''Mr. Mystic'' is a comics series featuring a magician crime-fighter, created by

Will Eisner William Erwin Eisner ( ; March 6, 1917 – January 3, 2005) was an American cartoonist, writer, and entrepreneur. He was one of the earliest cartoonists to work in the American comic book industry, and his series '' The Spirit'' (1940–1952) wa ...

and initially drawn by

Bob Powell Bob Powell (né Stanley Robert Pawlowski; While gives Stanislav Pavlowsky, and gives Stanislav Pavlowsky, Bails and Ware note: "family name corrected by his son, Seth R. Powell July 2006." October 6, 1916

. The strip featured in four-page backup feature a Sunday-newspaper

comic-book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and written narrative, ...

insert, known colloquially as "The Spirit Section". It first appeared in 1940, distributed by the

Register and Tribune Syndicate The Register and Tribune Syndicate was a Print syndication, syndication service based in Des Moines, Iowa, that operated from 1922 to 1986, when it was acquired by King Features to become the Cowles Syndicate affiliate. At its peak, the Register a ...

.Mr. Mystic
at

Don Markstein's Toonopedia Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...

br>Archived
from the original on March 10, 2016. Mr. Mystic, whose

alter ego An alter ego (Latin for "other I") means an alternate Self (psychology), self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original Personality psychology, personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other ...

was an American diplomat named Ken, gained his

superpowers Superpower describes a sovereign state or supranational union that holds a dominant position characterized by the ability to exert influence and project power on a global scale. This is done through the combined means of economic, military, tec ...

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

, where he was chosen by the mysterious Council of Seven Lamas to fight against evil. The council gives him a tattoo of an arcane symbol on his forehead, and he dresses in

stage magician Stage, stages, or staging may refer to: Arts and media Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly Brit ...

clothing: a business suit, with a cape and

turban A turban (from Persian language, Persian دولبند‌, ''dolband''; via Middle French ''turbant'') is a type of headwear based on cloth winding. Featuring many variations, it is worn as customary headwear by people of various cultures. Commun ...

. Among his abilities were the power to transform into animals and to grow to giant or minute sizes.Mr. Mystic
at Wildwood Cemetery: The Spirit Database
WebCitation archive
After receiving these gifts, he returns to the United States to fight crime.

Publication history

Along with the series ''

Lady Luck Lady Luck, a personification of luck, may refer to: Fiction and mythology * Fortuna, in Roman mythology, goddess of fortune * Tyche, in Greek mythology, goddess of fortune * Lady Luck (comics), a character created by Will Eisner Film * ''L ...

'', the ''Mr. Mystic'' strip followed the seven-page lead feature '' The Spirit'' in a 16-page, tabloid-sized, newsprint comic book sold as part of eventually 20 Sunday newspapers with a combined circulation of as many as five million copies. "The Spirit Section" premiered on June 2, 1940 and continued through 1952. In 1941, Mr. Mystic had a sharp-tongued fiancee, FBI agent Penny Douglas. Later on, he took on a comedy sidekick named Chowderhead. Fred Guardineer filled in for Powell on the strip for three weeks in October 1943, but Powell resumed the strip and continued until its end on May 14, 1944. Unlike the newspaper series ''The Spirit'' or ''Lady Luck'', ''Mr. Mystic'' was not later reprinted in standard comic books by publisher

Quality Comics Quality Comics was an American comic book publishing Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, ...

, and considered the least successful, it was the first of the three series to end. During the 1970s and 80s, several ''Mr. Mystic'' stories were reprinted in the black-and-white

magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

''The Spirit'', during the

Kitchen Sink Press Kitchen Sink Press was a comic book publishing company founded by Denis Kitchen in 1970. Kitchen Sink Press was a pioneering publisher of underground comics, and was also responsible for numerous republications of classic comic strips in hardcov ...

portion of the magazine's run. In 1990,

Eclipse Comics Eclipse Comics was an American comic book publisher, one of several independent publishers during the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1978, it published the first graphic novel intended for the newly created comic book store, comic book specialty stor ...

published a one-shot comic book reprinting the first five ''Mr. Mystic'' stories. Mr. Mystic also appears as a regular character in ''Will Eisner's John Law: Dead Man Walking'' (2004, IDW), a collection of stories that features new adventures by writer/artist Gary Chaloner. The book features other Eisner creations including ''

'', John Law and Nubbin, the Shoe Shine Boy.

Quotes

References

External links

"Will Eisner's The Spirit"
* (featuring Mr. Mystic) {{Will Eisner 1940 comics debuts 1944 comics endings Comics about magic Comics by Will Eisner Crime comics Eclipse Comics titles Fiction about size change Kitchen Sink Press titles Therianthropy