Upon first glance, a casual observer would view The Spectre as just another superhero in a long line of superheroes, but this olive-clad, ashen-white spirit is probably one the most powerful heroes ever created, easily dwarfing the might of Superman.

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Despite having several of his own series, The Spectre has been utilized sparingly by DC, perhaps owing to the difficulty presenting a credible threat to a being that powerful. However, The Spectre almost always shows up to tip the scales to the side of good in dire events, so here are the Top 10 Things You Never Knew About the Spectre.

10 The Source of His Power

The Presence from DC Comics

The source of The Spectre’s power is directly related to the Presence, DC’s version of God. As the Presence manifests Itself in different aspects, The Spectre embodies Divine Wrath. Charged with rooting out and punishing evil in all its forms, The Spectre fulfills his mission with near-limitless power, basically having the abilities of God.

However, The Spectre is limited to his role and also by the fact that in order to keep his power in check, he must be bonded to a human host. Tempered by his host’s humanity, The Spectre delivers God’s vengeance and justice on an unbelievable scale!

9 Multiple Hosts

For a majority of The Spectre’s existence, his human host was Jim Corrigan, a hard-nosed cop who met an untimely death. However, this is not the first or last host for The Spectre, as it has bonded with human souls who thirst for vengeance after an unjust death for most of human history.

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Even the Green Lantern Hal Jordan was a host for The Spectre once. Following his death at the conclusion of Final Night, Jordan’s soul was bonded to The Spectre. Hoping to redeem himself for his actions as the villain Parallax, Jordan’s Spectre was an interesting experiment in DC’s status quo.

8 Origins

The Spectre’s origin has another, mystical layer. The original aspect of Divine Wrath was the villain Eclipso, but because of the entity’s focus on revenge rather than vengeance and his eventual turn to evil, Eclipso was replaced by The Spectre.

With Eclipso imprisoned in a giant black diamond, The Presence turned to a fallen angel named Aztar, who repented his sin of rebellion, to replace Eclipso as the avatar of Divine Wrath. By fulfilling this function, the fallen angel would serve its penance and when its task was done, would finally be granted access to heaven.

7 The Society

Superhero teams are all the rage these days, what with the hugely popular Avengers films making billions of dollars for Marvel Studios. But the first superhero team was actually the Justice Society of America, and The Spectre was one of its founding members. Alongside Golden Age greats like The Flash, Green Lantern and The Sandman, The Spectre helped his compatriots fight enemies both foreign and domestic.

Blocked by Hitler’s possession of a mystic talisman that provided a buffer between meta-humans and his armies, the Society and The Spectre distinguished themselves in battle as best they could. However, even The Spectre’s teammates found him a little unnerving, owing to his stern countenance and ethereal nature.

6 The Creator

It may be surprising to know that one half of the creative team that originated The Spectre was none other than Jerry Siegel, part of the duo that created Superman. With his artistic collaborator Bernard Baily, Siegel wrote the origin story and first appearance of Jim Corrigan/The Spectre, in February 1940’s More Fun Comics #52.

The Spectre was part of a proliferation of superheroes in comics after the debut and success of Superman in 1938. That the character has survived, relatively unchanged in appearance and character since his debut, is a testament to his unique appeal.

5 Destroyed an Entire Country

The Spectre has been known for being a tad overzealous regarding his job, as the sight of injustice and murder tends to send him into a blind rage that is difficult to quell. Sometimes, his actions in delivering justice outweigh the actual crimes, as was the case when he destroyed a whole country.

Venturing to the fictional Balkan country of Vlatava, which was locked in the throes of a deadly generational civil war, The Spectre summarily judged the whole nation to be guilty of atrocities and razed it to the ground. To say this was overkill is an understatement, and remains one of the worst things the character has done.

4 Multiple Series

Despite his compelling origins and power set, The Spectre has had difficulty keeping a series for long. His first, second and fourth series didn’t last beyond the two-year mark, even with the novelty of a former Green Lantern starring in the fourth one. His third series was the longest, lasting six years.

This longevity is probably due to the writer, John Ostrander, crafting morally complex scenarios for The Spectre to navigate, circumventing the tedium of having him just fight supervillains whom he could easily overpower. With a background in theological studies, Ostrander made the character infinitely more interesting and defined him exceptionally well, making the third volume series a Vertigo-worthy read for any fan.

3 War on Magic

After Hal Jordan was revived as a Green Lantern and purged of the villainous entity Parallax, The Spectre was without a host for some time. Sensing an opportunity to strike, Eclipso convinced the Spectre that all magic went against the Divine Plan of God, driving The Spectre to enact a war against all magical elements of the DC Universe.

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Dubbed the Day of Vengeance, The Spectre mercilessly attacked the magic-powered heroes of the DCU, blinding Madame Xanadu and turning the Phantom Stranger into a mouse. Following battles with the wizard Shazam and the Lord of Order Nabu that both ended in their deaths, the Presence finally reigned in The Spectre by joining him to a new human host.

2 He Had His Own Short Film

Many fans of DC Comics are familiar with DC Animated Films, cartoon adaptions of notable DC story arcs. Quite frankly, many of the DCAU offerings are far more enjoyable than some of their cinematic releases, which have drawn lukewarm critical and/or fan responses over the last decade or so.

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One particular offering that is imminently enjoyable is DC Showcase: The Spectre. A short film that highlights both Jim Corrigan’s detective abilities and The Spectre’s desire for vengeance, the plot revolves around a murder mystery that involves Corrigan’s girlfriend. Admirably voiced by Gary Cole, the film is a great introduction to the character without having to scour the back issue bins.

1 He Broke The Joker

The Spectre was capable of doing what a slew of superheroes, especially Batman, have been unable to do for years: make The Joker feel remorse.

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When Batman comes to New York City to chase an escaped Joker, he comes into conflict with The Spectre, who wishes to punish The Joker for his sins with his own particularly brutal style of justice. Ironically, The Joker’s greatest advocate is Batman, who argues that The Joker’s insanity needs treatment, not punishment, as he cannot rationalize what he has done. Ultimately, The Spectre grants The Joker some fleeting moments of sanity, where the weight of the guilt of his sins crushes his sanity, leaving him in a catatonic state.

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