I know, I know...we're still trying to get the taste of that recent movie out of our collective consciousness. That should, however, never be reason enough not to celebrate a more triumphant return of Will Eisner's classic strip--in the case the 1966 Harvey Comics reprints. Actually, the two oversized issues did NOT do well enough to continue but nonetheless had a major impact on nearly all of us impressionable youngsters to whom they were our first exposure to THE SPIRIT. In my case, I was still a few years away from being able to appreciate the unusual combination of humor and noir elements and the brand new, even sillier SPIRIT strips presented in the Harvey issues didn't help seven year old me to understand in the least. It all stuck with me though and when the next reprints rolled around a few years later I was there...and I've been there ever since. I now look on Harvey's two issues of THE SPIRIT as absolutely pivotal comics of my childhood .
Absolutely! Those two Spirit issues completely changed my view of what comics were (and could be). One of the few times in my life that I think my jaw literally actually dropped...
ReplyDeleteI think the Spirit could have been successful as a DC or Marvel mag back then, but Harvey's appeal was mostly to the kiddies. I came across a copy of Spirit #1 in 1973 and was completely blown away; only a few months later the Warren issues started.
ReplyDeleteI remember that issue, no wait I have that one ! It struck me as way ahead of most of the garbage on the comic racks then. I think I was about 15 then and finally starting to aprreciate good comic art. I did nto know there were two Harvey Sprits tho.
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