The Spectre Done Right
Before I get into my review of this comic, a little history lesson is in order.
In the early days of comics, the 30s and 40s, the period now known as the 'Golden Age', comics were simple, but a lot edgier than people think. Take Batman for example, in the early Bob Kane stories, it was not unusual for Batman to use firearms, or even kill if he thought it was appropriate. Then in the 1950s and 1960s, with the publication of the exposé Seduction of the Innocent, and subsequent public outcry against violence in comics, and the formation of the Comics Code Authority, the content of comics was gutted. The 1960s, fondly remembered by Baby Boomers as the 'Silver Age' of comics is actually the bleakest era for mainstream American comics, with most titles watered down to mainstream kiddie pap. This is the period when Batman comics were all about silly gadgets and dumb jokes - you know the kind of stuff that led to the Adam West TV series.
But, starting in the 70s and 80s, with the weakening of the Comics Code Authority, we have the Bronze Age of comics, which actually really should be called the Second Golden Age - at no time in comics history have the stories and art both been so equally good. Batman became a detective again in Detective Comics. Stories which had been simplistic (in the Golden Age) or Campy/Childish (in the Silver Age) now became deeper. Furthermore, in the 70s and 80s comic art in America reached it's zenith. Dynamic, thanks to Jack Kirby, and photorealistic, due to increasing emphasis of artists on accurately portraying human anatomy this period has never been equaled since - the hallmark of 90s art being artists trying to emulate the stylized art of pencillers like Todd McFarlane and Jim Lee, and the trend away from realism continued (and got worse) in the 2000s as American artists began to ape Japanese manga conventions - distorting proportions even further, and adding 'chunky' hair and big googly anime eyes.
And so it was with The Spectre. This character was created by Siegel and Shuster as a counterpoint to their famous law-and-order creation, Superman. The Spectre began as a murdered cop who had no problem striking villains dead in horrible ways in the 1930s - and even though the art was primitive in More Fun Comics, in light of what was to come in the 60s, frankly, More Fun was appropriately titled.
If you've seen my reviews for the Silver Age Spectre comics, you know that I found them pretty much unreadable (I had to put issue #2 down unfinished, it was so bad).
Wrath of The Spectre, though, I am pleased to say is quite the opposite. These stories (reprinted from the 70s stories in Adventure Comics including some that never saw print) feature good scripts by Michael Fleischer and fantastic art by Jim Aparo. These stories are more reminiscent E.C. horror comics like Tales from the Crypt than superhero stories, and return the Spectre to his original angel of vengeance conception.
The first issue contains 'Wrath of the Spectre', 'Anguish of the Spectre' and 'The Swami and... the Spectre', all great pieces, with only the inoffensive, non-Spectre 'Adventurer's Club' story as filler. If you want to lose yourself in a good classic, but not old-fashioned comic book with horror overtones, check it out!
