Ho Ho Ho!!!

Well, the weather outside is pretty yucky - it's cold and drizzly, but I don't think that it will snow. Which it actually did once here, on Clement Street, on Christmas Eve of all things. Honestly! But even if it's not snowing out, it's still a fine time to get indoors - like in Green Apple's doors, because I just priced a used set of the Complete Spirit Archives and it'll be hitting the shelves tonight.

For those who don't know, The Spirit was a newspaper comic created by Will Eisner that ran from 1940 - 1952 and forever changed the way that comics would be viewed. Eisner's genius extended into all aspects of his strip - the art was superb and often surreal, his plots were engaging, socially conscious, yet somehow self-effacing. Eisner's work on The Spirit was so sophisticated that the Comic Industry even named their top honor after him; The Eisner Award is considered the "Oscar" of comic artists and has been awarded to Dan Clowes, Neil Gaiman, Alan Moore, Chris Ware and many, many others.

So, in the spirit of the season (HA!) I'm reproducing Eisner's Sunday December 21, 1947 in its entirety below. And maybe I'll sneak another strip or two up here before Santa's sled hits town.

Happy Holidays, everyone!