I was a Sin City booster from the start. I'd read a couple of Frank Miller's graphic novels, and thought Miller and Robert Rodriguez's shot-for-shot film was astonishing to watch. Both have signed on for the sequel, so when I saw a bus stop poster showing Scarlett Johansson's face in black and white with that big red title, I thought, "wait, Sin City 2 is called The Spirit? Isn't there already a comic book called that?"

The answer, yes. Comic master Will Eisner, so influential that awards in the industry are named for him, wrote and drew The Spirit from 1940 to 1952. It's a classic character, and due for another shot at the screen (the 1987 TV movie starring the guy who played Flash Gordon is best forgotten). I'd even say Frank Miller could be a good choice to direct; he's got a great eye, he knows comics like no one else, and he considered Eisner a mentor.

But Eisner's Spirit had its own distinctive, groundbreaking art style. Shouldn't a movie look like that, not like a spinoff of something else? And a lot of what fans loved about the original was its sense of humor, but this looks to be just as dark as Miller's own comics.

The first trailer shows the Spirit running the roofs in that gorgeous high-contrast black and white, his flapping red tie the only splash of color. He ends up standing on huge red letters that spell The Spirit (and look an awful lot like the title font of 300). First, if you had to pick one color for the Spirit, it'd be blue; his blue hat and suit were kind of a trademark. And even the voice over sounds an awful lot like Mickey Rourke's Marv.

The second trailer runs through the movie's long list of femmes fatales, accompanied by dreamy music and slightly odd catch phrases like "Keep the mask on" and "On your knees, then." Eisner as S&M dom, I guess. And at least a little bit like the SC roster: think Goldie, Lucille, Miho, Nancy Callahan ... It feels like Sin City 1.5, a practice run while Miller waits for Rodriguez's schedule to clear up.

The movie, which comes out January 16, 2009, may still be good, and it'll definitely look impressive. But the way Sin City fit the visuals of its source so perfectly, this both misses the style of the Spirit comics and dilutes the impact of Miller and Rodriguez's first movie. When Sin City 2 does roll around, it might not look so spectacular -- and certainly not so original. Fine, it seems to be on hold, but why toss away what the first accomplished on a bad fit with a different comic?

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