Spectre

## Affiliation and Relationships

### Affiliation

Justice Society of America, All-Star Squadron, Archangels, Justice League, Justice League Dark

## First Appearance

*More Fun Comics* #52 (February 1940)

**The Spectre** is a superhero published by DC Comics. Created by Jerry Siegel and Bernard Baily, the Spectre first appeared in *More Fun Comics* #52 (February 1940). The Spectre is the physical embodiment of God's vengeance on Earth. The wicked is punished by the Spectre, often in a creative and brutal fashion. He has been bonded to several human hosts over the years, but the original host is hard-boiled police detective Jim Corrigan. The Spectre was a founding member of the Justice Society of America. Others who have been bonded to the Spectre included the Green Lantern Hal Jordan and Crispus Allen.

## Publication History

The Spectre was created by Jerry Siegel and Bernard Baily and made his debut in *More Fun Comics* #52 (February 1940). Jerry Siegel came up with the idea of the Spectre as a supernatural being with no limits to his powers, and veteran artist Bernard Baily was chosen to draw the Spectre features in *More Fun Comics*. A murdered police detective's spirit refused to pass into the afterlife. His rage was heard by the archangel Michael, who bonded Jim's spirit to the spirit of God's vengeance, the Spectre. He was condemned to return to Earth for sixty years of punishing wrongdoings. The Spectre suffered as a result of superhero comics' declining popularity. He would play the role of guardian angel to Percival Popp, the Super Cop, a bumbling comic relief character. Jim Corrigan enlisted in the military for World War II, and the Spectre became invisible to everybody but Percival Popp. After 20 years, the Spectre would be brought back during the Silver Age of Comics in *Showcase* #60 (February 1966). Under writer Gardner Fox and penciller Murphy Anderson, his power was vastly increased and at times he approached omnipotence. The Spectre was given his own title in 1967, while also appearing in *The Brave and the Bold* #75 (January 1968) in a team-up with Batman. For the final two issues of its run, the title became a horror anthology with the Spectre acting as the narrator of the stories. In the 1970s, the Spectre would be brought back once more in *Adventure Comics*. The Comics Code had by this point been loosened and DC Comics editor Joe Orlando decided the world needed a really relentless super hero. Joe Orlando plotted the stories with writer Michael Fleisher and, harkening back to the Golden Age stories, would depict criminals getting gruesomely punished by the Spectre. The series became controversial, and the series was cancelled with three scripts that had already been written, but not yet drawn. Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern, would assume the title of the Spectre beginning in the Day of Judgment storyline by Geoff Johns. Jim Corrigan was asked to return to his role as the Spectre after a fallen angel attempted to gain the Spectre's power. Having found peace, he refuses. The Spectre-Force chose Hal Jordan as his new host because Jordan was seeking to atone for his actions as Parallax. Crispus Allen, a detective from Gotham, was murdered by a corrupt cop named Jim Corrigan (who coincidentally shared a name with the former host of the Spectre-Force). While Allen's body is in the morgue, the Presence forced the Spectre-Force to bond with Allen in *Infinite Crisis* #4 (March 2006).