When Jim Corrigan first confessed to Father Craemer...

[alschroeder3]

One last Halloween offering...

One of the thing I loved about John Ostrander and Tim Mandrake's SPECTRE is that they didn't shy away from the horrific heritage of the Spectre, or the full range of his power, or the theological and philosohical ramifications. The Spectre was a murdered detective's ghost given special abilities by God Himself (or an all-powerful Voice that could keep Jim's soul from entering the afterlife--close enough, surely.)...to stop evil. ALL evil.

A "troubled soul" indeed.

Troubled enough to seek spiritual help...

As for what happened...let's just say nobody is giving guided tours of Vlatavia, and leave it at that, shall we?

Comments

[jeremyp]

This is an interesting excerpt - thanks for sharing. It definitely illustrates some of the issues I've had with the Spectre. To me it seems like such a waste for a being so powerful to focus on vengeance. With the Spectre's power he could actually help prevent problems, save lives, make the world a place where less bad things happen. Focusing on bloody retribution seems simpleminded and petty.

[lyricalswagger]

That was pretty much the conflict in Ostrander's run. Why would such a character as the Spectre, as presented for decades, actually exist? Why does he make any sense at all? Why is he a "hero" and not a "villain"?

[sagrada]

Isn't that the case of every superbeing, or even fictional characters in general? They could easily do something more constructive with their time, but there they are following the plot.

Besides, if people are allowed to make fewer choices(pretty much the only way to ensure that "bad things" don't happen) or their choices aren't allowed to have negative consequences to themselves or others, there's not much use for the world at all from a theological standpoint. A non-materialist universe exists for some spiritual function, not for its own benefit or the comfort of its inhabitants.

So really the problem is there being magic or spirits at all in superhero universes.

[silverhammerman]

I'd actually give the Spectre a pass for that more than I would other superheroes, because that narrowness of focus it at least an explicit part of the character. Like, the Spectre punishes "evil-doers" and that's all he does because it's literally the purpose for his existence, he isn't built to do anything else. Whereas Superman could hypothetically do other stuff, and has to be contrived into not doing that other stuff.

[icon_uk]

That's his assigned mission from God though; he's the Spirit of Divine Vengeance, so we're venturing into the realms of theological intent perhaps, and since it seems to be a VERY Old Testament deity who empowers him, that seems to fit.

[alschroeder3]

Right. The next issue makes the Spectre the agent of God in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the death of the first born of Egypt under Moses, and for that matter, the parting of the Red Sea. That angel who joined the JLA for a while under Morrison mentioned he hates the Spectre, that he worships God's love more than his vengeance, but another angel remarks that they're both part of God. Nor was it a Christian-only God, although it was (mostly) Judeo-Christian in concept (shown by the archangel Michael occasionally showing up, as one of the few who could beat the Spectre) --there was one story which showed the Spectre in India, and serving Shiva, which he clearly saw as another "mask" for God. Theological things are hard to write about in comics, although sometimes when they try, like Vertigo's LUCIFER, they can reach pretty high in storytelling...and you can't really write about the Spectre without dipping into the theological.

[lyricalswagger]

The Spectre in Ostrander's run was unquestionably meant to be God Himself, as per the Bible.

[cainofdreaming]

No, it was meant to be His wrath. God in Ostrander's run was meant to be God.

[lyricalswagger]

Oh duh that's what i meant, for some reason i wrote Spectre and not Voice

[daningram.insanejournal.com]

Aww crap, Craemer kicked off Spectre's balkan rampage?

[icon_uk]

Mmmmmm, not directly. He mentions it, and Spectre decides to act on it. Craemer is certainly not to blame for it personally.

[cricharddavies]

While he's shown as horrified by the notion when the Phantom Stranger shows up to clue him in a few issues later, there isn't really enough time for Craemer to process the whole situation before he gets called in to assist Ramban and Madame Xanadu in their attempt to prevent the Eclipso-zation of the Spectre, which leads into the Archangel Michael giving the whole situation a Deus ex Machina resolution. ("They all were gonna die anyway, so no foul.")

[bruinsfan]

Not Ostrander's finest work, that.