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WILL EISNER (1917-2005) Original Complete
7-page Spirit story
Title/date/description: "King Kwang" dated May 27, 1951 (#574).
It's not your average Central City criminal
gang. In a story obviously influenced by the Korean War
then in progress, we find The Spirit in a small Korean
town taken over by King Kwang and his brigands. The brutish
Kwang (whom Dave Schreiner calls "a cross between
Fred Mertz and Mussolini") ultimately proves
his downfall to being a Mamma's boy. A very striking splash page
with the dramatic logo and even Will Eisner's signature
lettered in a distinctly Asian calligraphy. The art throughout
the story is principally Eisner but most of the detailed backgrounds
are probably by Andre LeBlanc and Klaus Nordling.
Eisner was especially pleased with his
"fluid figure work" on page 6 in reviewing this story
with columnist Tom Heintjes. The typeset headline at the
top of the splash, added at a later date by Eisner for Kitchen
Sink's reprint Spirit series, incorrectly spells the villain's
name as "Wang" (and even Cat Yronwode's otherwise reliable
"Spirit Checklist" repeats this spelling error).
Size/medium/condition: Drawn with brush, pen and ink on Bristol board
15" high by 22" high. The are only two minor paste-ups:
the misspelled "King Wang" typeset headline and the
left side of the train track in panel 6 of page 4, and only tiny
dabs of White-Out. Signed by Eisner on page 1, though not in
his usual trademark style. Overall condition is Excellent.
Provenance: Warranted
to be from the Will Eisner estate, which this agency exclusively
represents.
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