the Spectre #3 - DC

This is a mini series that reintroduces us to the Spectre. How can we be reintroduced to a character that's been around since the 40's?? Well first he's bonding with a new mortal. Well, a deceased mortal. But Crispus Allen is his new alter ego. He's a former cop that was killed by Jim Corrigan. Well the last three issues have been a class for Crispus on what it is the Spectre does and why. He doesn't actually get it until he's forced to confront his son who has obtained a gun and gone and shot Jim Corrigan for killing his father. So as the Spectre he has to pass judgement on his son Mal. This is when all the lessons sink in and he finally realizes the enormity of the task in front of him. But he still decides to merge permanently with the Spectre. Good story. Well written. And decent art. The best news of the whole book though is in the next issue blurb. It says that the Spectre's adventures will continue in the fall in "Tales of the Unexpected". Awesome. DC is really beginning to expand it's genre's again, last time was in the 70's. It's good to see them willing to take some risks.

Spectre #2 - DC

In this issue Crispus gets a lesson from the Spectre on what it means to pass out judgement. He has a crisis of conscious because in joining with the Spectre, he delayed his decision. He delayed it for a year. So, for that year, the Spectre couldn't operate without his host. But apparently the Spectre has a long memory, because everyone they missed that year, they've been working O.T. to catch up on. So after all these "Sudden Appearances and Ironic Deaths", Crispus is beginning to ask himself what's the point of all this. He's especially upset because, since he was a cop, he knows that there is so much more going on out there than they are dealing with. And he doesn't understand the why's of who gets judged and who doesn't. In trying to show him the pattern to everything, the Spectre shows him a time when he was a beat cop and he was called in on a disturbance. The disturbance was actually a smell coming from an apartment. They found an apartment full of corpses that were made to look like they had been killed by the Joker. They also come to see a guy who is dealing in Black Magic, and can see their spectral forms. He also sees a bank robbery where they have a chance to save a woman the robber is going to shoot,but they aren't allowed to because if the robber doesn't shoot her then he will have done nothing wrong to garner thier justice. We also get a glimpse of Crispus' son going out to buy a weapon,which I can only guess is to get revenge on the man that killed his father. This is an interesting series. It's nice to see the Spectre brought down a notch so we can get a better glimpse of the character. This is a 3 issue series so there's only 1 to go. But it'll be interesting to see where they go from here.

The Spectre #1 - DC

The Spectre has been around for a long time. Since the 40's, I believe. And, while I haven't read alot of the old stories, I have seen most of the stuff he's been in since the 70's. I'm sorry, but I have always seen him as a severely underated, and underdeveloped character. Now, 1 year later again, he's come back, after his love fight with Carol Palmer, the Atom's wife, who was under the influence of Eclipso, or at least his black diamond. I'm still a little shaky on that whole storyline. What I gather is the Spectre, who was without a host at the time since Hal Jordan came back to life, was at a crossroads in his existence in which he could be easily influenced. So, Carol Palmer, who essencially started this whole thing back in Identity Crisis, now posessed by Eclipso decided to make the Spectre feel like he was in love with her, and out of that love would come the mutual plan to wipe all magic out of existence. I think that's the basic synopsis. At least that's how I understand it. Anyways, you knew that wasn't gonna work out. So now the Spectre has returned looking for a new host. A Gotham Police Detective by the name of Crispus Allen. Apparently he was killed a year ago and was offered the position. He turned it down, but since he obviously wasn't going to move on to the afterlife, the Spectre told him to think about it and he'd be back in a year to offer it to him again. Hence, where the storyline picks up in this first issue. I really hope they can do something with this character this time. I really do. But, with the results of the last 2 or 3 outings, I'm not holding out much hope. This issue is mainly backfill to let you know how they've gotten to this point. You learn alot about Crispus, but not much about the Spectre. Except at the end when they do join and, after distributing justice to someone the Spectre deems worthy, or unworthy, it dawns on Crispus, that "He needs me alot more that I need him." And BOOM the story ends. So unless you're a die-hard Spectre fan, and I haven't run in to one yet, give this book a couple of issues to see how things pan out before you start putting it on your pull lists. Now the sales of this book will be decent, just because it's tied in to Infinite Crisis, but, I don't see any chance of it being a book you won't be able to find 6 months from now. Like I've said before, I like books that create change, stir things up, give us a new perspective on an old story. This one, as much as I hope otherwise, won't be one of those. But, in the end it's your 3 bucks.