Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment
Writer: Matt Wagner
Artist: Dan Schkade
Colourist: Brennan Wagner
Release date: 21 October 2015
Price: $3.99

Believe it or not, it is seventy-five years since Will Eisner’s timeless creation, The Spirit, made his first appearance in the Sunday edition of the Register and Tribune Syndicate newspapers. Eisner is well known for his trailblazing role in the history of comics and The Spirit remains his best-loved creation. With this reputation, it is a brave writer and artist who decide to revive our favourite vigilante. I am delighted to say that Matt Wagner and Dan Schkade are more than up to the job in Will Eisner’s The Spirit #4.

The story in Will Eisner’s The Spirit #4 follows The Spirit’s friends as they try to find out why The Spirit has been missing for the last two years. Is he dead? Was he ever alive in the first place? These are the questions Commissioner Dolan, Ellen, Ebony White and Sammy are desperate to answer. On their journey to determine the truth about The Spirit’s disappearance this motley crew come up against a rogue’s gallery of villains and Femme Fatales familiar to all Spirit fans.

For Will Eisner’s The Spirit #4 the Dynamite team deserve total credit for resurrecting The Spirit in a faithful and compassionate way. Everything that made the original great is back. The artwork by Dan Schkade is stunning; evoking the golden period of Spirit perfectly and is also great tribute to Eisner’s original work. The writing by Matt Wagner is cleverly constructed and interweaves each character’s investigation into The Spirit’s whereabouts.

Now, like his friends, I have to find out what happened to The Spirit in Will Eisner’s The Spirit #4. See you all in Wildwood Cemetery!

Reviewer: Steve Weller
Reviews Editor: Steve Hooker