Although not truly one of the most renown characters in the comic book world, The Spectre has done what few others have, and through the years accumulated four separate comic book volumes, dedicated to himself, all of them published by DC Comics. The first of these (The Spectre) was also the shortest, lasting for ten issues from 1967 to 1969. Almost twenty years later, in 1987 a second volume began (The Spectre) and this one lasted for thirty-one issues until its run was completed in 1989. After this however, the character's comic starring hiatus was much shorter than before and only lasted a few years until the third volume (The Spectre) kicked off in 1992. This one ended up being the longest of all the series and it continued for six years until it came to a conclusion in 1998 with its sixty-second issue. In 2001 however, The Spectre gained a new feel when Hal Jordan took on said mantle, and a fourth volume (The Spectre) was born lasting a total of twenty-seven issues up until it ended in 2003.
Much of this series' run fit into DeMatteis' penchant for highly spiritual themes. It is also worth noting that the villain for much of this series, Monsieur Stigmonius, holds great similarities to an earlier DeMatteis creation, Mr. Termineus, from his prematurely canceled Man-Thing volume 3 series that never had its ending published. It could be a coincidence, but, more likely, this allowed DeMatteis to further explore the themes of this character that Marvel didn't allow him to finish up beforehand.
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