| Spectre | |||||||||||||||||||||
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 Art byAlex Ross | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Publication information | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Publisher | DC Comics | ||||||||||||||||||||
| First appearance | More Fun Comics #52 (February 1940) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Created by | Jerry Siegel Bernard Baily | ||||||||||||||||||||
| In-story information | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Alter ego | Aztar Various hosts | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Species | Ghost/Cosmic being Fallen angel(originally) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Team affiliations | Justice Society of America All-Star Squadron Archangels Justice League Justice League Dark | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Partnerships | Human hosts: Jim Corrigan Hal Jordan Crispus Allen | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Notable aliases | The Spirit of Vengeance The Spirit of Redemption The Avenging Wrath of God The Ghostly Guardian The Man of Darkness | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Abilities | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Altered in-story information for adaptations to other media | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Partnerships | Human hosts: Oliver Queen(Arrowverse) | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The Spectre is the name of severalantiheroes who appear inAmerican comic books published byDC Comics. The original version first appeared inMore Fun Comics #52 (February 1940).[1] The character was created byJerry Siegel andBernard Baily although some sources attribute creator credit solely to Siegel, limiting Baily to the artist assigned to the feature.[2][3][4]
The Spectre is a divine entity representing vengeance on behalf ofThe Presence, considered God in the context of Abrahamic religion. Initially a demon namedAztar, he rebelled against God but later sought forgiveness and was granted a divine role. As the Spectre, Aztar possesses immense power, making him one of the most formidable beings in theDC Universe. He is bound to a human host who assists him in judging the transgressions of humanity and other beings, determining suitable punishments. These judgments are often delivered in a harsh and creatively ironic manner.[5][6] The Spectre has had multiple hosts throughout its history. The primary host isJames "Jim" Corrigan, a Gotham City detective who was killed and resurrected as the Spectre.Hal Jordan also became the Spectre to redeem himself after his actions as Parallax, becoming a force of redemption.Crispus Allen, another Gotham detective, served as a host despite his doubts about God's existence.
The character has appeared in various media adaptations. Most notable, the character appeared within theArrowverse. One version appears onConstantine portrayed byEmmett J. Scanlan[7] and another alternate version appears in theCrisis on Infinite Earths crossover, portrayed byStephen Lobo.[8]
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The Spectre debuted inMore Fun Comics #52 (February 1940) when hard-boiled copJim Corrigan, on his way with his fiancée Clarice to their engagement party, is murdered by thugs who stuff him into a barrel filled with cement, which is then thrown into a body of water. Corrigan's spirit is refused entrance into the afterlife, and is instead sent back to Earth by an entity referred to only as "theVoice" to eliminate evil.[9]
The Spectre seeks bloody vengeance against Corrigan's murderers in grim, supernatural fashion. One of them was turned into a skeleton upon touching him. Corrigan soon creates his signature costume, breaks off his romance with Clarice, and continues to live as Jim Corrigan, assuming the secret identity of the Spectre whenever he is needed. He eventually turns down an offer to relinquish his mission to destroy all evil.
The Spectre soon is awarded charter membership in the first superhero team, theJustice Society of America inAll Star Comics. Jim Corrigan is resurrected inMore Fun #75 (January 1942), after which the Spectre's ghostly form enters and emerges from Jim Corrigan, functioning independently of him. During the mid-1940s, the popularity of superhero comics began to decline and the Spectre was reduced to playing the role of guardian angel to a bumbling character called "Percival Popp, the Super Cop", who first appeared inMore Fun #74 (December 1941). When Corrigan enlisted in the military and departed to serve inWorld War II, inMore Fun #90 (April 1943), the Spectre became permanently invisible, becoming a secondary player in his own series. The feature's final installment was in issue #101 (February 1945) and the Spectre made his last appearance in the superhero group the Justice Society of America at roughly the same time inAll Star Comics #23 (winter 1944–1945).
In the mid-1950s and 1960sSilver Age of Comic Books,DC Comics editorJulius Schwartz revived the Spectre and returned him to the role of an avenging spirit, beginning inShowcase #60 (February 1966). Under writerGardner Fox andpencillerMurphy Anderson, his power was vastly increased, at times approaching omnipotence. A 1987 magazine retrospective on the character said this revival had been initially announced as a team-up withDoctor Mid-Nite.[10] After a three-issue try-out inShowcase, the Spectre appeared in the superhero-team comicJustice League of America #46–47 in that year's team-up of the titular group and its 1940s predecessors, theJustice Society of America, written by Gardner Fox. A few months later, he co-starred with the Silver AgeFlash inThe Brave and the Bold #72 (July 1967).
The Spectre was given his own title, premiering in December 1967, while simultaneously making another appearance inThe Brave and the Bold #75 (January 1968), this time teamed withBatman. InThe Spectre, the creative credits varied in the 10 issues published, with introduction of a then-newcomer to comics,Neal Adams, who drew issues #2–5 and wrote issues #4–5. For its final two issues, the comic became in effect a horror anthology, with the title character being little more than a narrator in several short stories. The Spectre title suffered from the same problem that vexed the Golden Age series: writing meaningful stories using a character who was virtually omnipotent.
This era's end came at the climax of a JLA/JSA crossover whenDoctor Fate frees the Ghostly Guardian from a crypt in time to block a collision between Earth-One and Earth-Two caused by an alien device planted inside the androidRed Tornado. The Spectre's body is torn apart when Doctor Fate creates a massive explosion to destroy the device and return the colliding Earths to their own dimensions.[11]
In the 1970s, DC revived the Spectre again in the superhero anthology seriesAdventure Comics. EditorJoe Orlando explained that this was the Earth-One version of the Spectre, though some at DC said otherwise.[12][13] Later stories explained that the Spectre had moved fromEarth-Two and taken over the body of the Jim Corrigan ofEarth-One.[14] Beginning with the 12-page "The Wrath of ... the Spectre" in issue #431 (February 1974),[15] writerMichael Fleisher[16] and artistJim Aparo produced 10 stories through issue #440 (July 1975)[17] that became controversial for what was considered gruesome, albeit bloodless, violence. Comics historianLes Daniels commented that the Spectre had
...a new lease on life after editorJoe Orlando was mugged and decided the world needed a really relentless super hero. The character came back with a vengeance ... and quickly became a cause of controversy. Orlando plotted the stories with writer Michael Fleisher, and they emphasized the gruesome fates of criminals who ran afoul of the Spectre. TheComics Code had recently been liberalized, but this series pushed its restrictions to the limit, often by turning evildoers into inanimate objects and then thoroughly demolishing them. Jim Aparo's art showed criminals being transformed into everything from broken glass to melting candles, but Fleisher was quick to point out that many of his most bizarre plot devices were lifted from stories published decades earlier.[18]
In the series'letter column, some fans indicated uneasiness with this depiction. In issue #435 (October 1974), Fleisher introduced a character that shared their concerns, a reporter named Earl Crawford. The series was cancelled with three scripts written, but not yet drawn.[19] Several years later, these remaining three chapters were penciled by Aparo, lettered and inked by others, and published in the final issue ofWrath of the Spectre, a four-issue miniseries in 1988 that reprinted the 10 original Fleisher-Aparo stories in its first three issues and three newly drawn stories in the fourth one.[20] Fleisher had stated in 1980 that only two scripts were left undrawn.[21]
The Spectre also made a guest appearance in the "Doctor Thirteen" feature inGhosts #97–99 (February–April 1981) and would go on to periodic guest appearances in such other DC titles asThe Brave and the Bold,DC Comics Presents andAll-Star Squadron.
A new Spectre series was planned for 1986, withSteve Gerber as writer andGene Colan as penciler. However, Gerber missed the deadline for the first issue so that he could watch the last day of shooting on the filmHoward the Duck and DC cancelled the series in response.[22]
Among the many changes made to DC Comics' characters during the latter half of the 1980s following theCrisis on Infinite Earths miniseries, the Spectre fought theAnti-Monitor largely depowered. Prior to this, the Spectre is revealed to be guarding an entrance toHell inSwamp Thing (vol. 2) Annual #2 by writerAlan Moore and artistsStephen R. Bissette andJohn Totleben. Then, in the conclusion to Moore's "American Gothic" storyline inSwamp Thing (vol. 2) #35-50, the Spectre is defeated by the Great Evil Beast. Next, in theLast Days of the Justice Society of America special, the Spectre fails to resolve a situation and is punished by God for his failure.
In his fourth solo series and second self-titled comic,The Spectre, under writerDoug Moench, Corrigan became the central figure in this story of anoccult-orientedprivate detective agency.[23] The Spectre's powers were significantly reduced here, with even the act of emerging from Corrigan's physical body being painful to both. This run ended with issue #31 (November 1989). A few months after this, the Spectre had a cameo in writerNeil Gaiman'sThe Books of Magic, a four-issue miniseries starring many DC occult characters.
Three years after the cancellation of the Doug Moench version, the Spectre was again given his own series, this time written by writer and formertheology studentJohn Ostrander, who chose to re-examine the Spectre in his aspects as both the embodied Avenging Wrath of the Murdered Dead and as a brutal 1930s policeman.[24]
Ostrander placed the Spectre in complex, morally ambiguous situations that posed certain ethical questions, one example being: What vengeance should be wrought upon a woman who killed herabusive husband in his sleep? Other notable dilemmas included:
Ostrander also added several new concepts into the Spectre's history: He revealed that the Spectre was meant to exist as the embodiment of the Wrath of God, and Jim Corrigan was but the latest human spirit assigned to guide him while he existed on Earth. It was also shown that the Spectre was afallen angel named Aztar who had participated inLucifer's rebellion, but then repented, and that serving as the embodiment of God's anger was its penance.
Furthermore, the Spectre was not the first embodiment of God's anger, but was the replacement for the previously minor DC characterEclipso. Ostrander chose to portray this as a distinction between the Spectre's pursuit ofvengeance and Eclipso's pursuit ofrevenge. In a historical context, Eclipso was responsible for the biblicalFlood, while the Spectre was theAngel of Death who slew the firstborn Egyptian children. The Spectre and Eclipso have battled numerous times through history, but neither entity can be fully destroyed.
The Spectre has also played a pivotal role in theCrisis on Infinite Earths andZero Hour: Crisis in Time storylines. In both cases, in the final struggle against the main villain (theAnti-Monitor andParallax, respectively), the Spectre is the only hero capable of standing against the villains directly, allowing the other heroes time to put a plan into action that would destroy the villains once and for all.
Although all of these versions are usually considered to be from the Earth-Two of the Pre-CrisisDC Multiverse (the same continuity started during the Golden Age), an Earth-One version of the Spectre was shown to team up with Batman andSuperman on a few occasions.
Eventually, Corrigan's soul finds peace. He relinquishes the Spectre-Force and goes on to Heaven. The role of the Spectre is later assumed by Hal Jordan, the spirit of the formerGreen Lantern, during theDay of Judgment storyline written byGeoff Johns, when afallen angel attempts to gain the Spectre's power. Corrigan is asked to come back, but refuses as he has found peace. The Spectre-Force chooses Jordan as his new host because Jordan seeks to atone for his actions as Parallax. His next appearance was in a four-part story arc inLegends of the DC Universe #33–36. In the seriesThe Spectre (vol. 4), written byJ. M. DeMatteis, Jordan bends the Spectre's mission from one of vengeance to one of redemption and makes appearances elsewhere in theDC Universe, such as advisingSuperman during the "Emperor Joker" storyline or helpingWally West keep his family safe by erasing public knowledge of his true identity.
In the 2001Green Arrow storyline "Quiver" written byKevin Smith and the finalSupergirl story arc, "Many Happy Returns" byPeter David, revealed that the Spectre (Hal Jordan) is aware of theCrisis on Infinite Earths. He is one of the few DC Universe characters with this knowledge.
AfterThe Spectre (vol. 4) was cancelled, Jordan was forced to return, temporarily, to the Spectre's mission of vengeance, following a confrontation between the newJustice Society of America and theSpirit King. The Spirit King had managed to "resurrect" the ghosts of all those the Spectre had damned to Hell, as Hal's attempt to turn the Spectre's mission to redemption weakened his hold on the damned. The JSA attempted to keep the spirits contained, but ultimately they were only defeated when Hal 'accepted' his original mission of vengeance, concluding that his goal of redemption was only about helping himself. InGreen Lantern: Rebirth, written by Johns, the Spectre-Force's decision of choosing Jordan as his host wasretconned into being not because of Jordan's worthiness, but as an effort to destroy the Parallax entity, which was infecting Jordan's soul. After the Spectre-Force was able to purge Parallax from Jordan, it departed to move on to the next recipient of the spirit.
Without a human host, the Spectre-Force becomes unstable and goes on a vengeance-fueled rampage. Not only is it killing murderers, it also kills people for minor crimes, such as petty theft. Its lack of a human host deprives it of the ability to effectively judge the sins in their appropriate context. As detailed in the miniseriesDay of Vengeance,Jean Loring is transformed into the newEclipso. She goes after the Spectre and seduces him into removing all magic in the DC Universe. Eclipso explains to the Spectre that all things that follow the rules of the physical universe follow God's law. Anything that breaks those rules thus breaks God's law and is therefore evil. Consequently, as magic breaks the rules of the physical universe, it is an originating source of tremendous evil (this line of logic makes sense to the unstable Spectre-Force). The Spectre destroys magical constructs, institutions that teach magic and magical dimensions. In one such dimension, his acts include the mass murder of over 700 battle-hardened magicians. His actions cause havoc to other very powerful magic-based characters:
The Spectre also destroys the magic-fueled kingdom ofAtlantis (the home ofAquaman) during his rampage.
InDay of Vengeance: Infinite Crisis Special #1, the Spectre killsNabu, the last of the Great Lords of the Ninth Age and the Presence's attention is finally drawn into action. The Spectre is once again forced into a human host, stopping his mad rampage. Nabu reveals before dying that originally he and the other Lords had been working towards forming the perfect host for the Spectre, but those plans are cut short.
The text of the story is unclear on who the Great Lords were. Nabu (introduced in 1942 as the powerful entity responsible for Kent Nelson becomingDoctor Fate) was one of theLords of Order. The Spectre had apparently killed the others, along with their counterparts the Lords of Chaos, with the exception ofMordru andAmethyst (whom he battled on Gemworld). Amethyst is among those gathered by the Phantom Stranger to aid in rebuilding theRock of Eternity, and survives into the Tenth Age.
Alexander Luthor also revealed that he was indirectly responsible for the Spectre's actions inDay of Vengeance. Under Luthor's orders, thePsycho-Pirate gave Eclipso's diamond to Jean Loring, making her manipulate the Spectre-Force so that magic could be undone and used as fuel for Luthor's Multiverse tower.
InGotham Central #38, Crispus Allen is killed by a corrupt policeman named Jim Corrigan (not the same Corrigan that was formerly associated with the Spectre). While Allen's body is in the morgue, the Spectre-Force is forced against its will to enter Crispus Allen, taking Allen as its new host.[25]
During the 2009–2010Blackest Night storyline,Black Hand reveals that the Spectre must be moved out of the way in order for the universe to be at peace. For that, he uses theBlack LanternPariah, who unleashes moreblack rings which latch themselves onto Crispus' body (who was killed byEclipso), turning him into a Black Lantern and sealing the Spectre-Force inside its host. Changing into a giant version, the Black Lantern Spectre declares that it wants Hal Jordan back.[26] ThePhantom Stranger andBlue Devil work together in an attempt to distract the Black Lantern Spectre from seeking out Hal Jordan. The Phantom Stranger manages to temporarily free the real Spectre, only for the Black Lantern to repress it again and, discarding the Stranger and Blue Devil, leaves to carry out its intention to cast vengeance on Hal Jordan.[27]
In Coast City, Hal Jordan encounters the Black Lantern Spectre. Using the real Spectre-Force's power to protect itself, it is rendered immune to the combination of emotional lights that usually destroy Black Lanterns. Knowing that the Spectre is afraid of Parallax, Jordan allows himself to be possessed by the fear entity once more to stop him. The powers of the Spectre also become of interest to theRed Lantern Corps leaderAtrocitus, as he senses the Spectre's real nature despite being influenced by the black ring: an embodiment of rage and vengeance. Atrocitus desires to harness the spirit's power for his corps and his own vengeance against theGuardians of the Universe.[28] Parallax tears into the Black Lantern's body, freeing the real Spectre-Force and destroying the facsimile. Atrocitus attempts to turn the Spectre into his own rage entity but fails, the Spectre telling him that "he is God's rage" and of the true rage entity and warning him not to trifle with it. Parallax then attempts to destroy the Spectre, who uses his own fear of the entity coupled with the loveCarol Ferris feels for Hal, to separate Parallax from its host. The Spectre then confrontsNekron, the master of the Black Lanterns, but discovers that Nekron is without a soul and is thus immune to his powers. The Spectre is then removed from the battlefield by Nekron to parts unknown.[29]
In theBrightest Day storyline, the Spectre resurfaces, again with Crispus Allen as its host, in the hills of Montana on the trail of the Butcher, the Red Lantern entity.[30] The Spectre confronts Atrocitus once again when the two locate the Butcher, who is about to possess a man whose daughter had been killed by a death row inmate. Despite the Spectre's attempts to stop it, the Butcher succeeds, killing the criminal. The Butcher then attempts to possess Atrocitus, revealing that Atrocitus had a wife and children who were killed in the Manhunters' attack. With the Spectre's help, Atrocitus wards off the Butcher and imprisons it within his power battery. The Spectre attempts to judge the man that the Butcher possessed, but Atrocitus argues that his method of judgment is flawed. The Spectre calls off his judgment and is unable to judge Atrocitus, discovering that his mission is a "holy" one, although he warns Atrocitus that this will not last forever.[31]
The Spectre later appears duringJames Robinson's "Rise of Eclipso" storyline inJustice League of America. In the story,Eclipso captures the angelZauriel and begins to torture him to draw the attention of the Spectre. The plan succeeds, with the Spectre traveling to the moon to rescue Zauriel, only to be ambushed byJade and the members of the Justice League's reserve roster, all of whom had been brainwashed by Eclipso. Once the heroes wear the Spectre down, Eclipso confronts his old nemesis and seemingly kills him by cleaving the Spectre in two. Eclipso then absorbs the Spectre's immense powers, which he then uses to shatter the moon with a single blow from his sword before attempting to use them to fulfill his sinister agenda.[32] Eclipso is defeated by the reserve Justice League.[33]
Jim Corrigan is aGotham CityPolice Detective whose fiancé is kidnapped. He is guided by thePhantom Stranger on the instructions of the Voice. He leads Corrigan to the abandoned warehouse where his girlfriend is being kept, but this turns out to be a trap. Corrigan and his girlfriend are killed by the kidnappers and he is then transformed into the Spectre, who accuses the Phantom Stranger of betraying him. As the Spectre is about to attack the Phantom Stranger, the Voice intervenes and sends the Spectre off to inflict his wrath on those who are more deserving of it.[34]
It is revealed that the Voice chose Corrigan to be "the mirror of his desire for justice" (though Corrigan believes in vengeance) and imbued him with divine powers. Corrigan returns to work as a police detective inGotham City, but his rage causes him to practice vengeance rather than justice in his alter ego as the Spectre. ThePhantom Stranger attacks Corrigan's police precinct, convinced that Corrigan was the one who kidnapped his family out of revenge.[35]
After the two exchange blows physically and verbally, the Voice himself intervenes in the form of aScottish Terrier (his sense of humor) and informs the Stranger of his mistake, setting him on the right path. The Voice also sets Corrigan straight on his duty, making him realize he is meant to exact justice, not vengeance.[36]
Batman calls in Corrigan and Batwing to investigateArkham Asylum, because he believes something supernatural is going on and was already busy trying to end a violent gang war in Gotham. Corrigan and Batwing investigate and discover a demonicDeacon Blackfire commanding an army of corrupted humans and demons in the sewers beneath the asylum.[citation needed]
Corrigan eventually joins Gotham's Detailed Case Task Force, a small precinct responsible for investigating supernatural events off the books.
The Spectre is described as a godlikeanti-hero character who punishes those considered evil under the purview of theDC Universe's highest authority and adaptation ofGod in Abrahamic religions,The Presence.[5] While functioning as a cosmic aspect responsible for bringing justice and embodies divine wrath,[5] the Spectre is often characterized as being considered harsh and unforgiving in his punishments.[5][37] Due to his nature, the Spectre also bonds with a human spirit to keep his powers in check and to temper the entity with a level of empathy.[38] The Spectre is also widely regarded among the most powerfulsuperheroes in the fictional universe[5] and has been portrayed as surpassing other characters possessing substantial supernatural abilities such asDoctor Fate,[39] theWizard Shazam,[40] and theLords of Chaos and Order.[40][41]
For a time, the Spectre was considered a force of its own but after the death ofJesus, the incarnation of divine wrath was ordained to be bonded to a human soul in order to temper its more violent tendencies. Many incarnations of the Spectre existed prior to Corrigan, with them embodying traits and attributes of divine beings based upon their givenbeliefs/religion.[42]
The first individual to be bonded to Aztar wasretroactively revealed to be a Hindu man from India named Chakara whose family was slain by the necromancer Belatine. Crying out for justice, Chakara is selected to be the first Spirit of Vengeance. Unlike the mainstream versions of the character that followed, Chakara's incarnation of the Spectre did not possess the appearance typical of Spectre incarnations but was instead given traits and attributes similar to theHindu god of destruction,Shiva.[42]
Jim Corrigan is adetective ofNew York City who grew up with a abusive father, who was afundamentalistpreacher and taught God's wrath came to those who sinned. After enduring abuse for years, Corrigan ran away from home to enlist in the Army before eventually settling as a detective in New York. Arrogant and mean-spirited for a time, Corrigan was eventually killed by mobster Gat Benson in 1940 but found himself bonded to the Spectre (Aztar) as his soul cried for vengeance. While now undead, Corrigan returned to work while also operating as the hero Spectre, eventually becoming a founding member of theJustice Society of America.[5]
AGreen Lantern of theGreen Lantern Corps, a intergalactic law enforcement organization, Hal was recently deceased but during the Day of Judgement storyline, became the new incarnation of Spectre. Unlike other versions, he viewed himself as a Spirit of Redemption instead of Vengeance. Jordan's true purpose as the Spectre was to purge himself of the last vestiges of Parallax's evil within his soul before returning to life as Green Lantern.[5]
Crispus Allen is adetective inGotham City and family man who was considered one of the city's most honest cops. Originally from Metropolis, Allen transferred to Gotham and was partnered with fellow detectiveRenee Montoya. Allen is eventually murdered by a corrupt cop named Jim Corrigan (no known relation to the first Spectre host) but is bonded with Aztar similar to the first host. Unlike the past versions, the Spectre enforces his role as a vengeful spirit (due to events ofDay of Vengeance) more hardily while Allen tries to balance him out as a heroic force but also finds himself giving into the same vengeful tendencies as Aztar despite his moralistic background.[43][44]
The being that eventually would become the Spectre was a fallen angel named Aztar who joinedLucifer Morningstar's rebellion. After being cast into Hell alongside those who betrayed God, Aztar begged for forgiveness towards the archangel Michael, who through God appoints him as God's wrath but erases all his memories and lifetime experienced as punishment.[45][5] Now the new embodiment of God's wrath and replacingEclipso, Aztar as the Spectre would be responsible for various acts: the Spectre was the incarnation who carried out the destruction ofSodom and Gomorrah detailed in theBook of Genesis circa 3000BCE,[42][5] thePlagues of Egypt detailed in theBook of Exodus despiteNabu of theLords of Order's intervention in 1263 BCE,[5][46] and theFall of Jericho described in theBook of Joshua.[5][46] However, the birth of Jesus banished the Spectre into limbo due to the former embodying forgiveness, with the embodiments of wrath and forgiveness unable to co-exist simultaneously.[5][46]
However, thecrucifixion of Jesus recalled the Spectre back, whom sought vengeance but is stopped by the archangelMichael, who subdues the erratic divine force as God decrees the Spectre must be bound to a human spirit due to Jesus's example. The first incantation bonded was to an Indian man who was credited instead as an aspect ofShiva when he sought vengeance for necromancer Beltane killing his family.[46][5] Many other incarnations followed, with them coming against reincarnated forms of Beltane as among the Spectre's many enemies.[46]
An extremely powerful cosmic being, the Spectre is classified as a "judge", considered one of the most powerful magical forces within theDC Multiverse due to being directly empowered by thePresence; and, when unbound, his power is considered apocalyptic.[47] At his peak, the Spectre possess near omnipotent magical and physical abilities, making him capable of virtually any feat, controlling space, time, reality, and matter. He also has an extensive mastery over other "basic" superpowers such as energy manipulation, superhuman strength, flight and possesses extensive mental abilities capable of inducing illusions and hallucinations.[38][48][6][49] Even when depowered by the Presence, the Spectre remains widely regarded as the most powerful spirit on Earth, possessing a diverse range of abilities. These include the capacity to become intangible, animate and possess objects, intrude upon an individual's mind or soul, and draw others into his own being, where his power reigns supreme.[48]
The Spectre has several weaknesses, susceptible to powerful forms of magic and requires a human host to function accordingly.[37] He is also subject to specific divine laws and tasks set by the Presence and is vulnerable to the Spear of Destiny, which is capable of killing him due to its being bathed in the blood of Jesus Christ.[47][50]
| Title | Material collected | Pages | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|
| Classic | |||
| The Golden Age Spectre Archives Vol. 1 |
| 224 | 1-56389-955-8 |
| The Spectre: Crimes and Punishments |
| 120 | 1-56389-127-1 |
| The Spectre Vol. 1: Crimes and Judgments |
| 320 | 978-1401247188 |
| The Spectre Vol. 2: Wrath of God |
| 240 | 978-1401251505 |
| The Spectre by John Ostrander and Tom Mandrake Omnibus Vol. 1 |
| 800 | 978-1799504887 (October 2025) |
| Wrath of the Spectre |
| 200 | 1-4012-0474-0 |
| Showcase Presents: The Spectre |
| 624 | 978-1401234171 |
| The Spectre: The Wrath of the Spectre Omnibus |
| 680 | 978-1779502933 |
| The New 52 | |||
| Gotham By Midnight Vol. 1: We Do Not Sleep |
| 144 | 978-1401254735 |
| Gotham by Midnight Vol. 2: Rest in Peace |
| 208 | 978-1401261245 |
| Title | Material collected | Pages | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crisis Aftermath: The Spectre |
| 128 | 1-4012-1506-8 |
| The Spectre: Tales of the Unexpected |
| 128 | 1-4012-1506-8 |
| Final Crisis: Revelations |
| 169 | 978-1401223229 |
The character won the1961 Alley Award as the Hero/Heroine Most Worthy of Revival and the1964 Alley Award for Strip Most Desired for Revival.
IGN ranked the Spectre as the 70th greatest superhero of all time.[64]
The Spectre re-materialized in the pages ofAdventure Comics. This time, however, he brought along an all-out wrathful disposition, delivering punishments that not only fit the crimes, but arguably exceeded them. [Michael] Fleisher and [Jim] Aparo's run lasted only ten issues, yet it was widely regarded as some of their finest work, and the character's seminal period.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
