This significant DC Archives volume gains immediate interest, unhappily, because of its author-artist's recent death at 87. Eisner was a towering figure in the comics world, active to the end (the field's foremost annual achievement awards are named Eisners after him). Libraries may be more partial to his later graphic novels depicting Jewish life in America, but the Spirit strips are his seminal work, displaying the innovative layouts, noirish illustration style, and slam-bang plots that influence other artists to this day.