Ron S :: Eisner - The Spirit

The Spirit - August 3, 1952, page 2

Artist: Wally Wood (All)

32 Comments - 2,787 Views - 1 Like

The Spirit - August 3, 1952, page 2 Comic Art

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Artwork Details

Title:	The Spirit - August 3, 1952, page 2
Artist:	Wally Wood (All)
Media Type:	Pen and Ink
Art Type:	Interior Page
For Sale Status:	NFS
Views:	2,787
Likes on CAF:	1 2
Favorited on CAF:	2
Comments:	32
Added to Site:	6/12/2014
Comic Art Archive:	The Spirit Issue: 8/3/1952 Page: 2 View

Description

The Spirit was in mortal danger.

It wasn�t the Octopus, a double crossing dame, or any of the dangerous underworld figures that filled the streets of Central City. It was worse. It was declining readership.

By 1952, the Spirit was in its 12th year, but Eisner�s personal touch and attention was less likely to be seen in the stories. Throughout most of the run Eisner had utilized assistants in various parts of the production of the stories. During World War II, while in the service, he still wrote the stories and mailed the scripts to assistants to draw. Between the end of the war and early 1950, Will had hands on most every story. But, in the last half of 1950, Will began to separate more, spending time on a new business venture for the government, and handing the writing to Jules Feiffer (who later won the Pulitzer prize in 1986) and a variety of artists. The syndicates had noticed the drop in quality of writing and art, and were threatening to drop the story from the papers. And, frankly, Eisner decided it was time to let the Spirit finally get his rest. But, Jules Feiffer had another idea.

Science Fiction.

In the early 1950�s Sci-Fi was the �hot� genre in movies and in books, so Feiffer suggested something radical. Why not put the Spirit into space? He convinced Eisner that this could be the opportunity to revitalize the character, and offered to write the story line. The question was, who should be the artist? Not Eisner, he was too busy. Feiffer�s idea?

Wally Wood.

In one of his first jobs after his military discharge in the late 40�s, Wally Wood worked for Will Eisner, filling in backgrounds. After moving on, Wood bounced around, finally finding a home at EC comics, and becoming well known for his Science Fiction work. Wood, habitually in search of money, agreed with one proviso; the art was to be in his style, not Eisner�s. Up until that point, all of the assistants on the Spirit were instructed to make the artwork look as close to Will�s style as possible.

Wood took this job at the same time he was working for EC. Amazingly, the first couple of stories were on time and of high quality. But, after 2 weeks, Eisner had to jump in to cover a missed deadline. Also, the syndicate started to complain about the difference in the style of the art. Wood came back and tried his best, but in the end, he couldn�t keep up the pressure of a weekly story (7 pages), and still make his EC deadlines. After about two months, the experiment was over, and two weeks later, so was The Spirit.

The stories and artwork are excellent and worth reading. So, when I had a chance to grab a page from one of the stories, I was thrilled. Please take a look at a unique collaboration from 1952.

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About the Owner

	Ron S Premium Gallery Owner
Joined:	June 2007
Last Login:	September 2025
Ebay Id:	lihama5
Country:	UNITED STATES
On CAF:	Premium Member Q&A Artworks Commented On Liked Art Site Activity on CAF

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Comments on this Artwork

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Joseph Serpico
Member Since 2009

Posted on 6/12/2014

Quintessential piece. Spirit of Wood. Very nice Ron. And your one of the very few on CAF whose write ups match the grander of the art. Of course you have to have grand art to do that, but with your gallery, that's a given. my compliments.

Roger K.
Member Since 2005
Forum Moderator

Posted on 6/12/2014

Oh man... yer killin' me! This is too cool!

Rob Pistella
Member Since 2005
Forum Moderator

Posted on 6/12/2014

Another spectacular addition! Wood was firing on all cylinders during this period. And, your descriptions are so very descriptive and add greatly to our understanding of the piece and its place in our hobby's history. Thanks for posting this!

Bob Kopman
Member Since 2007

Posted on 6/12/2014

That's great stuff. I enjoyed your description. Thanks for posting.

Dan Ripoll
Member Since 2003

Posted on 6/12/2014

Great page! I really love it when a panel page can stand on its own even though part of a bigger story, and this one does that very well-the pacing and layout are cinematic. Very nice addition!

E DLS
Member Since 2005

Posted on 6/12/2014

A short but glorious run, as exemplified by this incredible page. Love the write up, as usual. Congratulations Ron!

John B
Member Since 2004

Posted on 6/12/2014

Yeah, that's a nice one, Ron. No question.

Xavier .
Member Since 2010

Posted on 6/12/2014

Another amazing addition, Congrats Ron!

A Arntfield
Member Since 2010

Posted on 6/12/2014

LOVED Wood's work oh The Spirit! What a great example. Congrats!

artless artmore
Member Since 2013

Posted on 6/12/2014

So nice!!

steve staszower
Member Since 2005

Posted on 6/13/2014

A dream Wood page for me. Absolutely outstanding.

Terry Doyle
Member Since 2004

Posted on 6/13/2014

Sometimes the pupil outshines the teacher . . .

Mike W
Member Since 2007

Posted on 6/13/2014

It's really nice to see a great piece and learn something about it, the character(s), and the creator(s) at the same time. Thank you, my friend, for sharing this wonderful page and giving us a very cool history lesson.

Eric Seffinga
Member Since 2005

Posted on 6/13/2014

Woodytech rocks!

Peter P
Member Since 2009

Posted on 6/13/2014

Wow what a gorgeous page!!

Chris K.
Member Since 2008

Posted on 6/13/2014

It's amazing to think that the syndicates complained about Wood's style variance from Eisner's. It's a great piece - like most things in your gallery!

Chris C
Member Since 2004

Posted on 6/13/2014

Wood's work on this run was landmark and instantly recognizable as something special. Congrats bud.

Shane Turgeon
Member Since 2009

Posted on 6/13/2014

An absolute stunner! Wood is simply outstanding here.

Paresh Modi
Member Since 2006

Posted on 6/13/2014

Simply stunning. It always astounds how much detail Wood packs onto a page!! Wonderful pickup.

alessandro gentili
Member Since 2011

Posted on 6/13/2014

Really Congrats for this historic piece !! Thanks for sharing !!

Steven biali001
Member Since 2005

Posted on 6/13/2014

Great Page!!!

Mike (aka Off White) White
Member Since 2008

Posted on 6/13/2014

Great pick-up. Wally Wood was an amazing talent!

frank x townsondecker
Member Since 2006

Posted on 6/13/2014

Outstanding!!!

Jeff Singh
Member Since 2004

Posted on 6/14/2014

Fantastic find. This is the best Wood Spirit I have seen. That last panel is a worthy cover image.

Shelton Bryant
Member Since 2005

Posted on 6/14/2014

Wow!!!Pure Wood!!!!

Doc R
Member Since 2010

Posted on 6/14/2014

Ron, You are just on fire this year. Another great addition. Congrats. I always love your detailed write ups. Keep'em coming.

Joe Murray
Member Since 2006

Posted on 6/18/2014

Wow, what a great page, congrats!

aric shapiro
Member Since 2006

Posted on 6/18/2014

CLASSIC!!!!!

Hari Naidu
Member Since 2004

Posted on 6/19/2014

Impressive!

Hari Naidu
Member Since 2004

Posted on 6/19/2014

Impressive!

Tom Coker
Member Since 2005

Posted on 2/8/2016

Super cool page, Ron! I can't believe I never left a comment. I used to have the page after this one...

Adan Vazquez
Member Since 2017

Posted on 9/27/2018

Fantastic piece and story! The amount of detail on each panel is insaaaane. Every panel is frame worthy! Wally Wood was a machine at that time!

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