The character of John Law is an interesting footnote in the long career of comics legend Will Eisner. He was created in 1948 and was to 
headline a new comic book as part of Eisner’s independent imprint. Unfortunately, the early sales on his first two comics were not promising, and Eisner elected to stick to his more reliable (and profitable) work on The Spirit. To that end, he took the three John Law stories he had written and reworked them into stories for The Spirit.
At first glance, John Law would appear to be a knock-off of The Spirit. Both figures are brawny, wearing suits and fedoras. However, the characters are wildly different beyond John Law sporting an eyepatch instead of a mask and smoking a pipe while on the job. Whereas The Spirit was a superhero who worked outside the law, John Law was one of the few honest cops in the Crossroads City Police Department. Both men fought colorful criminals, but John Law also had to navigate the corruption of his fellow police officers.
Even so, it was only a twist of fate and a devout archivist that led to John Law seeing the light of day. Eclipse Comics editor Cat Yronwode stumbled across the original John Law proofs while organizing Will Eisner’s archives in 1983. With his permission, she published the three John Law stories as a one-shot comic.
That was all that existed until 2001, when Australian comic creator Gary Chaloner asked Eisner for permission to put his own spin on John Law. This led to a new John Law series, which was originally published as a web comic on the website Modern Tales. It was later published in print by IDW.
Chaloner went beyond writing new John Law tales. He began building a shared universe made up of other obscure Will Eisner creations. For instance, he tweaked John Law’s background a bit, giving him a lost love in the form of socialite Brenda Banks. This was the secret identity of one of Eisner’s detective heroines, Lady Luck. This was not entirely unprecedented, however, as Eisner had given John Law a kid sidekick in the form of another one of his less-popular comedy creations, Nubbin the Shoeshine Boy.
The Collected Will Eisner’s John Law contains all these stories, plus a new John Law story by Chaloner that gives him a new squad of young detectives to mentor. All of them are established Eisner creations and one of them establishes a connection between the worlds of John Law and The Spirit. That alone is enough to make this volume of interest to comics history buffs, and anyone who enjoys shared universes or Noir thrillers. Both Eisner and Chaloner are in fine form and Chaloner truly honors the legacy of his inspiration.
Titan Comics rates this volume 15+ for older teens and adults. I think that is a fair rating. While there’s little in the way of overt violence or bloodshed, one story does feature the shocking death of a child. There’s some suggested sex and teased nudity, including a bit of butt crack when John Law accidentally walks in on Brenda Banks as she’s toweling off after a shower. There’s also a bit of weird horror in some stories that may be a bit much for the easily spooked.
The Collected Will Eisner’s John Law
By Will Eisner, Gary Chaloner
Titan, 2025
ISBN: 9781787745353
Company Age Rating:Â 15+Â
NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+), Older Teen (16-18)
Creator Representation:Â Australian,
