In this edition of The Full Run, we look over DC Comics’ The Spirit #9, written and drawn by Darwyn Cooke, inked by J. Bone and coloured by Dave Stewart.
Throughout Darwyn Cooke’s run on The Spirit, there has been an ongoing mystery regarding El Morte, the force behind the gang killings that has plagued Central City. And while Cooke has previously revealed El Morte to be former henchman Alvarro Mortez (now spelled Elvarro), issue #9 allows Cooke to fully pull back the curtain on this villain’s origin – from his superhuman strength to his, ahem, unfortunate skin condition. Naturally, Cooke is able to hook the reader by framing El Morte’s origin around yet another shootout that leaves Commissioner Dolan wounded and the Spirit concussed.
The mystery around El Morte is not who he is, but what he is. Although both he and Denny Colt were exposed to the same chemicals that rendered them in suspended animation, Colt regained his faculties while interred in his family crypt. Above ground. Conversely, El Morte was buried six feet under, and therefore his escape may have been possible for the likes of Batman, but for a regular guy this would have been an impossible feat. Cooke doesn’t skirt around this or break the rules (for normal people) of this universe, instead resigning El Morte to a fate that is equally horrifying and fascinating.
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD
Having El Morte awaken from his suspended animation in his coffin underground is genuinely a terrifying happenstance. While this is far from the first time the concept of being buried alive has been breathed live across media (this even happened in the original Spirit origin back in 1940), it is equally effective as Cooke has this circumstance play out as it would in real life. After waking up in his buried coffin, El Morte ends up dying due to lack of air. This does not make El Morte a sympathetic character, but it makes for a fleeting moment of reader unease as empathy is mixed with terror and satisfaction.
But in a twist, Cooke brings a supernatural bent to the series as El Morte’s mother (known as “Mama Mortez”) conjures up a spell to bring her son back to life. This is in keeping with the Eisner tradition, which wasn’t shy in introducing fantastical elements to The Spirit Section, from “The Visitor” and “The Story of Gerhard Shnobble” to Wally Wood’s “The Outer Space Spirit”. Mama Mortez proves to be one of the most vile people in the entire Spirit canon, forcing her daughter-in-law (a comparatively innocent woman) to dig up her son’s grave before slaughtering her so that her blood can be used in the resurrection spell. It’s quite an appalling, yet captivating scenario that unfolds before the reader that this recounting does not give due justice.
For those looking for more than flashbacks, The Spirit #9 does progress the overarching story forward, as at least one of the series’ main characters ends the issue in critical condition. Moreover, Cooke uses the issue to provide some insight into Ebony’s day-to-day life outside of helping his masked friend. It’s genuinely nice to see Ebony in this light as he is rarely portrayed as anything other than The Spirit’s right-hand man. Unfortunately for him, his storyline does eventually collide with the El Morte one, resulting in a shocking final image. The Spirit #9 is another great issue, that sets up what has the making of a great, final confrontation between hero and villain.
