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Kiss the Cooke

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Batman/The Spirit #1
“Crime Convention”
Writer: Jeph Loeb
Pencils/Cover artist: Darwyn Cooke
Inks: J. Bone
Colors: Dave Stewart
Letters: Comicraft
Editor: Mark Chiarello
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $4.99 US/$6.75 CAN

Though I’ve read a couple of the late, great Will Eisner’s past Spirit stories here and there, I’m really not all that familiar with the property and the supporting cast of characters. With Darwyn Cooke’s new ongoing Spirit series due in stores next month, this crossover with the Darknight Detective is a perfect primer for readers who might be unfamiliar with the more charming, crimefighting title character. Of course, the real appeal isn’t so much the meeting of two classic comics icons but Cooke’s artwork, and the pop-comic artist doesn’t disappoint his fans. With his artwork on this one-shot and his scripts for Superman Confidential, with writing and illustration duties on The Spirit and a New Frontier DVD release on the horizon beyond that, Cooke is gearing up to be the hottest creator of 2007. And it’s not as though he didn’t have some heat going already.

America’s top cops are gathering for a big convention in sunny Hawaii, and two of the “stars” of the law-enforcement event are Commissioner James Gordon of Gotham City and Central City’s Commissioner Dolan. Police officers aren’t the only ones gathering in the Aloha State. The colorful criminals from both Central and Gotham have seized an opportunity to make a grand statement at the cop convention. Fortunately, the Batman and the Spirit are hot on the trails of their respective rogues galleries.

Cooke pays tribute to the masters and legends of the industry that have come before him with his efforts here. The first Spirit sequence embraces the Eisner tradition of incorporating gigantic letters into the art and action, and there’s plenty of nods to classic Batman artists such as Dick Sprang and Jerry Robinson. Of course, the art is at its strongest when Cooke focuses on his own unique style. I love watching him work within the traditional nine-panel grid approach and then taking in variations on the method. The Bruce Timm leanings in his work shine through here as well, as he employs the 1990s cartoon designs for most of the Batman villains.

Jeph Loeb comes to this team-up special after a lengthy run as writer on another team-up title, Superman/Batman. Fortunately, he abandons the melodramatic tone of his World’s Finest stories for a campier feel that’s more in line with the 1950s feel of Cooke’s artwork.

I do have qualm about this book, and that’s the cover price. I was floored, so much so that I went back and checked the original solicitation to see if it was billed as a $5 US comic. It was, but I can only guess I was expecting a prestige-format one-shot instead. Don’t get me wrong… there’s plenty of story and art to be found once one makes one’s way into the comic, but at first glance, it seems flimsy and doesn’t seem to demand the higher price. I suspect it’ll limit the title’s sales, which is unfortunate.

While the main attraction is the artwork, Loeb’s juxtaposition of the Spirit’s roguish charm and the Batman’s cold, grim demeanor is a lot of fun. The writer doesn’t rely too much on super-hero team-up cliches; the conflict between the title characters when they first meet is fleeting (and is actually something upon which one of them counts). Loeb does a solid job of balancing the two worlds of the two main characters. If anything, this is more of a Spirit story than a Batman story. He dominates the beginning of the book and the final page. The script tells the reader just about everything s/he needs to know about Eisner’s masked hero, as well as his enemies. I was particularly intrigued by the concept of the Octopus, and I hope (and expect) Cooke will capitalize on that interest with his scripts for the new Spirit series. 7/10

November 29, 2006 Don MacPherson

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6 thoughts on “Kiss the Cooke”

  1. Randy Lander says:
    November 30, 2006 at 2:14 am

    I was floored, so much so that I went back and checked the original solicitation to see if it was billed as a $5 US comic. It was, but I can only guess I was expecting a prestige-format one-shot instead.

    I may be wrong, but I’d bet that this was a request from Cooke himself. The same was true of New Frontier in its original printings… big price tag, no square binding. As I understand it, Cooke prefers a book that can lay flat so that all the art can show. Honestly, I pretty much see where he’s coming from. I’ve grown to mostly hate the prestige format, and I’d rather have these thicker standard bound books instead.

    Well, OK… I’d rather have a book that was cheap *and* this good. But I’m going to wait for the hardcover or trade anyway, so what difference does it make to me? 🙂

  2. Don MacPherson says:
    November 30, 2006 at 8:47 am

    Randy wrote:
    But I’m going to wait for the hardcover or trade anyway

    But will this one-shot be included in a collection edition?

  3. Randy Lander says:
    December 1, 2006 at 3:40 pm

    Maybe not, but I’d guess that this will make it into Darwyn Cooke’s Spirit trade when it’s published. Of course, I’m also hoping his issue of SOLO will show up somewhere in a collection, so that’s sort of my thing these days. Hope for good single issues to get collected somewhere that I want to buy them.

    Just no room in my house for single issues anymore, for the most part. If it doesn’t get collected, odds are pretty good I won’t be getting it.

  4. Don MacPherson says:
    December 1, 2006 at 4:40 pm

    If that Cooke issue of Solo was going to collected anywhere, it would have been as an extra in Absolute New Frontier, I’m guessing.

  5. Nick Piers says:
    December 2, 2006 at 1:04 pm

    If that Cooke issue of Solo was going to collected anywhere, it would have been as an extra in Absolute New Frontier, I’m guessing.

    Which, sadly enough, it wasn’t. Not to say that the extras and goodies in the Absolute weren’t great, already.

  6. Kevin says:
    December 3, 2006 at 1:10 am

    Cooke’s Solo was arguably the best comic book read of the year. This tale of two heroes/cities served as a good launching pad for the regular series. I haven’t checked the pricing on Diamond for the new Spirit books, but I hope it’ll go for regular price rather than prestige-level pricing. I didn’t enjoy the recent incarnation of the Spirit a few years ago and that title’s eventual demise showed that I wasn’t alone in that thinking. So, it was with some hesitancy that I even picked up this title given its booming price tag. However, Cooke’s artistry was enough of an enticement to purchase this on a rather slow week for me on the comic-buying front. If this ish’s direction is indicative of the direction for the upcoming series, then I’m on board.

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