to and fro, but eventually as we knew the Spirit comes out on top. The Spirit uses his coat as a parachute of sorts, so I guess he's no longer using the parasail he introduced moons ago.
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We get another salty tale from the captain of the U.S.S. Raven, a ship deemed to have murderous intent. It's all any crew can do to survive a voyage and this trip with the ship loaded with explosives is even more dangerous. The Spirit is along, but the Raven makes quick work of him. Is this a possessed ship that kills? Eisner cleverly tells the story in such a way that the reader is able to draw his or her own conclusions on the matter.
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The ghosts take over the Spirit in fifth volume.
Hinkey's Gang April 19,1942
Aunt Mathilda returns when her gangster hubby Hinkey is in jail. His gang try all sorts of maneuvers to get him out, but the main approach is to blackmail the city with potential destruction by fire if he's not released. A strange fiddler plays a key role in this one. Suffice it to say that by the end of the yarn Mathilda has set her sights on Mayor Blast.
The Bloody Fang April 26, 1942
The Bloody Fang is a mystery novel which Dolan is reading in which a police commissioner seems to be the hero. Gangsters break into the Dolan home and capture both Dolan and the Spirit who they promptly put into concrete shoes. There's a great deal of back and forth, but as usual the Spirit is able to turn the tables on the crooks. Meanwhile Ellen joins a sorority.
zSelf Portrait May 3, 1942
Will Eisner gets deeply involved in his own strip when the gangster Torpedo Tom McGurk kidnaps him and takes over his work on the Spirit series. The Spirit is busy trying to bring down the gang and rescuing some kids taken by the mob, and he is aided by the fact their top gun is busy making comics instead of shooting at him. This is a fourth-wall sundering delight with Eisner having tons of fun with the concept.
Army Operas No.2 Private O'Toole May 10,1942
We meet Private Titmouse O'Toole who it turns out can hear the thoughts of animals. This gift lets him know a certain dog is being used by spies to capture secrets at the local base. Sgt.Gruffy and other superiors are unaware of his gift and accuse him of malingering in various ways. The Spirit uncovers his secret and together they face off against the spies.
The Man Who Lost His Face May 17, 1942
More spies as this time the banker Emil Gosk seems to kill an agent and issues orders for anyone looking like the agent to be killed on sight. The Spirit gets shot up pretty badly in this one, but as usual seems to recover with amazing speed. An old ally of the Spirit returns as well and learns a great deal about how they fit into the Spirit's life. I found this one a bit confusing, as the motivations seem unclear at times.
A Practical Joke May 24, 1942
As they often do, a practical joke gets out of hand in this Spirit story which has our hero battling crime with a murderous glee we've not seen before. This one has a definite comedic vibe as we focus on Ebony and Commissioner Dolan and the yarn reminded me of the cinematic "classic" A Weekend at Bernie's.
Army Operas No.3: Cpl. O'Toole May 30, 1942
In a story told from the letters of Sgt. Gruffy we again encounter the telepathic Titmouse O'Toole, now a corporal. Gruffy is frustrated and confused how O'Toole seems able to uncover spies all over the place. Eventually he is recruited to help O'Toole and the Spirit bring a bevy of spies.
The Baby King June 7, 1942
Ellen Dolan is distraught when after a month-long absence the Spirit returns with Silk Satin and a baby. While the Spirit and Satin battle spies and dodge bullets all across the city, Ellen takes in herself with Ebony's assistance to deliver the baby to the correct address. The title gives away the ending, but still there's a lot of wonderful action in this one and lots of shooting.
Sybil, Cecil & Callous Joe June 14, 1942
Sybil and Cecil are two children from Britain who were sent to America for their safety. Ellen takes them into the Dolan home and soon enough these two very intelligent youngsters are taking it upon themselves to psychoanalyze those around them, especially a gangster named Callous Joe. All Ebony wants to do is go to the circus. There's a great deal of broad humor in this one.
His Majesty King Zenix II June 21, 1942
This is a follow-up to the story from a few weeks before and we again have a baby who carries political implications for the land of his birth. The spies are out and about again and kidnap Ellen as they search for the child. Satin must give in that she's not the love of the Spirit's life to save Ellen. This story features the first mention of "Nazis" that I can think of in the series so far. With the war on, being coy about the enemy is no longer necessary.
Suicide and Saxophones June 28, 1942
Sasha Sax is a musician who plays from his heart and when that's broken his music is such that some of those who hear it are driven to despair and even suicide. After a wave of mysterious deaths and suicides, the Spirit seeks a way to lift Sasha's spirits and keep him out of the hands of enemy agents who see his music as a great weapon. This is the first of the Spirit sections to be credited to Lou Fine, the artist brought in to take Eisner's place when the latter was drafted into military service. Much more on that next time.
More and more humor rules the day in the Spirit strips. The action is robust, but suspense is hard to come by when we have a guy who can survive any number of gunshot wounds. There is death in the strip and that's what keeps it from being just a funny.
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