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by Bryan A. Hollerbach  
Monday, 15 August 2011
  

Few things will capture a crusty comics columnist’s attention quicker than a Previews solicitation with an art credit comprising Brian Bolland, José Luis García-López, and P. Craig Russell. That credit made The Spirit #17, that series’ black-and-white finale, a must-have, and visually, the trio of eight-pagers involved—with scripts, respectively, by Howard Chaykin, Paul Levitz, and Will Pfeiffer—scarcely disappoints. On his worst day, Bolland or Russell makes the mainstream’s latest nine days’ wonder look like a “simple” kindergartner sharpening a Crayola in one nostril, and in García-López’s story, the splash page alone, with its impeccable composition and tones, should leave true aficionados weeping over the fact that his byline graces so few contemporary comics. Where this valediction falls short, as ever, it does so in failing to echo the voice of Spirit creator Will Eisner, much as DC’s clockwork revivals of the Fawcett Captain Marvel have always lacked the period charm of prime C.C. Beck. (Admittedly, the same failing plagued Eisner himself late in the Spirit’s original run, but that’s neither here nor there.)
 

Bob Andelman is the author or co-author of 12 books, including Mind Over Business with Ken Baum, The Consulate with Thomas R. Stutler, The Profiler with Pat Brown, Built From Scratch with the founders of The Home Depot, The Profit Zone with Adrian Slywotzky, Mean Business with Albert J. Dunlap, and Will Eisner: A Spirited Life. Click here to see Bob Andelman’s Amazon Central author page. He is a member in good standing of the American Society of Journalists and Authors (member page).

 [Get Copyright Permissions]Copyright 2011 Bob Andelman. Click here for copyright permissions!

 

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