There are some comic pages that stay with you forever. One of the most powerful for me wast the final page of The Spectre #9 by John Ostrander and Tom Mandrake. Ostrander had been writing a brilliant story in the series thus far with Jim Corrigan/The Spectre coming to terms with his misdeeds in the past and vulnerabilities. Upon realizing that a woman he cares deeply for, Amy, cannot be saved despite all of his abilities, he pulls back his hood and we see a distraught Spectre/Corrigan hybrid whispering her name in a full-page shot. The combination of Ostrander's Story with Mandrake's masterful depiction of the moment made it the most impactful page of an amazing series.
Ooooh, now that does sound a moment worth checking out. That whole run's been universally praised, and for good reasons.
ReplyDeleteThe Spirit VS. The Spectre huh? It'd be a hell of a fight, that's for sure, but Denny's gonna' need a hell of a lot of luck and God on his side in that one, ha ha.
Not to mention I wonder, considering all the femme fatales that Denny's ever run into, if anyone of them would bring the wraith of the Spectre on them as well for either a lifetime of bad deeds or stealing a sacred object that triggers ol' spooky. Hmmm....
Denny would probably not last very long against the Spectre, unless the story utilized the somewhat underpowered version of the Spectre that I've encountered in so many original JSA stories from All-Star Comics.
ReplyDeleteHey, the Spectre might not be giving the fight his all. After all, he's saying right here that returning is "a privilege which must be earned," so maybe this sword fight is just part of a test.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about a page of comics sticking with you. I've never seen that run of The Spectre, but I do recall the trial of James Gordon from the No Man's Land arc in the Batman titles. The page where Two-Face is cross-examined by Harvey Dent is perhaps the greatest page of comics I've ever seen.
Awesome cover. Two great characters that would make for an interesting story.
ReplyDeleteDenny Colt shouldn't have to earn anything, at all, seeing as how he was never really dead to start with! He was technically in a state of suspended animation biochemically induced by a struggle with one Dr. Cobra.*
ReplyDelete*The mad scientist in question had developed a serum not unlike Fu Manchu's "F. katalepsis" serum.
@Carycomic: Heh! You think the Spectre's omniscient overseer would remember that and inform the former, accordingly.
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