Genre art must follow very specific rules. With noir, the art needs to reflect the dark, ominous tone of the story. Moritat, ongoing artist of THE SPIRIT, has done a superb job of capturing writer David Hine’s mysterious characters and storylines. We caught up with him and touched base on everything from Facebook chat to how he got involved with the series to how he turns scripts into the stunning art in the pages of THE SPIRIT:

On the tools he uses:

Chris Conroy told me that a Japanese brush maker by the name Kimitake Hiraoka makes a pretty good inking brush. He had also told me that several creators were using these brushes and that they were getting really good fan responses. I flew to Japan and sought out Hiraoka sensei. It turned out to be one of those 'wait in front of the temple until you were ready' or were 'pure in mind' scenarios. I'm not into all of that Eastern philosophy stuff. But, there were these cute Japansese girls who were working on their manga waiting and praying out front. So, I hung out with them and creeped in with them … when they were ready.

On how he got involved in the series:

A few years ago, I was catching the train at Broadway Junction to come into the city. Will Eisner walks up and we started talking. He said, “you should come work for me.” I said, “I would love to.” We talked a few times, but then I got drafted and I went off to Vietnam. So, it's a pleasure to finally work with Mr. Eisner.

On how he turns script pages into art:

I print out the script. I place each page around me and meditate on the meaning. I boil down certain words that come to me in my subconscious. When I feel ready, I ride my motorcycle very fast at night until it finally clicks in a cohesive artistic pattern that I am comfortable with. Sometimes I can't find the meaning. I confer with Joey Cavalieri and Dave Hine until I get maybe 90%. It's not a perfect process but I'm getting it to where it works.

On how panels are arranged:

Ladronn arranges most everything. I then convince Rob Leigh to draw for me … while I chat on Facebook.

On the noir genre:

I love the noir genre. It is the field I fancy. The characters are flawed. They carry around some kind of hidden shame. There is something wrong with these people. The environment is barely hanging on. A few steps away from post-apocalyptic hell. The color has been washed away or moved to the suburbs. Gabe Bautista, the colorist on THE SPIRIT, would call me some nights and complain that working on noir was too depressing for him and that he had to quit (he lives in the suburbs). I would spend hours lying to him that it was going to get better.

THE SPIRIT #13 hits stores this Wednesday.

I eagerly anticipate the next issues of Green Lantern, Action, Detective and Brightest Day each month as much as the next guy, but I'll take a few paragraphs here to talk about a book that's quietly snuck its way to the top of my read pile each week it's been released.

For the past nine issues of the series, David Hine and Moritat not only created a comic that captures the spirit (no pun intended) of what makes the The Spirit fun, but also a series that's very accessible to comic fans who haven't been lucky enough to read all of Will Eisner's original Spirit (I'm about 1/3rd of my way into that epic undertaking myself, courtesy of a pile of The Spirit Archives volumes tracked down around the office.)

And if that weren't enough, I'd be remiss not to talk about the great black & white co-features by guest creators that make up the back of each issue.

I mean, we had a Harlan Ellison and Kyle Baker co-feature story a few issues back. HARLAN ELLISON. Really, the talent they round up to do those second stories is pretty sick. Walt Simonson and Jordi Bernet. Joe Strnad and Richard Corben. Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso. David Lapham and Michael WM. Kaluta. Marv Wolfman and Phil Winslade. Denny O'Neil and Bill Sienkiewicz. Michael Uslan, FJ DeSanto and Justiniano. This issue's co-feature is by Paul Dini and Mike Ploog. That's a group of creators that you'd be really hard-pressed to beat in just one year's worth of a single monthly comic title.

Et tu? Are you reading The Spirit? Which co-feature's been your favorite?

THE SPIRIT #9 is in stores today.

It's quite rare in this day and age for me to get excited about the artwork in a particular comic book story. It happened to me when I saw my first Golden Age Captain America comic as Joe Simon and Jack Kirby's art tore through panel borders and leaped directly at me. I witnessed it in those nine panel cinematic pages by Steve Ditko in the '60's. I was shaken up by it when I bought Spectre #2 in the Silver Age and saw the work of some guy named Neal Adams who then continued to push the envelope of graphic story-telling through his every Deadman page. I was captivated by it when Jim Steranko took comic book art to an entirely different level in SHIELD and Captain America.

And right now this very minute, I'm looking at the third issue of THE SPIRIT and am dazzled by some of the best and most contemporary graphic story-telling I have seen in decades. I can't help but get excited. I believe that I have seen the next super-star in the comic book industry and his name is Justiniano. His design and art in our "Spirit Black & White" story, "Fifteen Minutes of Fame," (yes, today's salute to Will's "Ten Minutes") shows not simply what he is capable of using black and white to its natural artistic maximum, but that he is my Neal Adams- Jim Steranko break-through artist of 2010.

I discovered how special a talent he was when he illustrated our three issue "Spirit" story arc a year ago and, since then, while he's been drawing... innovating, actually... this story for SPIRIT #3. The last time I worked with an artist like this was when I did "The Question" with Alex Toth, a story also in black and white that wound up in the hardback DC Archives book, ACTION HEROES ARCHIVES, Volume 2.

Fellow fan-boys, I really want to bring to your attention this man's work. Fans who vote for the yearly big awards in the comic book industry should not overlook his black and white gem. His name is Justiniano and he's one damn good artist.

Starting today, the Spirit returns in an all-new ongoing series from writer Mark Schultz and artist Moritat. Central City destroys everyone who lives within its borders, so it's a good thing The Spirit's already experienced being dead, huh?

The international crime syndicate known as The Golden Tree wants to help the devious Octopus consolidate his control over the underworld and the Spirit is the kind of mess the evil conglomerate was created to clean up. What chance does the vigilante have against one of The Golden Tree's deadliest assassins? Guess we'll find out...

THE SPIRIT #1 hits today.

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