The Spirit

12/9/2025

**_Frank Miller’s campy, tedious version of the pulp hero_** Will Eisner’s The Spirit debuted in 1940 and was obviously influenced by The Shadow, Dick Tracy and, especially, Batman. Shot in late 2007, this movie version of the character is decidedly Miller’s rendition wherein he meshes Eisner’s hero with “Sin City,” which turned off purists of the comic. Yet film versions of heroes from comics and other mediums (radio, literature) are always alternative renditions. For instance, John Milius’ “Conan the Barbarian” with Schwarzenegger is similar to Robert E. Howard’s sword & sorcery hero and features bits taken from several of the stories, but it definitely deviates from REH’s yarns. Or take the movies “Batman & Robin” and “Batman Begins,” which are both based on the comics’ character,