Weekly collection reviews part 18: Spectre Crimes and Judgemen

[FiveGhosts]

It gets better as it goes on, although "The Haunting of America" goes on a bit too long. I'd actually argue that the final year is the best material in the whole series. Ostrander and Mandrake even made the Genesis crossover issue something special.

Good to know! I have Vol. 2 ordered already!

[victorxd1999]

Just got vol 2! I reread vol monday and it's still as amazing as the first read. Especially #3-4 and #11-12 were amazing, though every issue is great

[Mixmaster]

The Spectre series by John Ostrander, Tom Mandrake and a few other artists, is one of the best comics of the 1990s from any publisher. I loved it. I thought Ostrander treated religion with respect, instead of trying to disprove people's beliefs or trying to make fun of Christianity. I loved Mandrake's art on the series. I thought he had Gene Colan's flowing line, but had the horror slant that was evident in Jim Aparo's run in the 1970s. For those who want to read another great Spectre trade paperback, The Wrath of The Spectre by Michael Fleisher and Jim Aparo really returned the Spectre to his roots as a spectral avenger. That series is a classic. I love both, but I have to go with Ostrander's run as my favorite.

[victorxd1999]

The Spectre series by John Ostrander, Tom Mandrake and a few other artists, is one of the best comics of the 1990s from any publisher. I loved it. I thought Ostrander treated religion with respect, instead of trying to disprove people's beliefs or trying to make fun of Christianity. I loved Mandrake's art on the series. I thought he had Gene Colan's flowing line, but had the horror slant that was evident in Jim Aparo's run in the 1970s. For those who want to read another great Spectre trade paperback, The Wrath of The Spectre by Michael Fleisher and Jim Aparo really returned the Spectre to his roots as a spectral avenger. That series is a classic. I love both, but I have to go with Ostrander's run as my favorite.

I just finished vol 2 and it's still great. There were some fill in artists (including Aparo) and I couldn't help missing Mandrake' art in those issues. I think his art was pretty vital to the run. I'm going to check that Wrath of the Spectre trade out, thanks!

[Mixmaster]

I just finished vol 2 and it's still great. There were some fill in artists (including Aparo) and I couldn't help missing Mandrake' art in those issues. I think his art was pretty vital to the run. I'm going to check that Wrath of the Spectre trade out, thanks!

The Wrath of the Spectre contains some of the most brutal stories of the 1970s and some of Jim Aparo's best-ever artwork. He was at peak form on this one. There's even some fill-in inks by Ernie Chan and Frank Thorne that really work well with Aparo's pencils. You can also find a comprehensive collection of the Silver Age Spectre stories, along with the Fleisher/Aparo stuff in the Showcase Presents The Spectre trade paperback, though it's in black and white.

[Joshua]

I had only read about a dozen random issues from this run and while liking it, could not really follow it. Just got vol. 1 and 2 for the holidays and tore through this first book. The story is great and I loved the writing but the art did leave a bit to desired at times. Still, I would recommend this.

[Tupiaz]

The Wrath of the Spectre contains some of the most brutal stories of the 1970s and some of Jim Aparo's best-ever artwork. He was at peak form on this one. There's even some fill-in inks by Ernie Chan and Frank Thorne that really work well with Aparo's pencils. You can also find a comprehensive collection of the Silver Age Spectre stories, along with the Fleisher/Aparo stuff in the Showcase Presents The Spectre trade paperback, though it's in black and white.

Not to mention that Fleisher's Spectre was the reason Harlan Ellison came with some remarks about Fleisher's sanity (Ellison claimed it was in a good way Fleisher didn't feel that way it ended up with Fleisher loosing the law suit). Read more here.

BTW isn't the Wrath of God TPB out of print?
I also hope that DC will reprint J. M. DeMatteis's run.

[krylox]

very good series, which took me by surprise. can't wait for vol. 3. really hope enough people buy it, so that we see the whole run collected.