I think as a tribute to The Man, I'll post one favorite Eisner image a day here for a week. Today's is from the Spirit Archive #13- I'm not sure about its original publication date. Of course, it's the splash from the first P'Gell story, which introduced Eisner's favorite Spirit femme fatale. I love how he rendered "The Spirit" in that middle Eastern style. Of course, it's very influenced by films like Casablanca. I'm not sure which Hollywood actress served as the model for P'Gell; my guess is Bette Davis perhaps. I also love the effect he got on the city showing through the curtains, which appears to be zip-a-tone (did it even exist in the 40's?) or wash. Eisner (or an assistant) was still inking with a fatter line back then, unlike the kinda scratchy, thinner line he used with increasing frequency as the years went by...which didn't make his work any less stellar (in fact, many of my favorite Spirit stories are those latter ones), but that earlier style looks a bit more pleasing to my eye. Whoever did the coloring for this Archive edition did a nice job- everything's bright in the right places. Of course, bear in mind that I had only seen it in B & W previously, in the Warren magazine that reprinted it, and I haven't seen the original Sunday section.
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