Who is the Spectre? Well, the Spectre was a fallen angel named Aztar who had participated in Lucifer's rebellion against heaven, but ended up regretting it and repented. As part of his penance, he would serve as an embodiment of God's anger. But he needed a human spirit to guide him. Enter James "Jim" Corrigan. A police officer who was murdered by criminals. They stuffed him into a barrel of cement and tossed him into a body of water. His spirit would be chosen to guide Aztar, and they would work together as The Spectre for years.
Being one of DC's oldest characters, he understandably has a very long history. He was one of the members of the first superhero team: The Justice Society of America. He would be revived with the rest of the JSA in the 1960s. The 1970s saw him get some stories in Adventure Comics by writer Michael Fleicher and artist Jim Aparo that would be seen as controversial for the gruesome punishments the Ghostly Guardian would hand out to criminals.
In 1986, there was a series planned for the Spectre, to be written by Steve Gerber and drawn by Gene Colan. However, Gerber missed the deadline because he was visiting the set of Howard the Duck's cinematic debut, which was on its last day of shooting. As a result, DC cancelled it. He would get a self-titled series under the pen of Doug Moench, which lasted 31 issues. This series recast Jim Corrigan as an occult-leaning private detective.
This comic I'll be looking at is the first issue of his 1992 series, which was written by John Ostrander and featured art by Tom Mandrake. It was his third solo series. Ostrander was a good fit for the Spectre, as he was a former theology student. During his run, he would put the Wrath of God in complex moral situations and also re-examined James Corrigan, the man bound to the angel.
And I figured...hey, it's October, Halloween is coming up, what better time for the Spirit of Vengeance to get spotlighted here on this little blog? Let's take a look at The Spectre #1!
The cover is pretty awesome. A Tom Mandrake piece, you got the Spectre standing in front of a pile of skeletons, and behind him there's more skeletons forming a giant skull. It's awesome and creepy. Perfect for a Spectre cover. I love it! Evidently, I heard this cover had a "glow-in-the-dark" gimmick. That's really neat. I can imagine how it would look in the dark, the Spectre's body glowing like that. So creepy.
"Crimes of Violence"
Writer: John Ostrander
Artist: Tom Mandrake
Inker: Tom Mandrake
Colorist: Digital Chameleon
Letterer: Todd Klein
Editor: Dan Raspler
Executive Editor: Jenette Khan
The story begins with Jim Corrigan walking towards a hospital.
In a nice nod, it's known as the "Siegel-Baily General Hospitals". Get it? Because Jerry Siegel and Bernard Baily created the Spectre, as I said earlier. He's looking for a man, a man named Louis Snipe. And said Mr. Snipe happens to be a patient at this very hospital.
In the hospital ward Mr. Snipe is staying at, we meet a nice woman named Amy Beitermann. She's a social worker who is helping another patient with some forms. She closes the curtain around Snipe's bed, giving the sleeping old man something resembling privacy. A voice wakes him up, and the Spectre appears over the old man.
Jim Corrigan used to bust him...before his death fifty years earlier. Yeah, this was from 1992. They shoved him a barrel of cement and tossed him into the river. Evidently, they felt cement shoes were cliché. Corrigan wants Snipe to remember this. Corrigan is a tired man. For fifty years, he's confronted evil, and...the world has only seemed to get worse. More evil acts, more kinds of evil acts. He is convinced Snipe may know, and wants answers. However, Amy Beitermann finds Corrigan, so he decides to leave.
Beitermann introduces herself, saying she overheard him, and offers to help him out. Corrigan turns it down, saying his problem is beyond therapy. She notes that he's the way she likes 'em: cute and weird. She then spots him out on the street, wondering how he got down there so fast. She witnesses a drive-by. Corrigan is hit, but the bullets seem to not only pass through him, but he vanishes in green smoke.
The shooters drive away, only to encounter the Spectre peeking out of the street. They drive into his mouth, and end up...in space.
Criminals! In Spaaaaaaaace! However, the shooters wake up, thinking it was just a dream...or was it?
Yup, they got grafted to the Spectre's fingers. The embodiment of God's Wrath lecture them about how they brought death with no remorse. Their weapons and drugs brought pain, and it does not bother them. So, he's going to give them some of his own idea of karmic retribution. The Spectre creates a syringe and injects himself in the arm, causing the shooters to burn alive. They ended up in their overturned car...yeah, it's weird. The Spectre seems to get into a bit of a funk about it.
Amy runs out, curious and confused. She notes that an old friend has arrived.
Meet Inspector Nate Kane, policeman. No relation to Kate Kane, so don't ask him. She asks him about a Jim Corrigan, thinking that he may have had a dad or grandfather who was a cop. Kane recalls there was a detective named Corrigan, who had left the force and became a private detective, specializing in the occult. This is a nod to his previous solo series. She wonders if he's still in business, but Kane has no idea.
Elsewhere in town, a pair of men are leaving an office building after working late. One of the men, a young up-and-comer named Danny Trofft, buys some flowers and heads to an apartment. Young Mr. Trofft has a date tonight. However, his date seems to think his name is Eddie. How odd. She takes his flowers and puts them in a vase. She tells him there's something he needs to know. However, he assures her that he knows everything he needs to know about her...while coming at her with a knife.
I'm guessing he was adopted, and his birth name was Bateman. That night, The Spectre visits Snipe, wanting to know why they are the way they are. Corrigan was a ruthless, violent cop back when he was alive. Why? The Spectre intends to find out...by going into Snipe's soul.
He finds himself inside a twisted city, the way Snipe remembers it. He also discovers that he's Jim Corrigan again. He then gets ambushed by Snipe. Corrigan finds himself in a familiar pickle.
Corrigan finds himself reliving his death, but he wondering why Snipe is here. After all, Snipe was just some informant, a snitch. He wasn't even there when he was killed. However, Snipe has a secret: He was the reason Corrigan was killed. He gave the cop a tip that led to his death by cement barrel. Corrigan wants answers. He knew Snipe's family. They were good, decent, God-fearing people...except for him. Why?
Snipe then goes into a rant about how being good gets you nowhere in life, how his father got fired when he couldn't work anymore, how they were poor despite all of it, his brother dying in the war (presumably WWII),and he starts ranting about how rich kids were able to get out of fighting. Basically, Snipe has become a nihilist. He believes nothing matters, and there is no point in doing good or caring about others. There's also no Heaven or Hell, as far as he is concerned. You just get suckered in the end. So, best to sucker everyone you can. However, Corrigan does disagree with him on one thing.
The Spectre tells Snipe that the afterlife does exist, and he will face justice. However, Snipe is quick to remind the Spectre that this is his soul, and as such, it's his turf. He tries to shoot at the Spectre, but it's no good. Keep in mind, Jim Corrigan is already dead. Not one to give up or learn from anything, Snipe keeps on shooting. Spectre points out that this "city" is burning. His body is dying, and his soul is nothing but a black hole. The Angel of Vengeance shows this by forming a pair of his own guns, and shooting a hole in Snipe. The hole sucks the man inside, Snipe realizing the Spectre was right. He's sucked into the hole, screaming to be filled. The Spectre is nearly caught in it, but manages to escape.
He flees Snipe's now dead body. He had always suspected Snipe's role in his death, and he wanted to be sure. The story ends with James Corrigan lamenting that even though all his killers are now dead, he is still not at rest.
This issue was pretty awesome. It was neat seeing Jim Corrigan's origin explored a bit more. I also liked the twist of Corrigan not finding any rest or freedom after Snipe dies. Helps foreshadow the general theme of the series. Things are going to get murky. I also liked the serial killer plotline setting up, and the nod at his previous status quo. Gives us an ongoing threat for the Spectre, and helps us feel like the transition is more natural. Tom Mandrake's art is so perfect for the Spectre. It gives that creepy, moody vibe that is a good fit for the character and the darker tone of his stories. I also liked the comic's use of panel shapes and placement to indicate mood and motion in places.
All in all, I recommend this comic. If you want to read it for yourself, I recommend picking up the 2014 trade paperback The Spectre Vol. 1: Crimes and Judgements. It's a great read for Halloween. Next time, we keep the Halloween spirit going with Spider-Man as two of his supporting cast make their way through the Inferno...
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