An appreciation thread for the Spectre, who first appeared in More Fun Comics #52 (February, 1940).
1940:
1940:
1966:
An appreciation thread for the Spectre, who first appeared in More Fun Comics #52 (February, 1940).
1940:
1940:
1966:
He doesn’t have much for larger media appearances but his appearances in Batman: Brave and the Bold are some of my favorite uses of the Spectre.
Last edited by Gaius; 05-01-2020 at 10:05 PM.
Jim Corrigan's Spectre will always be my favorite:
The Spectre has always been a favorite and while I like 'em all, Corrigan's probably the one I'm fondest of. I was excited to see him show up in Detective Comics but he went to sleep since and isn't part of the JSA currently, so we'll see when we get to see him again.
Ya know something? The more I thought about it, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that while many 1940s hero origins could be accused of being too “of its time,” I think there’s probably a fair argument to be made that the Spectre’s origin is too ahead of its time, considering how it invokes concepts such as spirituality, divine intervention, God, and so on and so forth. It can seem pretty simple when one explains it like “a spirit comes back from the dead to avenge someone,” and Siegel himself probably thought of it in basic terms as well, but how he frames the entire thing could still definitely invoke more than what he might have originally intended like I mentioned, and that most writers of the time probably either couldn’t fully wrap their heads around it or flesh it out in such a way that they do it justice. In that respect, he’s probably more at home being better served post-crisis than he ever was pre-crisis.
Last edited by Electricmastro; 05-01-2020 at 10:57 PM.
I'd never seen his origin issue (I knew the story but had never seen it). I had no idea Corrigan was returned against his wishes. No wonder he could be such cranky old spook.
IMO, The Spectre is one of the toughest characters to do right, but when somebody nails it, he's among the best. My single favorite Spectre story is one of the DC animation shorts (I think it was in the Crisis on Two Earths JL movie); great Ghost Noir piece.
Yeah, I don't think Spectre really reached his full potential until someone like Ostrander got their hands on them and began exploring more into their nature. He'd be great for a Black Label book.
I think Spectre is one of those characters that complaints against someone like Superman hold a bit more weight.
He’s probably one of the more difficult DC characters to be done justice with convincingly good writing. As for the origin, Jim Corrigan seemed rather cranky and aggressive in general even before his transformation, probably having to do with Jerry Siegel writing his characters aggressive in general like with Superman. Clarice Winston even describes him as “a tyrant, a bully and a conceited fool.”
Preferred Hamill as the voice of the Spectre but since I read Corrigan in separate voice from him, Gary Cole did a good job in the short.
Jim Aparo cover to The Brave and The Bold #199.
B&B199.jpg
The Spectre as he appeared in Justice League Unlimited #37 (November, 2007). Art by Min S. Ku.