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[The following is an excerpt of a feature I authored for MTV's Splash Page. Here is the full version of the feature. -RM]

Sure, everyone’s been talking about Frank Miller’s “The Spirit,” but this isn’t the first time Will Eisner’s classic character has taken a turn in the live-action medium.

Way back in 1987, screenwriter Steven de Souza was fresh off a pair of genre-defining hits with “48 Hours” and “Commando.” Just before undertaking the project that would become one of his best-known films, “Die Hard,” de Souza wrote and produced a television pilot based on “The Spirit” — the first live-action adaptation of the long-running comic strip. While the series was never picked up, the 74-minute film has lived on as a cult classic of sorts among comic fans.

With Miller’s take on “The Spirit” currently suffering the slings and arrows of early fan critique, MTV News thought it might be interesting to reach out to the writer who first brought “The Spirit” into the live-action world for a chat about Miller’s spin and the task of bringing the character to screens big and small.

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[Head over to MTV's Splash Page for Steven de Souza's thoughts on his 1987 "The Spirit" pilot and Frank Miller's film.]