Last time we looked at Ostrander and Mandrake's Spectre run, the Spirit of Vengeance was out of control because Corrigan couldn't deal with the pain of losing someone he cared about. Today's issue is from about 3 years later, and the Spirit of Vengeance is out of control because Corrigan's having problems.
I'm sensing a recurring theme here.
But first, a dream sequence. The Spectre has been resting inside the soul of Corrigan's cop partner, Detective Kane. This is due to a combination of factors including, but not limited to, the Spectre using his lifeforce to sustain Gaea during Final Night and the Spectre getting stabbed with the Spear of Destiny by the Avatar of White Supremacist America. Completely serious about that last bit, by the way. Also, we just missed the issue where Spectre tries to judge the Joker and ends up getting his power stolen by him. Damn.
Anyway, Kane finds himself in what he thinks is a dream, but soon realizes is a memory of Corrigan's. A memory that involves Jim shooting a woman named Julia Edmonds and her falling over the edge of the Manhattan Bridge. The Spectre denies any knowledge of this and sets out for another fine day of vengeance.
And what finer place to punish the guilty than a prison? Boy howdy, does the Spectre get down to business. Starts with a guy who shanked someone in the prison yard just to get some quiet time in solitary. Crushes him between the walls of the cell. Then resurrects a bunch of guards to beat the shit out of one that beat a prisoner to death for kicks. And on and on, all except that guy up above, one Mihcael Lincoln, who is set to be executed tomorrow night. The Spectre says that's not his concern, and takes off.
Reverend Craemer is woken up a short time later by Corrigan, who admits to feeling a bit out of control. No shit. Corrigan can't figure out why he and Spectre aren't on the same page. Craemer suspects that Jim is growing beyond his cut-and-dried, black-and-white mindset, but the Spectre can't change. He's a spirit of vengeance, period, full stop. Which presents a problem without a clear solution.
So Jim decides to table it, and focus on saving Michael Lincoln. He approaches Lincoln's public defender and learns the execution is still on for that night. The Spectre not killing someone, is not considered proof they are innocent of the murder they were imprisoned for. This is what happens when they won't let you put the Ten Commandments outside courthouses any longer, is probably something Mike Huckabee would say. Also, the governor doesn't want to look like he's intimidated by the Spectre, so execution, ho!
That evening, as they prepare to administer the lethal injection, the Spectre appears. He tells them, again, Lincoln is not guilty. The warden tells him he better not try to stop the execution. Real pair of balls on that guy, but the Spectre says he's not there to stop it. Mortal legal matters aren't his jurisdiction. However, he's told them Michael Lincoln is innocent, so if they kill him, that's murder. And we all know what the Spectre does to murderers!
The doctor refuses to kill a healthy, innocent man. I don't remember the Hippocratic oath making any distinctions about guilt or innocence, but whatever helps you sleep at night, doc. The warden says they'll get another doctor. The Spectre will just show up again, with the same stipulation. Now the warden says they're just carrying out the wishes of the people of New York. So the Spectre replies, and I'd swear Mandrake's shadowing makes it look like part of his mouth might be smiling, that he would have to hold the entire state of New York accountable for the murder.
Keep in mind the Spectre already killed basically everybody in Vlatava already, 40 issues ago. The warden finally takes the hint, and Lincoln at least gets a stay of execution. Meanwhile, Kane's been busy digging into the Edmonds murder, and when the Spectre returns home and dives inside Kane's mind for the night, Kane readies a trap.
[10th longbox, 48th comic. The Spectre (vol. 3) #52, by John Ostrander (writer), Tom Mandrake (artist), Carla Feeny (colorist), Todd Klein (letterer)]
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