Who was the first host to "Spectre" from DC comics you ever read about?

[MajorHoy]

Since last check, Jim Corrigan (Golden Age Spectre premiering in 1940's More Fun Comics) is now up to 30 out of 34 votes (+ 2 since last check).
No other changes in vote totals at present.

[darima80]

Jim Corrigan. The Spectre #22, guest-starring Superman.

[SebastianS]

Jim Corrigan. Zero Hour.

[theoneandonly]

it's baffling that when Hal and the spectre met each other again in DOJ there was no mention of their clash during zero hour which led to the recreation of the universe! spectre would have rather preferred someone more stable surely but it's not like he was spoiled for choice. it does show what a dreary and torturous existence it is to be spectre and also to be part of him. as to the thread question I think it was zero hour when I first read of the spectre so it's Corrigan.

[Carabas]

Corrigan.

I liked Crispus!Spectre best though.

[scribbleMind]

When I started reading comics, Crispus Allen was Spectre, but I didn't read anything about him. The only time I read anything Spectre related was Corrigan in the recent Gotham by Midnight series, any I'm assuming Spectre didn't have a host in Kingdom Come? Or was that Corrigan?

[Captain Smith]

Wasn't Corrigan referenced as a sandwich in Kingdom Come?

[Adekis]

Why does anyone accept the "host" concept? The Spectre is not a parasite who needs a host, like a tapeworm does. He's Jim Corrigan.

Then how was he Hal Jordan?

How was he Crispus Allen?

I mean to be fair, from what I can recall in the few Golden Age comics I read, there wasn't really a sense at the time that the Spectre "possessed" Corrigan or that Corrigan inhabited a predetermined role, more like he was just chosen to haunt the wicked and did so with aplomb. Can't fault someone for disliking this-or-that retcon. For example, I'm not too fond of "Parallax" being an outside influence rather than just a series of choices Jordan made, personally.

Wasn't Corrigan referenced as a sandwich in Kingdom Come?

Yeah, the stripe in his hair was represented by bacon and the cloak was represented by lettuce, or something like that. That was pretty damn funny.

The first Spectre I recall was "nobody", he was just the Spectre. This may not actually be true, he may well have been Corrigan, but I don't remember him having a host, I just remember him showing up and being all spooky. I got the impression, accurate or not, that the Spectre existed independently of any human being.

I will say, I really like the Hal Jordan Spectre though, honestly. Very underrated. And the Corrigan moment in Kingdom Come where Spectre takes off his hood and reveals that he's not so above it all after all, that's honestly very touching.

[Robanker]

My Spectre has pretty much always been Corrigan, but I don't have anything against the other hosts.

[MajorHoy]

Currently, with a total of 52 votes, we have:

* Jim Corrigan (Golden Age Spectre) = 44 votes (+ 14)
* Hal Jordan (Silver Age Green Lantern) = 4 votes (+ 2)
* Nobody (The Spectre unconnected to a "host body") = 3 votes (+ 2)
* Crispus Allen (former Gotham City police detective) = 1 vote (no change)

[MajorHoy]

NOTE: My numbers from this post were somehow way off; I'll just do a separate update from scratch in a different post.

[The Darknight Detective]

Definitely Jim Corrigan from the Michael Fleischer-Jim Aparo run.

[Somecrazyaussie]

Jim Corrigan was the first for me. I was old enough to catch the Ostrander/Mandrake run as it was coming out. The Moench run wasn't bad either (I am fortunate to have tracked down and collected both of these series.)

I love the golden age heroes anyway. So Corrigan will always be the top for me.

[Captain Smith]

Not a first read but hasn't Eclipso been a Spectre along with a woman I don't remember but perhaps in the Indian subcontinent (really vague memory).

[kingaliencracker]

Jim Corrigan/90's series, although the character appeared in many comics I read prior to that series.