By: Nicole D'Andria
Denny Colt, aka Will Eisner’s famous creation The Spirit, will be celebrating his 75th anniversary this year. There’s a lot to celebrate since he will also be getting a new ongoing series, The Spirit, which will be penned by award-winning writer Matt Wagner (Grendel, Sandman Mystery Theatre). This ongoing series is just the start of the new partnership between the Eisner Estate and Dynamite Entertainment.
The Spirit is
remembered fondly as the 1939 creation of Will Eisner. Eisner’s provocative work A Contract with God is credited with
popularizing the term graphic novel. His weekly work in Sunday 16-page sections created the foundation
for modern comics. Ever hear of the Eisner Award, the comic book equivalent of
an Oscar awarded each year at San Diego Comic Con (SDCC)? This award was named after
Eisner.
Writer Matt Wagner is pretty well known in the comic book
world. He created Grendel and Mage and wrote Sandman Mystery Theatre which, after having read only a handful of
issues, I have really enjoyed. He was also the creative mind behind Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman: Trinity
and Batman: The Monster Men. His work
for Dynamite has included The
Shadow: Year One, Green
Hornet: Year One, and and Django/Zorro, a sequel to the
film Django Unchained.
Matt Wagner describes his relationship with the
crimefighter: “I discovered The
Spirit via the black-and-white, magazine-sized reprints of the mid-70s. It
was the first time that I truly perceived sequential narrative as a legitimate
art form, of the immense creative power of a comic-artist in his prime,"
says Wagner. "I can honestly say that seeing and experiencing The
Spirit in my formative years ultimately led to my career as a comics
author. It's such an immense thrill and a professional honor to have the chance
to contribute to Will Eisner's legacy on the milestone 75th anniversary of his
most influential and iconic character.”
Will
Eisner’s The Spirit #1 will have three covers from comic book
illustrators Alex Ross, Eric Powell and the series writer Matt Wagner. The artist for the interior has not been announced yet. The ongoing series will
launch at SDCC in July 2015. The comic book will be available to
reserve in your local comic book store or can be purchased using Comixology,
iVerse, or Dark Horse Digital.
No comments:
Post a Comment