Line #78 ComicBook/TheSpirit


1	[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_spirit_5636.jpg]]
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3	This page is for the comic series. For Creator/FrankMiller's 2008 film adaptation, see ''[[Film/TheSpirit The Spirit]]''.
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5	When confronting escaped criminal Dr. Cobra, criminologist and private investigator Denny Colt is caught in the evil scientist's experimental liquid and put into a death-like coma. Believed dead by his friend Commissioner Dolan, head of the Central City Police Department, Colt is buried the next day, only to rise from his grave the next night very much alive. After catching Dr. Cobra, Denny Colt decides to remain dead and take up the job of being The Spirit, so he can go after criminals and crimes beyond the reach of the police.
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7	The Spirit, which premiered in June 1940 and ran continuously until October 1952, was the brainchild of Creator/WillEisner, one of the most important creators in the history of comic books. Originally, it was created and distributed as a weekly insert for more conventional newspapers of the Register and Tribune Syndicate, rather than as a traditional comic. These stories have been reprinted by many publishers in numerous comic book and graphic novel series.
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9	Eisner's intent was to have a series that focused on characters and storytelling, rather than to create a "super-hero comic book". In fact, the mask and gloves that are The Spirit's trademarks were a concession to his publishing partner, who didn't think the series would sell without having a bona fide "masked hero". One of the effects of this is that often The Spirit is a guest in his own series, sometimes only appearing at the very beginning and very ending of the story.
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11	In addition to comics, the character appeared from [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII 1941 through 1944]] in a conventional NewspaperComic strip; in a [[TheEighties 1987]] [[ThePilot TV Pilot]] featuring Sam J. Jones in the title role and Creator/NanaVisitor as Ellen Dolan, ([[WhatCouldHaveBeen which did not produce a series]]) and; as of December 25, 2008, a theatrical release movie written and directed by Creator/FrankMiller.
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13	The Spirit does not have any super-powers nor does he have any special training. He is an excellent fighter, and survives mostly on force of will and luck. In fact, the strip is fairly realistic in that there are very few instances of extra-normal powers. People get hit and they bleed. People get shot and they die. (There are, however, over the course of over 500 stories, a few appearances of witches, a couple of aliens, one man who can fly and, when appropriate, SantaClaus.)
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15	First licensed to Creator/DCComics, the series was written and drawn by Creator/DarwynCooke, who distilled elements of the previous series, and set it in the modern day. Creator/DCComics later rebooted the series to fit into their ComicBook/{{First Wave\|DCComics}} universe, and is now written by Creator/MarkEvanier and Creator/SergioAragones, having taken over for Darwyn Cooke, and is set around the [[TheForties 1940s]] or [[TheFifties 1950s]].
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17	Currently licensed by [[Creator/DynamiteComics Dynamite Publishing]] for a new series written by Matt Wagner, the creator of ''ComicBook/{{Grendel}}''.
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19	We currently have a [[Characters/TheSpirit Character Sheet]] under construction.
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21	----
22	!!Tropes:
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24	* AdaptationDistillation: The Darwyn Cooke reboot.
25	%%* AmericaSavesTheDay:
26	* AliensAmongUs: One story involves two Martian secret agents posing as humans, with one having turned traitor due to preferring human society over martian society, but she is neutralized by her partner, who is revealed to be a metreologist.
27	* BadassNormal: The Spirit himself, a totally normal guy with nothing but a nice suit, a mask and a strong right hook. He doesn't even have any gadgets, save for a flying car [[EarlyInstalmentWeirdness in the early issues]] that was quickly phased out.
28	* BewareTheSillyOnes: One of the most shocking examples of this in the Golden Age of Comics comes when the villainous political fixer Autumn Mews tricks comic relief foil Sammy into revealing the (unused!) secret identity of the Spirit in the classic story [[spoiler: ''The Death of Autumn Mews'']].
29	* BrickJoke: A very clever method of marking the passage of time in "Ten Minutes"; on the first page there is a little girl bouncing a ball in front of an apartment building, chanting, "A, My name is Anna and my sister's name is Alice..." Later in the story, we return to the same building, and the little girl is still bouncing the ball, chanting, "R, my name is Renee and my sister's name is Rachel..."
30	* CelibateHero: In spite of being a total ChickMagnet, the Spirit gulps, aw-shucks-ma'am, and hem-haws his way through whenever a FemmeFatale, or even Ellen, latches onto him. The idea of being embarrassed to the point of rigidity (not that kind) by female attention was a common trope seen among male characters in the [[TheThirties 1930s]] and [[TheForties 1940s]].
31	** It is notably averted in the Darwyn Cooke reboot where Denny is portrayed as a ''shameless'' flirt, but is also in a (mostly) committed relationship with Ellen and tries hard to be faithful to her.
32	%%* {{Chiaroscuro}}
33	* ChickMagnet: It's the closest thing The Spirit has to an actual superpower
34	* ChristmasEpisode: Issue closest to Christmas nearly every year in the original run.
35	* ClarkKenting: A DominoMask is about as much a disguise as Clark Kent's glasses, but in reverse. As long as he's wearing his mask it doesn't matter what he wears, he'll instantly be recognized. If he ''really'' wants to be in disguise he takes his mask ''off.'' Denny Colt became the Spirit after being declared legally dead and the Spirit doesn't have a secret identity, he's the Spirit full time.
36	* ClearMyName: For a few early stories, The Spirit was framed for the murder of a tight-fisted millionaire who'd taken several [[TookALevelInJerkass Levels In Jerkass]]. However, it soon proven to be a [[RubeGoldbergHatesYourGuts suicide by pointlessly elaborate contraption]].
37	* ClothingDamage: The Spirit suffers [[ShirtlessScene a torn shirt]] and shredded suit on a regular basis.
38	* CoatHatMask: The Spirit's costume consists solely of this.
39	* TheCommissionerGordon: Commissioner Dolan.
40	* CoolMask: Notable for actually ''emphasizing'' his eyes, instead of hiding them like most masks.
41	* CrossOver: With everyone from ComicBook/{{Batman}} and Literature/DocSavage to [[ComicBook/CerebusTheAardvark Cerebus]] and ComicBook/OmahaTheCatDancer.
42	* DeadpanSnarker: Denny can get as snarky as [[ComicBook/SpiderMan another superhero from a rival company]] in battle, but in the reboot it's Ebony White who plays this to the hilt, delivering caustic comments while almost never, ever changing his dour expression.
43	* DeathByOriginStory: [[spoiler:Alvarro Mortez AKA 'El Morte']] in the DC reboot. He was unfortunate enough to die TWICE before confronting the Spirit personally.
44	* TheDriver: Ebony White.
45	* ExpressiveMask: The reboot tries to avert this as much as possible, instead using shadows, angles, and the Spirit's signature hat to give the mask an illusion of movement, but sometimes they play it straight just for sheer comedy. Once Darwyn Cooke stopped drawing the book it got more noticeable.
46	* EyeCam: Used in one issue to show the action through another character's eyes -- literally. In addition to an eyelid-shaped view, you can see his eyelashes on top.
47	* TheFaceless: The Octopus, and actually The Spirit himself as well.
48	** Averted with the Spirit in the reboot. Denny's unmasked face is shown in the flashback to the night of his "death" and several times in the Cooke-helmed issues in intimate moments with Ellen after.
49	* FauxDeath: Denny Colt was put into a death-like coma for 24 hours. After reviving, he decided to use being declared dead as an advantage.
50	* FedoraOfAsskicking: The Spirit sports one as part of his ahem, "Superhero costume."
51	* FemmeFatale: Sand Saref the best example of this. (There's no chance of [[TheVamp P'Gell]] ever reforming, but we hope for Sand.)
52	* FilleFatale: Saree is P'Gell's stepdaughter who shows every sign of following in her stepmother's footsteps as TheVamp (and probably the BlackWidow).
53	* FilmNoir: The series as a whole is generally more upbeat than typical for the genre, but individual episodes and story arcs can sometimes be quite bleak indeed. The Spirit himself and Central City also fulfill a number of the genre's visual cues.
54	* TheGreatestStoryNeverTold: Eisner liked to use this trope on occasion, but one that really stands out is "Gerhard Shnobble," which can be a somber TearJerker for some.
55	** Another noteable one involves a convict put in jail by The Spirit who is freed by Santa Claus on Christmas Eve as a christmas present, and given Santa's clothes and a false beard to be able to wander around undetected. His original intent is to get to his stash of stolen money, then track down and kill The Spirit, but he ends up being sidetracked by three boys, one of whom is blind and who all three had asked Santa to give the boy his sight back for Christmas. The criminal ends up giving his money to a back-alley doctor he knows, to perform the needed surgery on the boy, then returns to prison and gives Santa his outfit back and resumes his sentence, with only him and Santa himself knowing what actually happened that night.
56	%%* HardHead
57	* IrislessEyeMaskOfMystery: Averted and occasionally lampshaded in the comics in that he has big blue expressive irises to show.
58	* JamesBondage: The Spirit seems to spend far more time [[BoundAndGagged tied up]] (and [[ShirtlessScene stripped down]]) than any man or woman really should...
59	* LadyInRed: P'Gell, again. Often, but not always, seen in a slinky red dress. (Starting with her first appearance.)
60	* LowFantasy: The Spirit is a BadassNormal, and most of his enemies are your typical mobsters, thieves and crooks, mixed in with the occasional MadScientist. That said, while standard superpowers don't seem to exist, there are a few supernatural elements in the setting, most famously being Gerhard Schnobble, who was born with the ability to fly, though he only used it twice in his life. The others include a pair of Martian spies, an alchemist who lived for centuries using a serum he invented, and Loreli, a mysterious, white-haired woman who could hypnotize people with her singing.
61	* MeaningfulName: As seen above, Eisner loved these. For instance, one story had a gangster named "Blacky" Marquett.
62	* MurphysBullet: A poor-sighted savage constantly aims a knife at her husband but misses, and when she aims at the Spirit, hits her husband instead.
63	* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: "[[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler The Dictator]]'s Reform" actually begins with the disclaimer: "Any similarity to persons living or dead is entirely intentional."
64	* NonPoweredCostumedHero: {{Enforced}} (see main description).
65	%%* OddShapedPanel
66	* PinnedToTheWall: September 13, 1942 issue. A female villainess wants to play HuntingTheMostDangerousGame with the title character, but he refuses. She uses a bow and arrows to pin him to a door by his clothes so he can't get away. See it [[http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/spiritdiana2.jpg here]].
67	* PirateGirl: Long Jane Silver and her all-female crew.
68	* PunnyName: Most everyone's names, such as Plaster, who's from Paris. Even the Octopus's real name is a reference to a medical bath.
69	* RealTime: Eisner timed "Ten Minutes," which covers [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin the last ten minutes]] of the life of a punk who killed the candy store owner he was robbing, to take ten minutes to read. It even begins with the sentence, "It will take you ten minutes to read this story."
70	* SheIsNotMyGirlfriend:
71	** For quite a while, Ellen Dolan clearly thought of The Spirit as her boyfriend, while The Spirit himself spent much of the time avoiding her and denying it.
72	** Averted in the reboot where Denny and Ellen are clearly in a committed-ish relationship. The Spirit still flirts with every skirt that crosses his path like a bastard though.
73	* ShirtlessScene: Like you wouldn't believe.
74	* SideKick: Ebony White, Blubber (for a VERY short stint), and later, Sammy. In some stories where Ebony is featured, he has his own sidekicks.
75	* ThemeNaming: Good old fashioned [[{{Mooks}} Mook]] gangster names like Knuckles and Tumblers.
76	* WalkingTheEarth: One series of storylines revolves around Spirit having left the city after a falling out with Ellen and is now jumping from place to place by ship.
77	* UncleTomFoolery: Ebony White, verging on outright EthnicScrappy. Averted in Darwyn Cooke's run.
78	* TheVamp: P'gell, who seems to go through a rich husband nearly every story that involves her.

Context ComicBook / TheSpirit