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MOVIE REVIEW: THE SPIRIT

I am appalled and outraged by director Frank Miller's lack of respect for not one but two cartooning Legends; Will Eisner, and Eisner's beloved creation The Spirit.

To treat such icons with irreverence is beyond reprehensible. To tarnish a character beloved by millions, both young and old is… hubris is not a strong enough word. Evil. That's it. Miller is evil.

There is a reason the Spirit has long been one of the most popular cartoon characters in the world. A reason children repeat his well-known catch phrase. A reason Eisner's stories have so often been adapted into movies, television, and toys since the character's debut. But Miller has no respect for Eisner's winning formula, Miller refuses to stick with what works.

Miller seems to think that merely because his own stark visual technique was embraced by millions of fans in hugely successful films and books, we will want to see him do what he is famous for yet again. Miller's use of heavy black shadows is completely inappropriate for The Spirit's world, and betrays a complete disdain for the source material, which should be rendered in a more chiaroscuro style, as this illustration shows:

The most damning evidence of Miller's disrespect of not only Eisner's mastery, not merely of the the audience, but, dare I say, of the entire graphic novel medium in general (a medium Eisner INVENTED, thank you very much!), is the shoehorned addition of (ugh) humor. Why do filmmakers always think comic book super-heroes should be funny? Eisner's famous hero never stooped to bad puns and over-the top acting!
And what's with the sexism? Miller seems to think that every girl is Central City is super-hot and in love with the Spirit!

And don't get me started on Sam Jackson. Frank Miller must hate Black people, that's the only explanation. Think about it, he changes the VILLAIN to a Black man, but eliminates the only heroic Black character from the Spirit mythos. Why didn't Miller have Jackson play Ebony White?How could he overlook Eisner's beloved creation, one of the most nuanced and sensitive ethnic characterizations since Rosencrantz? I heard Chris Tucker was BEGGING for a screen test. I can only hope he's in the sequel.

Oh, and Miller's writing. Compare this Eisner-penned text with any of Miller's screenplay. Not an ounce of silliness.

"The Spirit slammed and slammed ...
The killer hooked and whammed!
Left right, left right ...
The Spirit's fists were dynamite!"
Clearly a literary influence on young Cassius Clay.

Miller seems to think comic books are a joke. Well, Mr. Miller, just because something's called "comic" doesn't mean it's humorous! Watchmen is a comic, and it's sad!

I wish somebody would let ME do a Spirit story. I'd do it right.



About the author: Kyle Baker is winner of about nine or more Eisner Awards. Eisner handed to him personally. His work is currently available in The Spirit Vol.2.

Behold The Uncanny Valley



Animation by Kyle Baker's Uncanny Valley Studios

Click Image To Enlarge. Remember how I promised you weeks ago that my new Hawkman story would be ulra-realistic and VIOLENT? Well, here's an image from the climactic battle on Dinosaur Island! Unfortunately, Aquaman's longtime companion, Storm the Seahorse will die bloodily in the jaws of a T-Rex. Wait until you see what awful fate awaits Hawkman's bird friends!

I've gotten a fantastic response to my new ultra-realist style from both fans and editors, so it looks like I'll be doing a lot more books this way in the future!

If you have 3D glasses lying around, use them to look at this! I got my glasses from a recent issue of FINAL CRISIS: SUPERMAN BEYOND 3D.

I'm considering doing a SPECIAL FORCES comic in 3D. What do you think? Leave a comment!

Here's an early Holiday E-Gift to you all! Some advance artwork from Image Comics' SPECIAL FORCES 4. Everybody's pushing me to get the first story arc done while we're still in Iraq. The next stories take place in Afghanistan. These pages are out of sequence, unedited, and I haven't added the text yet, so enjoy seeing the stuff in it's raw form!..
CLICK HERE FOR FULL SCREEN PLAYER

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WE WON'T STOP, BECAUSE WE CAN'T STOP!
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NOMINATED FOR ABSOLUTELY NO AWARDS! (Wow.)
The most offensive thing Kyle Baker's ever done! And that's saying something! He outdoes himself with SPECIAL FORCES 3, a book that will hereafter be known throughout fandom as THE CREEPY BONDAGE ISSUE. It gets so much worse from here.
IN STORES THIS WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 6
Read the first five pages online at CBR!

Rebel Yell
A book tells the story of Nat Turner's uprising -- in cartoon form

By JAMIN BROPHY-WARREN
August 2, 2008; Page W2

On Aug. 21, 1831, a self-educated slave named Nat Turner sparked an uprising in Virginia that left more than 50 adults and children dead and served as one of the opening salvos in the fight to end slavery. Nearly 200 years later, award-winning cartoonist Kyle Baker is exhuming Turner's story and presenting the tale as a graphic novel aimed at readers of all ages.

"Nat Turner" uses stark black-and-white graphics to portray Turner and his band of rebel slaves. It follows Turner from childhood to his execution of the bloody revolt.

As a youngster, Mr. Baker had wondered why there were so few details about Nat Turner in his history books. "There are no statues and there's no plaque where the rebellion was," Mr. Baker says.

In 2003, Mr. Baker launched his own publishing company and began researching the uprising and slave conditions before printing "Nat Turner" as a three-part series a year later. (The recent edition collects those comics into book form.) "The thing I thought was preposterous was that people wonder why he did it," he says, noting that the brutal conditions under slave masters were "worse than jail."

"Nat Turner" is a more serious turn for Mr. Baker, who had specialized in lighter fare. Born in the New York borough of Queens, Mr. Baker started his comic career at Marvel Comics as an intern in high school. Mr. Baker went on to work in animation, and also published several graphic novels. His work for DC Comics' "Plastic Man" series won him one of his nine Eisner awards, considered the Oscar of comic books.

"People say history is boring and they don't want it in comics," says Karen Berger, a senior vice president and executive editor for DC Comics, who worked with Mr. Baker on his graphic novel "King David." "He brings such a contemporary take. He can make stories like Nat Turner seem like they happened today."

Mr. Baker's instincts as a visual artist drew him to Nat Turner's story. "I thought it would make a good comic book," says Mr. Baker, noting the story has "lots of visuals, action, and fights." Mr. Baker's most recent series about the Iraq War, "Special Forces," features similarly explosive content.

The artist hopes his book will appeal to young readers. His publisher, Abrams Books, is promoting the story to schools with its other young-adult fare. Mr. Baker says he even passed a copy to his mother at a family reunion. "That was one of my happiest days," he says.

Write to Jamin Brophy-Warren at Jamin.Brophy-Warren@wsj.com