![]() Much the same can be said of Siegel’s stories. The covers to the original comics show a great eye for composing an individual image, and occasionally a panel will really impress, but most of the work is of its era, energetic, but crude. There’s no sense of irony about these monumentally grim morality tales originally being part of More Fun Comics.īaily is a strange artist, perhaps a stronger designer. He’s also crudely inventive in disposing of villains, a signifier to the Spectre’s 1970s incarnation, one villain melting, consumed by the evil within him. For the sample art the Spectre and his foe become larger than planets and toss comets at each other. He has the Spectre travelling through telephone wires years before the Atom, has him visiting a world in a picture decades before Doom Patrol, and early on the Spectre growing to giant size is a favourite. It’s secondary to Siegel’s imagination, however. In one early example Corrigan reads a man’s mind to expose his guilt, yet in the next strip someone already under suspicion receives a free pass to continue their criminal activities. Bernard Baily’s design for the Spectre is so phenomenal it’s barely been messed with since, and the Spectre able to kill with a look is mesmerisingly gruesome.ĭespite their age, the oddness of these stories ensures some appeal, but consistency from strip to strip is absent. ![]() The last bit’s ridiculous for someone now able to do anything just by thinking about it, but despite its age and genre conventions, the origin surprises as a tight piece of noir staging. Corrigan takes his revenge, informs his girlfriend there’s no longer room for her in his life and sews himself a costume. Even more unusually, the story continued over two comics. Corrigan heads up toward a bright light, only to be halted, told his mission on Earth is unfinished, and he must eradicate all evil with new supernatural powers. Unusually for the era, the Spectre’s first story is his origin, showing hard-boiled police detective Jim Corrigan encased in a barrel of cement by gangsters and dropped off the pier. The absent common sense is largely down to creator Jerry Siegel’s brief to prioritise visuals, so while the Spectre might have near infinite abilities, the method involving the greatest spectacle is the one used. He also highlights the casual attitude to continuity, so a strip of police officer Jim Corrigan swearing to hunt down the Spectre was published before the strip concluding with his assignment to do so. Jerry Bails’ informative introduction to these stories from 19 in some respects dampens expectation for what’s to come, pointing out logic and characterisation are largely absent in what it’s surprising to learn is DC third superhero.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |