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Spirit, The #10
Released by: Dynamite Entertainment
Released on: May 4th, 2016.
Written by: Matt Wagner
Illustrated by: Dan Schkade
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Sachet Spice holds in her hand, on the very first page of this tenth issue, a note warning her not to get in the way of whomever has sent it to her, as this person is going to eliminate The Spirit once and for all. She makes a phone call and tells the person on the other end to proceed immediately.
Meanwhile, Sammy Strunk and Ebony White are driving around town hoping to come up with something, anything, that might be a clue as to who shot Dolan. They wind up at a club called The Jive Spot where they talk to Hinky Havens, a bookie and a fence with ties to the criminal underworld. Sammy has to wait outside, however - this is a black club, white folks aren't really so welcome here. White meets with Hinky and after White gives him the description Hinky identities the guy as Pinky Fingers. He also warns him - this guy is seriously dangerous.
On the other side of town, The Spirit is venting - he can't find Sachet Spice anywhere in town. He heads over to talk to Ellen, sees that her dad is doing ok all things considered but still needs lots of rest after the failed assassination attempt. She's none too keen on helping The Spirit find another woman but she does she can and asks him if he remembers a specific perfume from the time she was his captor. He does, and then just like that he's off to Madame Fumet's Perfumery to try and ID the scent in hopes that she might remember someone who bought a bottle recently.
While all of this is going on, we learn that Pinky Fingers is still around, and that he's still very dangerous indeed. KABOOM!
The Spirit's attempts to get closer to Mikado Vaas continue in this issue but he seems to be running into one wall after another. Nothing can be easy for a masked detective - if he's not losing track of foxy female captors his sanctum comes under attack or this closing in on Pinky goes horribly wrong. Hey, at least the poor guy got to smell all that perfume and make a new friend out of Madame Fumet, and hey, at least Dolan isn't dead… yet. Maybe there's hope yet. But by the time we get to the end of this issue it really doesn't seem that way, even if Strunk and White prove to be coming along nicely with their detective skills.
The Wagner and Schkade team continues to fire on all cylinders. The pulpy storytelling, period dialogue and quirky characters are all handled really well. Wagner very clearly holds Eisner's original stories and style in high regard, as while he doesn't ape it and does plenty to put his own spin on things, he definitely uses it as a very clear influence. There's respect for the past with this series, but plenty of fresh ideas and concepts at work as well - it finds the right balance. Schkade's artwork is excellent as always, great use of shadows, a real knack for drawing action and a good eye for working in the humor that plays a part in Wagner's scripts. Another really solid issue, again complimented nicely by Brennan Wagner's coloring and with yet another excellent Eric Powell cover.
