The Spectre is the name of several antiheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The original versions of the character first debuted in More Fun Comics #52 (February 1940); the original incarnation was created by Jerry Siegel and Bernard Baily although some sources attribute creator credit solely to Siegel, limiting Baily to the artist assigned to the feature.Greenberger, Bob, "Of Ghostly Guardians and Resurrections," The Spectre (vol. 2) #1 (April 1987), DC Comics, ("letter" column).Thomas, Roy, "Secrets Behind the Origins Dept.", Secret Origins (vol. 2) #15 (June 1987) DC Comics (sidebar to letter column, second page).Bails, Jerry, "Foreword", The Golden Age Spectre Archives Volume 1, 2003, DC Comics, p. 6.
The Spectre is the divine embodiment of the Presence's (God in Abrahamic religions) divine wrath whose true identity is Aztar, a fallen angel who once rebelled against God. Aztar sought forgiveness before being granted the role. While Aztar possessed power making him the most powerful being in the DC Universe, he proved too vengeful and was decreed to be bound by a human spirit in inspiration to Jesus Christ's (an incarnation of forgiveness), assisting him in judging transgressions and determining suitable punishments, often delivered in harsh but creatively ironic manners. James "Jim" Corrigan serves as the primary and most well-known human host, being a hardboiled New York City detective who became the Spectre in the mid-20th century following his murder at the hands of a mobster, his spirit resurrected as his host before getting both his revenge and continuing his divine mission in spite of his baser human impulses, moderating his vengeful tendencies and becoming a key charter member of the Justice Society of America in the 1940s.
Other versions of the Spectre in mainstream continuity includes Hal Jordan, who became the new host Spectre in 2001 after Corrigan severed himself from the Spectre for a time to redeem himself after his actions as Parallax, becoming a force of redemption until 2004. Crispus Allen, a recently murdered Gotham City detective, became the host of the Spectre in 2006 until the events of the Flashpoint event and subsequent reboot of the DC Universe. Allen's version was similarly vengeful despite his conflicting moralistic background and doubting God's existence.
The Spectre has appeared in various media adaptations. Most notable, the Spectre appeared within the Arrowverse. One version appears on Constantine portrayed by Emmett J. Scanlan and another alternate version appears in the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover, portrayed by Stephen Lobo and Stephen Amell.
Publication history Golden Age
The Spectre debuted in More Fun Comics #52 (February 1940) when hard-boiled cop Jim Corrigan, on his way with his fiancée Clarice to their engagement party, is murdered by thugs who stuff him into a barrel filled with cement, which is then thrown into a body of water. Corrigan's soul is about to enter Heaven when an entity referred to only as "the Voice" chooses him to become an agent of divine justice on Earth.
The newly christened Spectre seeks bloody vengeance against Corrigan's murderers in grim, supernatural fashion, with his touch alone instantly reducing one of them to a skeleton. Fashioning his distinct costume, the Spectre then assumes Corrigan's former identity and profession and breaks off his relationship with Clarice. He proves so effective at his mission that when the Voice offers him the reward of eternal peace, he refuses to accept it until all evil in the world is eradicated.
The Spectre is later awarded charter membership in the first superhero team, the Justice Society of America in All Star Comics. Jim Corrigan is resurrected in More Fun #75 (January 1942), resulting in the Spectre becoming an independent character who would emerge from his body when needed. During the mid-1940s, the popularity of superhero comics began to decline, and the Spectre was reduced to playing the role of guardian angel to a bumbling character called "Percival Popp, the Super Cop", who first appeared in More Fun #74 (December 1941). When Corrigan enlisted in the military and departed to serve in World War II, in More Fun #90 (April 1943), the Spectre effectively disappeared from his own series. The feature's final installment was in issue #101 (February 1945) and the Spectre made his last appearance in the superhero group the Justice Society of America at roughly the same time in All Star Comics #23 (winter 1944–1945).
Silver Age In the mid-1950s and 1960s Silver Age of Comic Books, DC Comics editor Julius Schwartz revived the Spectre and returned him to the role of an avenging spirit, beginning in Showcase #60 (February 1966). Under writer Gardner Fox and penciller Murphy Anderson, his power was vastly increased, at times approaching omnipotence. A 1987 magazine retrospective on the Spectre said this revival had been initially announced as a team-up with Doctor Mid-Nite.Stewart, Alan, "The Lives and Deaths of Jim Corrigan, Alias...The Spectre: Part One of a Hero History", Amazing Heroes #112 (1 March 1987) Fantagraphics p. 32. After a three-issue try-out in Showcase, the Spectre appeared in the superhero-team comic Justice League of America #46–47 in that year's team-up of the titular group and its 1940s predecessors, the Justice Society of America, written by Gardner Fox. A few months later, he co-starred with the Silver Age Flash in The Brave and the Bold #72 (July 1967).
The Spectre was given his own title, premiering in December 1967, while simultaneously making another appearance in The Brave and the Bold #75 (January 1968), this time teamed with Batman. In The Spectre, the creative credits varied in the 10 issues published, with introduction of a then-newcomer to comics, Neal Adams, who drew issues #2–5 and wrote issues #4–5. For its final two issues, the comic became in effect a horror anthology, with the title character being little more than a narrator in several short stories. The Spectre title suffered from the same problem that vexed the Golden Age series: writing meaningful stories using a character who was virtually omnipotent.
This era's end came at the climax of a JLA/JSA crossover when Doctor Fate frees the Ghostly Guardian from a crypt in time to block a collision between Earth-One and Earth-Two caused by an alien device planted inside the android Red Tornado. The Spectre's body is torn apart when Doctor Fate creates a massive explosion to destroy the device and return the colliding Earths to their own dimensions.Justice League of America #83 (September 1970)
Bronze Age In the 1970s, DC revived the Spectre again in the superhero anthology series Adventure Comics. Editor Joe Orlando explained that this was the Earth-One version of the Spectre, though some at DC said otherwise.Adventure Comics #434 (July-August 1974), letter columnBurkett, Cary, "Speculations on The Spectre", Amazing World of DC Comics #16 (December 1977) DC Comics, p. 40. Later stories explained that the Spectre had moved from Earth-Two and taken over the body of the Jim Corrigan of Earth-One.Justice League of America #220 (November 1983) Beginning with the 12-page "The Wrath of ... the Spectre" in issue #431 (February 1974), writer Michael FleisherInitially, in collaboration with artist Russell Carley, who provided art breakdowns for Fleisher's scripts, (see, for instance The House of Mystery #218 (October 1973): "The Abominable Ivy") and other Fleisher 1973–1974 stories at the Grand Comics Database and artist Jim Aparo produced 10 stories through issue #440 (July 1975)Michael Fleisher at the Grand Comics Database that became controversial for what was considered gruesome, albeit bloodless, violence. Comics historian Les Daniels commented that the Spectre had
In the series' letter column, some fans indicated uneasiness with this depiction. In issue #435 (October 1974), Fleisher introduced a character that shared their concerns, a reporter named Earl Crawford. The series was cancelled with three scripts written, but not yet drawn. Several years later, these remaining three chapters were penciled by Aparo, lettered and inked by others, and published in the final issue of Wrath of the Spectre, a four-issue miniseries in 1988 that reprinted the 10 original Fleisher-Aparo stories in its first three issues and three newly drawn stories in the fourth one.Sanderson, Peter, "The Wrath Against...The Spectre", The Wrath of the Spectre #3 (July 1988), inside covers Fleisher had stated in 1980 that only two scripts were left undrawn.Catron, Michael, The Blessed Life of Michael Fleisher: An Interview with the Man Who Stuffed Jonah Hex, The Comics Journal, June or May (first on cover, second on contents page, indicia states monthly frequency) 1980, Fantagraphics, p. 51.
The Spectre also made a guest appearance in the "Doctor Thirteen" feature in Ghosts #97–99 (February–April 1981) and would go on to periodic guest appearances in such other DC titles as The Brave and the Bold, DC Comics Presents and All-Star Squadron.
A new Spectre series was planned for 1986, with Steve Gerber as writer and Gene Colan as penciler. However, Gerber missed the deadline for the first issue so that he could watch the last day of shooting on the film Howard the Duck and DC cancelled the series in response.
Modern Age Among the many changes made to DC Comics' characters during the latter half of the 1980s following the Crisis on Infinite Earths miniseries, the Spectre fought the Anti-Monitor largely depowered. Prior to this, the Spectre is revealed to be guarding an entrance to Hell in Swamp Thing (vol. 2) Annual #2 by writer Alan Moore and artists Stephen R. Bissette and John Totleben. Then, in the conclusion to Moore's "American Gothic" storyline in Swamp Thing (vol. 2) #35-50, the Spectre is defeated by the Great Evil Beast. Next, in the Last Days of the Justice Society of America special, the Spectre fails to resolve a situation and is punished by God for his failure.
In his fourth solo series and second self-titled comic, The Spectre, under writer Doug Moench, Corrigan became the central figure in this story of an occult-oriented private detective agency. The Spectre's powers were significantly reduced here, with even the act of emerging from Corrigan's physical body being painful to both. This run ended with issue #31 (November 1989). A few months after this, the Spectre had a cameo in writer Neil Gaiman's The Books of Magic, a four-issue miniseries starring many DC occult characters.
Three years after the cancellation of the Doug Moench version, the Spectre was again given his own series, this time written by writer and former theology student John Ostrander, who chose to re-examine the Spectre in his aspects as both the embodied Avenging Wrath of the Murdered Dead and as a brutal 1930s policeman.
Ostrander placed the Spectre in complex, morally ambiguous situations that posed certain ethical questions, one example being: What vengeance should be wrought upon a woman who killed her abusive husband in his sleep? Other notable dilemmas included:
The nation of Vlatava, the history of which was an endless cycle of civil war, ethnic cleansing, retribution, and blood feuds that had endured for centuries. The Spectre responded by judging the whole nation guilty, razing the land and killing the entire population except for two opposing politicians, one of them the supervillain Count Vertigo. The pending execution of a wrongfully convicted man. His death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment after the Spectre threatened to kill the entire population of New York in retribution, arguing that if the execution was carried out, the "people of the state of New York" would become guilty of murder in his eyes.