I know both are very similar in nature (both are ultra powerful supernatural characters with a connection to God) but which one is the more powerful one?
I know both are very similar in nature (both are ultra powerful supernatural characters with a connection to God) but which one is the more powerful one?
The Specter is more powerful as....
he is god's spirit of vengeance, and therefore endowed with the holy powers to carry out god's will (The Presence is the name for the Jehovah like god in the DCU)
the Phantom Stranger is immensely powerful as well, and is an agent of god, until he earns his redemption if I recall correctly, but he is not endowed with the unlimited power of the Specter, as he is not supposed to use his powers to determine the outcome of events.
Spectre, totally.
Phantom Stranger serves generally more as a plot device that shows up and warns the heroes of danger, and zaps them to and from the action. He's an early warning system and a magic bus, for the most part. He can mix it up, but is less likely to do so than Dr. Fate or Etrigan, both of whom seem MUCH 'tankier' than him when it comes to getting into magical combats.
Spectre grows up to sixty feet tall (or larger!) and starts dishing out the wrath. Him and Wotan used to throw *planets* at each other, back in the wild and crazy days when people like them (and Superman) could throw planets. Even at today's more sedate power levels, he's a level above Fate, Etrigan and the Stranger.
Offense: Spectre, by a lot
Defense: Phantom Stranger, by a little
The Spectre. That he is often used to job for the big crisis level baddies while Phantom Stranger basically gets unpublished should tell you which is stronger since DC wants you to think "oh DAAMMMN" when The Spectre gets taken out.
In the 2012 phantom stranger series they both fought each other and neither one could overpower the other, the fight ended up being broken up by God (who took the form of a dog)
How about Phil Spector vs, Slim Jim Phantom?
As for the OP\s question, I would say it's a draw.
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In the original 1952 series, THE PHANTOM STRANGER, it seems his main job is to host the anthology like a lot of other mystery men that hosted anthologies. But he does appear toward the end of the stories out of the blue. So that might be a super-power--but Batman also comes and goes mysteriously. Also, he's there to expose the supernatural as a fake. So he's like Doctor Thirteen or Scooby Doo.
Even in his 1969 series, when it begins he's mainly a host that appears out of nowhere--but there are actual supernatural forces at work. As the series goes on, he starts to display more magic powers.
The Spectre seems most powerful. Yet I always found his origin story rather odd. You don't see Jim Corrigan in his Spectre regalia for most of the first two stories--MORE FUN COMICS 52 & 53. The Spectre is shown on the cover and the splash page of 52, but it's Jim we see in the actual story. And in the next issue it's Jim doing all the supernatural stuff. It's only on the last page of the second story, where we Jim sewing his Spectre outfit and then walking around in it.
That always seemed silly to me, since of all the characters the Spectre is least likely to need to sew himself a costume. I'd rather think it's his actual dead white skin we see and the only clothes he wears are the green boots, trunks, gloves and hooded cloak--and all of that he could do with his supernatural powers.
And I think of Jim Corrigan and Spectre as being separate beings. Yet they sometimes are shown as the same person. Spectre was powerful at time in the 1940s but other times not very. It's really in the 1960s where he becomes this being that's so far out there in his power levels.
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The Source, or whoever that was, stopped them from a real throwdown a few years ago. The Spectre has held universes apart. PS hasn't reached that level. But has Constantine said, Spectre's powers go up and down like a lady of the evening's drawers. Rather crude I grant you.
The Source told the Spectre he could have stopped the COIE from happening if he wasn't fooling around. Spectre also said that he could have stopped the Great Evil Big Dark Thing (forget its name) which kicked his butt. However, he had some of his ectoplasm elsewhere. Whatever.
You can't kill anybody in the DCU anyway, don't you know that?
Who's writing the story and what do they need for the story to work? -answer that and you have your answer to the OP's question. Different writer and different story need, and the answer will change.
-M
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I like the idea of an amalgam character called the Adam Stranger. It's a name I've heard fans toss about--I don't know if he appeared in a comic book at some point or just fan fiction.
There was a super-hero called Bob Phantom, published by M.L.J. (Archie) in the 1940s. There's Silk Spectre. I suppose if Geoff Johns ever got his hands on that he'd make it that there are a whole Corps or Family of Spectres derived from fabrics. Cotton Spectre, Tweed Spectre, Leather Spectre, Nylon Spectre, Velvet Spectre, Linen Spectre, Cashmere Spectre, Hemp Spectre.
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