Broken Frontier

When the colorful villains of Eisner’s Central City convene with Gotham City’s rogues to target Commissioners Dolan and Gordon only The Spirit and Batman can save the day.

Before the influential Will Eisner passed away, he set in motion plans to return one of his most famous creations, The Spirit, to comic book stands. Now, the first salvo has been fired and what better way to reintroduce The Spirit than with a team-up with one of DC’s most well-known heroes – Batman. These two fictional detectives may have a lot in common, but they have their differences as well...

Commissioner James Gordon pays a visit to his old friend, Commissioner Dolan of Central City. These two warhorses find themselves remembering an event of the past – a secret they share... of the one time The Spirit worked with the Batman. Some of the biggest villains of both Central City and Gotham are gathering in Hawaii for a summit. Also meeting in Hawaii, however, is the Policeman’s Benevolent Association. Of course, the criminals have nefarious plans for the police in their midst and two of those specifically targeted are Dolan and Gordon. In their separate and respective methods, The Spirit and Batman uncover the plot and from there it is a race to see if these two crime fighters can manage to work together to save the lives of their friends and capture their combined enemies.

Comics like this one are really more "events" than anything else. Fans have become accustomed to the routine – the two heroes meet, they fight, then they team up. It should come as no surprise that writer Jeph Loeb does not do anything to break that traditional mold. Regrettably, there are also some plot holes and a few places where the reasoning behind the villains’ actions is thin. Loeb taps back into the Batman TV series from the 1960’s as well for some of Robin’s dialogue and the results are painful. Counterbalancing this, though, are some honestly charming moments. Loeb manages to neatly contrast The Spirit’s contradictory lighthearted toughness with Batman’s dark and brooding nature. Loeb seems to do a bit better with The Spirit’s dialogue than with Batman’s, which is ironic considering that Loeb has written Batman before but never written for The Spirit.

The real star of this issue, however, is Darwyn Cooke’s pencils. Although Cooke’s style is different from Eisner’s it shares a look that is somehow old fashioned and modern at the same time. The art is expressive, warm, and just downright charming throughout. In fact, one can actually follow the story beautifully without ever even reading a single word of dialogue. This issue really has me looking forward to the upcoming Spirit ongoing title that Cooke will be writing as well as providing the art for.

As a kind of "once in a lifetime" comic, the Batman/The Spirit one-shot is a pretty fair tale. Its true value though, lies in the evocative art. Two heroes, two cities, and two worlds meet and clash. In the end, to the victor go the spoils.