Collected Will Eisner’s John Law
Creators: Will Eisner and Gary Charoner
Forward: Dennis Kitchen
Publisher: Titan Comic
Publication date: March 2025
As for Will Eisner, there are, of course, two texts that tower above the others. The first is the covenant with God, Eisner’s inventive graphic novel riff on Job’s books, through the lens of the Jewish community in New York City. The second is a more pulp-oriented spirit, predicted by John Law. I grew up reading the latter stories from collected hardcovers held by my local libraries. I really love Denny Colt’s traditional noir story and the gangster tales that play against the mysterious octopus.
But for my money, the best spirit story was the personal story of Lowkey. What always comes to mind is someone who believed they could fly. So we decided to take his luck down and prove that he can jump and fly from the best skyscrapers in town. And to his surprise, he can. Unfortunately, the spirit was in the midst of a shootout in the area, and poor Schmack was a secondary loss.
I nurture this because of the historical influence on John Law. Mostly, through the lens of this long, unprinted piece, we can see much of what becomes a spirit. Of course, this is one of the subjects of the essays in the collection, written as a bridge between Eisner’s original story and Gary Charoner’s work with the characters. But even without the essay, it becomes very clear in the first storyline, featuring the character that returns to Sand Salev, which is unchanged within the Spirit page.
The similarities between the two comics are very clear. So it’s pointless to talk about all of them. But what I think is important is the core difference. Mostly, John Law feels a bit straighter and more. There is something strange about the spirit that makes him an attractive character to follow. Meanwhile, John Law is another cop, but has an eye patch.
That’s not to say that Eisner or Sharoner’s work is bad. The works on Eisner’s side are immediately cartoonish and shocking, and the use of Sharoner’s panels is worthy of a man approved by Eisner himself to continue his work in forgotten history. And there are works with Titan comics placed in the restoration of these comics. The shadow works in particular are truly spectacular.
But at the same time, this can feel like it doesn’t pan out. Perhaps the angle was discovered. It further boosts the work in line with the second draft, which was the spirit or novel desire of AIZNER’s covenant with God. But we don’t live in that world. So, while not bad, this collection remains more for scholars than a typical comic audience.
Collected Will Eisner’s John Law is currently available via Titan Comics
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