After returning to my hotel I showered, changed, and caught a cab down to the Bowery to attend a party for the new film based on Will Eisner's The Spirit, written and directed by Frank Miller. I was very excited, because Will Eisner was a friend and a mentor for over twenty years, and I've been friends with Frank for even longer, almost thirty years (!), and I knew that this was a very big night for Frank.

The party was held on an outdoor terrace, and it was a beautiful night. I spotted Frank immediately. It wasn't too difficult, because he was chatting with Eva Mendes (Sand Saref), who was wearing a revealing leopard-print dress. One of the producers of the film, Deborah Del Prente, was also part of the conversation. Frank was wearing what I think of as his "film director costume" -- black pants, a black shirt with grey stripes, a black jacket, and a black fedora, all accented by a bright-red tie.

A scrum of photographers was standing by, and a few minutes later, at some invisible signal, cameras were raised, and the terrace was ignited with flashes. There were various group shots, and at one point I found myself standing next to Michael Uslan, a producer long associated with the Batman franchise. I asked him why Frank was chosen to write and direct The Spirit.

"I think Frank is just the most perfect choice. Will Eisner was Frank's mentor, and they shared a very close bond. Frank is such a powerful visual storyteller and writer that when you combine that with all Frank learned on making Sin City, there just wasn't anybody else who came close."

Frank was standing beside the Spirit posters, talking with Deborah. I drifted over. Frank suddenly reached out and grabbed me by the elbow. He was grinning like a madman.

"Frank, you look great!" I told him.

"I'm having a blast! I'm drawing again! I started drawing on the set to explain my shots, and I'd do several every day, sometimes just grabbing sheets I'd already used and scribbling on top of the previous image. Diana [Schutz, his editor at Dark Horse] is going to gather some of them up for a book. Some are just doodles on napkins, but some are finished, inked drawings."

"How did you find a balance between your style and Will's?" I asked.

"That was one of the toughest things. It's definitely Will Eisner's The Spirit. You'll see tons of Will's images and designs, and his overall sensibility. But it's my take on Will, and of course it's all enhanced by an amazing team of people working with me. You'll definitely see Will moments, and you'll see some of my moments too. It reflects Will's vision. It's not a period piece, but I am using all the best aspects of the '40's. It's not going to feel old, but it's using the past in an exciting way."

I was curious, so I wondered aloud "Will often told me that the Spirit character was just a vehicle to tell as many different kinds of stories as he could come up with. He never thought of Denny Colt as a real, fully rounded character.

Frank gestured broadly. "When you read all the Spirit stories you start to see that Will had a very clear idea of who the Spirit was. He's an adventurer. He's charming. He has an eye for the ladies. I think he had a woman in every port, and sometimes two in the same port!"

I laughed, and said, "And Will loved to beat him up."

"Oh, my god, you have no idea! We take that even further. We punish the poor guy. There's a scene with the Octopus, and a wrench É well, let's just say we really put the Spirit through his paces."

"Will called him his 'punching bag,'" I said.

"It's true. And he isn't a skilled fighter. He isn't polished. He's clumsy. Sometimes we'd shoot a fight scene with the stunt double, and he'd do a roundhouse kick, and then Gabriel would do it, and it would be a bit awkward. Often I went with Gabriel's take because that's truer to the character. One of my favorite moments is when the Spirit is running up a rooftop, and just as he reaches the peak, he stumbles. It's a lovely moment. Pure Will."

"And he's just as clumsy in his personal life," I offered.

Frank paused. "Well, yes. Of course. And it's a love story, because that's all I do, but it's a mature love story. It's really the story of an affair. He's not technically married to Ellen, but she's the one he always returns to, and she is the one who mends him. And then this extraordinary woman comes into his life and changes everything. She's the great love of his life, and she's beautiful É"

Frank gestured to Eva, who was standing nearby. "Eva is just amazing. A real pleasure to work with, and her onscreen chemistry with Gabriel is amazing."

"Are we going to see other femmes fatales?" I asked.

Frank laughed. "It wouldn't be The Spirit without a few femmes fatales! Let's see, we've got Scarlett Johansson as Silken Floss, Jaime King as Lorelei Rox, Paz Vega as Plaster of Paris, a couple more É"

"What was Sam Jackson like to work with?"

"Sam is a dream. He's very professional, just great to work with. In our first meeting I told him that I needed him to hold his performance down, with the exception of two scenes where I wanted him to explode. And that was it. His performance is so controlled that when he does explode it's just fantastic. The day he wrapped I don't think there was a dry eye on the set."

"Did you feel will's presence on set?"

Frank paused, and in the soft glow of candles, surrounded by the hum of New York, his eyes clouded. "Every day. Every day."

We said our goodbyes. Frank joined a group of people, and he was whisked away out of the party. I stood on the terrace, feeling the pulse of New York, and remembering Will Eisner.

It was quite a night.

m.

read more on Mark's Comicon adventures:

::The New York Comicon 2008- Touchdown and an X-Files scoop!
::The New York Comicon Pt. 2 - Friday- Green Lantern's light