spirit of the times

One of the joys of this time of year is the (semi-annual?) sale at Alternate Worlds, in Chapel St, Windsor. Due to money and space considerations (specifically, a shortage of both!), I don't buy many books any more, but I can't resist checking out the shelves at AW when the sale is on.

I browsed for a considerable time, over two visits, last Saturday. I was just about to leave the store empty-handed, having successfully convinced myself that I neither needed, nor could afford, to buy anything, when, during a last sweeping glance around, my eyes were drawn to a set of volumes on the bottom shelf of a case half-obscured by a table.

It was a complete run of Will Eisner's Spirit Archives, reprinting every Spirit story published in the original run from 1940 - 1952, in 26 beautifully printed hardcover volumes.

Due to the cost of each volume, I owned exactly none of them. But now, they were being offered at 20% off... a bargain I couldn't resist!

I browsed though all 26 volumes, before making my choice, of Vol. 13 (reprinting stories from the second half of 1946). And I've been immersing myself in the gorgeous art, clever stories and brilliant characters ever since. These are grade A, timeless comic stories... the cream of the art form.

I know now that I won't be able to stop at just one... and the sale is on until Friday!