Ellen Dolan (comics)

Dr. Ellen Dolan
Publication information
Publisher	The Kitchen Sink
First appearance	June 9, 1940
Created by	Will Eisner

Dr. Ellen Dolan is a fictional character from the comic book The Spirit, by cartoonist Will Eisner. She first appeared in The Spirit in March 1944. Ellen is the daughter of Police Commissioner Eustace Dolan.

Ellen Dolan first appeared in the second Spirit tale, dated June 9, 1940. The Spirit literally bumped into her and her fiance, Homer Creep, whilst sharing a taxi which is being driven by Ebony White. In this story Ellen was still in college while the two went to visit her father, Commissioner Dolan. She asked her father if she could look through the mental ward to see some actual cases in preparation for an upcoming Psychology exam she had.

As she and Homer were looking at the different patients, Dr Cobra (who was recently apprehended thanks to The Spirit) got their attention. He claimed to be a great scientist and the police were always arresting him just as he was about to complete a major experiment. He asked them to have pity and help him escape. The naive Ellen agreed to help him, not realizing what a danger he actually was. Dr. Cobra had some men waiting for him outside and they quickly made way to one of his hideouts.

When the Commissioner realized his daughter was missing, he put his men on the case to search for her. The Spirit was listening in and agreed to help search for her. Forcing a thug to tell them where Dr. Cobra's hideout was, the Spirit was able to defeat Dr. Cobra again and save Ellen and Homer.

The Commissioner invited the Spirit to a dinner in honor of Ellen's announcement of becoming engaged to Homer. The Spirit decided to give her a gift. He gave her a make-over (which simply involved removing her glasses and loosening her hair). Homer was amazed at her hidden beauty. The Spirit then claimed his reward for saving Ellen, a reward that consisted of a passionate kiss. That kiss was enough to make Ellen reconsider her engagement.

As Ellen's character developed, she soon became fixated with winning the heart of the Spirit. She would cause situations that required the Spirit to save her in order to attract his attention.

From becoming someone who is prone to fainting when confronted with murder or monsters, Ellen becomes more inquisitive - and it is more likely that she will be the one doing the punching rather than being knocked out herself. She became more forthright and it was not atypical for her to tie up the Spirit or have a downright blazing argument with him if it would help her. And despite the Spirit's hesitations to commit, their relationship developed into a strong one over the years. On many occasions while lapsing into unconsciousness he would mutter "Ellen... " much to her delight and the annoyance of her competition.

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