Even the greats don’t hit a home run every time at bat. The character of John Law is a prime example of this. Created by the legendary Will Eisner, John Law was a detective hero who was cursed to obscurity before he got his shot at stardom. Now, the forgotten hero is getting his time in the spotlight, thanks to a new collection published by Titan Comics.
John Law was originally created in 1948. Visually, the character bears a strong resemblance to the most famous creation of Will Eisner, The Spirit. Both are big and brawny, with Law distinguished by his eyepatch and trademark pipe. However, apart from their physicality, the two characters were quite different. While The Spirit was a vigilante, John Law was an honest cop. Despite this distinction, Eisner reworked most of his John Law stories into The Spirit tales, rather than try and sell his creation elsewhere. One of the more notable additions was Sand Serif, a femme fatale in The Spirit, who was originally John Law’s love interest.
How John Law was saved from obscurity
John Law finally made his comics debut in 1983 at Eclipse Comics. Editor Cat Yronwode discovered the first story among Will Eisner’s art files. With his permission, she published the story as a one-shot comic; Will Eisner’s John Law, Detective. Two decades later, Gary Chaloner published his own John Law stories at IDW. These reboot comics teamed John Law with other Eisner creations, including Mr. Mystic and Lady Luck.
Titan Comics’ The Collected Will Eisner’s John Law will collect both the original Eisner story and the Chaloner comics. It will also contain a new John Law story that has never been published anywhere before. Finally, the collection will contain a foreword by long-time Eisner publisher Denis Kitchen.
Nine pages from The Collected Will Eisner’s John Law may be viewed below.
The Collected Will Eisner’s John Law arrives in comic shops everywhere on March 4, 2025.
