Whoa. Long-time Will Eisner fans really hate the new trailer for Frank Miller’s Will Eisner’s The Spirit. Here are a few samples of what you’ll find by joining Yahoo! Groups’ “Will Eisner Discussion Group”:

Sadly, this meets my expectations.

It’s been pretty clear for some time that Frank Miller sees something very different in the Spirit than I do. I hope I won’t be spending the next 20 years explaining my Eisner enthusiasm to civilians whose only impression of the character (and the creator) is from this movie.

This trailer literally makes me sick to my stomach.

It’s apparent the wit, the ambiance and the sheer humanity has been drained from Eisner’s masterpiece. Better that the film was never made then to suffer this fate. Given Miller’s stated idolization of Eisner, I had hoped he could put a governor on his ego and set aside his own “style” out of respect for this classic strip. I guess not.

Maybe this is all a bad dream and I’ll wake up tomorrow and I never saw this trailer. I certainly hope so…

I’m hoping that when Miller’s movie is released, it will inspire fans to make their own version of the Spirit- one that is truer to Eisner’s creation.