Comics Fondle

Commissioner Dolan is sleeping at home, preparing for his poker night with some other policemen, when a loud crash wakes him. He discovers Niechevo, the great Siberian sleuth, with mule, in his living room. Niechevo is looking for the Siberian Dagger, which Dolan thinks gangster “Morgue” Mason has in his possession. However, Niechevo has Mason in his possession and no dagger. Elsewhere, the Spirit and Ellen are being held by Mason’s men, looking for the dagger. To stop the Spirit’s beating, Ellen tells the gangsters it’s at her father’s and they leave the pair. At Dolan’s, Orcha Chornya, a female Russian Secret Service agent, arrives looking for the dagger as well. Mason’s men, fresh from torturing the Spirit, arrive, only to be apprehended by the Russians. Then a third Russian–Murmansk Manny–arrives. Orcha is convinced he has the dagger, but he says he can’t get it for her. Dejected, she and Niechevo leave–only after she comes on a little to a beguiled Dolan. The Spirit and Ellen are still getting free of their bindings–Ellen’s delaying the process with some kissing–and they come across one of Mason’s men, who provides the Spirit with the files necessary to put the gangster behind bars. Exhausted, Dolan, the Spirit and Ellen later wake to noises in the kitchen. They discover Manny eating some soup, getting ready to return to Siberia to give the dagger to Orcha. Problematically, the dagger is in Manny’s back–where Orcha herself threw it–and Manny considers her too much of a lady to ask her to extract it. Dolan informs the Spirit and Ellen not to ask….

It’s a goofy little diversion, concentrating more on the Russian guest-stars than anyone else. Eisner has a lot of fun drawing the characters and the incredibly surreal story at Dolan’s plays like the commissioner might have had a bit of the rarebit.

The Spirit and Ellen’s adventure is a little less amusing, but still real funny in its own way. The best is when she forces herself on him (with kisses) and his protests turn into a state of delirium. Eisner also has a lot more going on, art-wise, with them. There’s a great moment with the Spirit biting off Ellen’s ropes.

In contrast, the scenes with the Russians are frantic and full. Dolan collapses into an exhausted heap (exhaustion is a frequent theme in Dagger). The story at Dolan’s is also real complex–there are two “cases” running through the story, the dagger and Mason. Except Eisner introduces Mason with the dagger, so he seems like a dependent on that element, but he’s really not. There’s a lot to figure out in the story… maybe I’m just tired.

The close, on the other hand, is a lot of fun.

collected in “The Spirit Archives: Volume 12” (Will Eisner)

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