The Spectre: Difference between revisions

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At this point, other than in his physical appearance, Spectre was your typical supernatural avenger character. However at the time, superheroes were getting in vogue, so he was soon added to the roster of the [[Justice Society of America]], and treated pretty much as any other superhero; he even acted and talked as casually as the others. He also found himself [[The Worf Effect|easily defeated despite his nonliving nature and his incredible powers]], just so the other members of the group could have a chance to save the day. As for Corrigan, he just went on with his life, as if nothing had happened (his murder never having been discovered.)

The relationship between Corrigan and The Spectre varied over the years; at one point, they were actually separate characters, with The Spectre merely using Corrigan's body to "rest" when he needed to, much to the latter's chagrin.

The Spectre held his own series in ''"More Fun Comics''" until issue #101 (January, February, 1945). He was regularly featured with the Justice Society in ''"All-Star Comics''" #3-23 (Winter, 1940 - Winter, 1944). The character was then dropped for the following twenty years. He was revived in ''"Showcase''" #60-61 (January-April, 1966). He also appeared in #64 (September-October, 1966), before gaining his own magazine. ''"Spectre''" vol. 1 lasted for 10 issues, from December, 1967 to June, 1969. In the [[The Seventies|1970s]], the Spectre was revamped, now being taken back to his original horror roots: he would track down murderers and then execute them [[Nightmare Fuel|in some pretty twisted ways]] (for example, turning a hood to wood and then cutting him with a buzzsaw.)

The Spectre also found himself becoming more and more powerful: in his fight against Shatan (a poorly disguised Satan stand-in) they hit each other with ''planets''. Spectre was eventually acknowledged as one of the mightiest beings in the [[DC Universe]], even more so than the [[Silver Age]] Superman. About the only beings stronger were [[The Phantom Stranger]] and God himself. This limited him to making appearances only when the universe was threatened by supernatural menaces, and usually [[Deus Ex Machina|only long enough to fix some problem and then leave]].

[[Post-Crisis]], The Spectre was reinvented as the actual embodiment of God's Wrath. He had his own series again, [[Fridge Logic|which explored the reasons for his existence]]. Ultimately it was revealed that the Spectre was actually {{spoiler|a fallen angel pardoned by God by being turned into his personal avenger}} and not just part of Corrigan's soul. Corrigan in fact was tired of living and willingly separated from The Spectre and went on to Heaven.

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This left the Spectre without a host, which made it reckless; eventually he bonded with the then-dead [[Green Lantern|Hal Jordan]], who tried to twist the Spectre's mission from vengeance to redemption. This was later undone by Jordan's resurrection. Again left without a host, the Spectre was tricked by Eclipso (who ironically was once God's Avenger as well) into killing most of the magic-users in the [[DC Universe]] since she convinced him that "magic goes against God's will". (This turned out to be part of a larger [[Xanatos Roulette]] to recreate the DC Multiverse, as seen in [[Infinite Crisis]].) He was stopped only by being bonded (by God) to Crispus Allen, another recently-murdered cop. (DC teased the audience by having his killer also be named Jim Corrigan.) He's still the current Spectre, who is trying to understand his role.

The Spectre recently received a [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|twelve-minute animated short]] as a bonus on the [[Justice League Crisis On Two Earths]] DVD.

The Spectre recently received a [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|twelve-minute animated short]] as a bonus on the [[Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths]] DVD.

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* [[Deus Ex Machina]]: He's literally a walking [[Deus Ex Machina]].

* [[Deus Exit Machina]]: A frequent victim.

* [[Flat Earth Atheist]]: The current host of the Spectre ''was'' an atheist- before God revived him as The Spectre.

* [[Fridge Horror]]: During [[The Interregnum]] and early [[Silver Age]], the Spectre was forbidden to actually ''kill'' anyone. The writers got around this by having him do things like turn criminals into [[And I Must Scream|inanimate objects.]] Since the [[Comics Code|Comics Code Authority]] let him get away with it, they must not have realized [[High Octane Nightmare Fuel|exactly what they had done]].

* [[Foil]]: Reporter Earl Crawford in the Jim Aparo series. While the Spectre believed in punishing criminals beyond their crimes, Crawford believed that wrong doers deserved a fair trial and a chance to face up to their crimes.

* [[Getting Crap Past the Radar]]: See [[Fridge Horror]] above. One point of the Comic Code Authority was that it said humans couldn't be set on fire. One comic got around this by removing the "Human" part of the equation and letting Spectre turn a criminal into a candle. There was no rule against burning a candle, even if it was screaming in pain as you did it.

* [[God Is Good]]: The Spectre is a superhero in that he avenges those who were innocent and cry out for justice. But...

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* [[The Gods Must Be Lazy]]: The Presence only intervenes when it damn feels like it.

* [[Hero with an F In Good]]: He means well, but he got such a low grade in good that God keeps him bound to a human soul just to give him a cheat sheet.

* [[Joker Immunity]]: The Spectre once tried to pass Judgment on [[The Joker]]; he failed, because for all his viciousness, the Joker is still crazy, and thus not responsible for his acts.

* [[Karmic Death]]: The Spectre arranges these.

* [[Karma Houdini]]: The Spectre's purpose is arguably to make sure murderers don't become these. He doesn't punish ''every'' murderer; only those who would otherwise escape justice.

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* [[Monster Modesty]]: Despite being an all-powerful instrument of God, he has a strange knack for wearing as little as possible.

* [[Our Angels Are Different]]: The non-human half of the Spectre Entity.

* [[Our Ghosts Are Different]]

* [[Power Creep, Power Seep]]: Makes Superman's climb look almost puny.

** Lampshaded by [[Hellblazer|John Constantine]] in ''[[Books of Magic]]'':

{{quote|'''Constantine''': Sometimes it's one of the most powerful beings in the universe. Sometimes it's little more than a bloke in green tights.}}

* [[Powers That Be]]: The Voice, aka The Presence, aka God.

* [[Reality Warper]]

* [[Refusing Paradise]] - Done as a bit of a Sadistic Choice early on to The Spectre; the Voice (implied to be God) says he's now earned the ability to pass on to Heaven, one time only offer...just as his love interest has a bullet speeding at her head.

* [[Semi-Divine]]: The Spectre, as a dead human who is the host of (the [[Our Angels Are Different|angel]] that represents) God's Wrath/Vengeance.

* [[Throwaway Country]]: Vlatava, a minor European country, was ''completely slaughtered'' by the Spectre after passing judgment on it for war crimes, presumably even including the children. The sole survivors were two politicians, one from the opposed party of the other.

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[[Category:The Forties]]

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[[Category:~~The Spectre~~]]

[[Category:Comic Book]]

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