Okay, this has been really bothering me so I thought I'd revisit this thread. Look, here's the deal, guys: most of you non-comic junkies and geeks will know anything about The Spirit. And there's nothing wrong with that. The Spirit is Denny Colt. He's a cop who is knocked unconscious by a bad guy's experimental nerve gas (this was the 40s, folks) and is buried because he appears to be dead. He "returns from the dead" and realizes that a man who is considered legally dead has the best secret identity of all. He adds a simple domino mask to his standard 40s attire (fedora, trenchcoat, suit) and fights crime with his fists, his brains, and his heart. Denny Colt is the original comic book everyman. Forget Peter Parker; Colt is the one who can really be identified with. He bleeds, he gets his ass kicked often. But he perseveres because of his willingness to succeed. This is what makes him the "spirit" of his city, and it's his fighting "spirit" that makes him a hero. Frank Miller (the douchebag whose work has been overrated by literary snobs who only think good comic books are those that deconstruct what comic books are) took The Spirit and made him into a guy who can jump great distances and who has a Wolverine-like ability to withstand injury. This is like making a Superman movie that requires Superman to use a car and not fly. The Spirit is a great character who sadly will not see the proper exposure he deserves because of a shitty movie made by a man with very little creative horizons, a one-trick pony who cannot get beyond "Sin City." Please, go and read these comics. Those of you who laugh at traditional superheroes and comic books in general will be pleasantly surprised, entertained, and then disgusted with this film.
