 In 1939, comics publishers were scrambling to repeat the success of
National Comics'
Superman and
Batman. National sought super-heroes for their
pre-existing Adventure Comics and More Fun Comics: the former would introduce
Hourman, while the latter would introduce the Spectre. Created by Superman veteran Jerry
Siegel and artist Bernard Baily, the Spectre made his first appearance in More Fun
Comics #52 (cover-dated February 1940).
In the Spectre's debut appearance, we saw Jim Corrigan, a hard-boiled
cop in the tradition of the pulps, railing against crime boss "Gat" Benson while set to marry
socialite Clarice Winston. "Gat" Benson struck back, kidnapping the lovebirds. This was no
lighthearted Silver Age comic: the mobster did nothing less than have Corrigan, unconscious,
stuffed in a barrel and have that barrel filled with cement, suffocating Corrigan. The barrel
is tossed into the river, where it rests on the bottom with Corrigan's folded body encased
inside.
In a near death experience, Corrigan's soul travels to what seems to be
the edge of Heaven. There he is told that his "mission on Earth is unfinished" and that he
"shall remain earthbound battling crime ... with supernatural powers, until all vestiges of it
are gone!!" Thrown back to Earth, he stands at the bottom of the river where he sees a hand
protruding from the barrel -- and realizes that he is looking at his own corpse. Inflamed, he
discovers that he can fly, become invisible, and walk through walls like a spirit.
Arriving back at the mobsters' hideout, he finds Clarice about to be
executed. His stare makes one goon drop dead from fright, he withstands gunshots, and
touching him makes another goon wither to a living skeleton before collapsing dead upon the
floor. When "Gat" Benson flees, he finds himself blocked by one copy of Corrigan after
another. A touch from Corrigan causes Benson to lapse into unconsciousness and then catatonia,
but Benson gets off a shot -- hitting Clarice, who Corrigan heals with a touch.
But Corrigan cannot go back. He ends his engagement with Clarice as he
drops her off, and he moves out of the apartment he shares with another detective. In his new
place, cut off from his old life, he sews a costume, dubbing himself the Spectre. We are told
that he is "a lone figure, tortured by conflicting thoughts."
The Spectre's subsequent appearances featured both mortal villains,
gunmen and extortionists who he killed with appropriate gruesomeness, and supernatural ones,
who presented more of a threat and led to more cosmic elements instead of gruesome urban ones.
He relied upon his deadly stare (frighteningly directed at readers as well), grew to tremendous
size and crumpled fleeing cars of thugs before tossing them away like trash, and even simply
vaporized human villains with a snap of he fingers. This was no pansy super-hero, if indeed a
super-hero at all.
The Spectre appeared alongside the Justice Society of America in
All-Star Comics. His tremendous powers caused difficulties for writers, a pattern often
the case over the years. In 1945, he simply stopped appearing in All-Star Comics and
was ousted in the pages of his own More Fun Comics by none other than Superboy.
The Spectre returned in the 1960s, along with the rest of the Justice
Society, in
Justice League of America. He would continue
to appear occasionally, often in stories cosmic enough to warrant his awesome powers.
The Spectre got his own feature again in 1974, this time in the pages of
Adventure Comics. Written by Michael Fleisher and illustrated by Jim Aparo, the feature
lasted only nine issues: Adventure Comics #431-440. The Spectre became a kind of more
brutal version of Green Lantern, literally slicing villains in half with giant scissors or
making them -- while very much alive -- melt like wax. The villains' violence was punched up
in order to justify the Spectre's own violence: criminals casually executed cops, bank
tellers, and innocent bystanders alike.
The Spectre got his own self-titled series in 1987, lasting nearly three
years. Another, more successful series followed in 1992, running over five years and
concluding the Jim Corrigan at last dying, giving up the burden of being the Spectre. DC's
1999 crossover event, Day of Judgment, gave the Spectre a new human anchor -- none other
than Hal Jordan, formerly
Green Lantern -- and another new series,
which ran for slightly over two years.
The following eras are available:
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