The Spirit Special # 1 - Sign Of The Octopus; Black Alley; Sand Saref; Bring In Sand Saref

This book is comprised of 4 stories and readers get a good introduction to the characters that will be major players in the new movie coming out in about a month. What's interesting is the choice DC made with the Octopus story. You have to accept that this was from 1949. It's VERY politically INcorrect. Ebony is a black kid from the city who is drawn with such exaggerated features that he looks ridiculous; his speech might actually be accurate for how people spoke but I wasn't around in those days. It's different from reading something like Tom Sawyer simply because of the pictorial representation. To a lesser extent, Eisner seems to have created a stereotypical Irish police force as well. Again, some people really do speak the way it comes out in this book, so just go with it if you can.

Progress has been made with how Ebony is handled in the newer series. Eisner apparently was not a racist at all. He loved his character but it was being misunderstood. I don't think Ebony is even in the new movie. But showing a step forward, a black actor, the legendary Samuel Jackson is playing the Octopus.

These stories are also a bit cold in the noir style. People die. You have to move on. Denny's relationship with Sand Saref is the one most explored in this collection. I do recommend it for people are curious about the movie but aren't sure about how "comic booky" will be. Frank Miller is now known in the movie industry for his particular stylizations of Sin City and 300. The Spirit movie is going to be more like Sin City but since the series has been a gumshoe-noir title from the very beginning, it's The Spirit that should be credited with his influence. Miller took the helm of The Spirit and has spent years proving himself to Eisner that he wouldn't destroy the franchise.