[8] The Spectre debuted in More Fun Comics #52 (February 1940) when hard-boiled cop Jim Corrigan, on his way with his fiancée Clarice to their engagement party, is murdered by thugs who stuff him into a barrel filled with cement, which is then thrown into a body of water.

During the mid-1940s, the popularity of superhero comics began to decline and the Spectre was reduced to playing the role of guardian angel to a bumbling character called "Percival Popp, the Super Cop", who first appeared in More Fun #74 (December 1941).

When Corrigan enlisted in the military and departed to serve in World War II, in More Fun #90 (April 1943), the Spectre became permanently invisible, becoming a secondary player in his own series.

The feature's final installment was in issue #101 (February 1945) and the Spectre made his last appearance in the superhero group the Justice Society of America at roughly the same time in All Star Comics #23 (winter 1944–1945).

This era's end came at the climax of a JLA/JSA crossover when Doctor Fate frees the Ghostly Guardian from a crypt in time to block a collision between Earth-One and Earth-Two caused by an alien device planted inside the android Red Tornado.

The Spectre's body is torn apart when Doctor Fate creates a massive explosion to destroy the device and return the colliding Earths to their own dimensions.

Comics historian Les Daniels commented that the Spectre had ...a new lease on life after editor Joe Orlando was mugged and decided the world needed a really relentless super hero.

Jim Aparo's art showed criminals being transformed into everything from broken glass to melting candles, but Fleisher was quick to point out that many of his most bizarre plot devices were lifted from stories published decades earlier.

[22] Among the many changes made to DC Comics' characters during the latter half of the 1980s following the Crisis on Infinite Earths miniseries, the Spectre fought the Anti-Monitor largely depowered.

In his fourth solo series and second self-titled comic, The Spectre, under writer Doug Moench, Corrigan became the central figure in this story of an occult-oriented private detective agency.

It was also shown that the Spectre was a fallen angel named Aztar who had participated in Lucifer's rebellion, but then repented, and that serving as the embodiment of God's anger was its penance.

4), written by J. M. DeMatteis, Jordan bends the Spectre's mission from one of vengeance to one of redemption and makes appearances elsewhere in the DC Universe, such as advising Superman during the "Emperor Joker" storyline or helping Wally West keep his family safe by erasing public knowledge of his true identity.

In the 2001 Green Arrow storyline "Quiver" written by Kevin Smith and the final Supergirl story arc, "Many Happy Returns" by Peter David, revealed that the Spectre (Hal Jordan) is aware of the Crisis on Infinite Earths.

4) was cancelled, Jordan was forced to return, temporarily, to the Spectre's mission of vengeance, following a confrontation between the new Justice Society of America and the Spirit King.

Consequently, as magic breaks the rules of the physical universe, it is an originating source of tremendous evil (this line of logic makes sense to the unstable Spectre-Force).

In Day of Vengeance: Infinite Crisis Special #1, the Spectre kills Nabu, the last of the Great Lords of the Ninth Age and the Presence's attention is finally drawn into action.

[29] In the Brightest Day storyline, the Spectre resurfaces, again with Crispus Allen as its host, in the hills of Montana on the trail of the Butcher, the Red Lantern entity.

The plan succeeds, with the Spectre traveling to the moon to rescue Zauriel, only to be ambushed by Jade and the members of the Justice League's reserve roster, all of whom had been brainwashed by Eclipso.

Corrigan returns to work as a police detective in Gotham City, but his rage causes him to practice vengeance rather than justice in his alter ego as the Spectre.

[35] After the two exchange blows physically and verbally, the Voice himself intervenes in the form of a Scottish Terrier (his sense of humor) and informs the Stranger of his mistake, setting him on the right path.

[36] Batman calls in Corrigan and Batwing to investigate Arkham Asylum, because he believes something supernatural is going on and was already busy trying to end a violent gang war in Gotham.

[citation needed] Corrigan eventually joins Gotham's Detailed Case Task Force, a small precinct responsible for investigating supernatural events off the books.

The Spectre is described as a godlike anti-hero character who punishes those considered evil under the purview of the DC Universe's highest authority and adaptation of God in Abrahamic religions, The Presence.

[5] While functioning as a cosmic aspect responsible for bringing justice and embodies divine wrath,[5] the Spectre is often characterized as being considered harsh and unforgiving in his punishments.

[38] The Spectre is also widely regarded among the most powerful superheroes in the fictional universe[5] and has been portrayed as surpassing other characters possessing substantial supernatural abilities such as Doctor Fate,[39] the Wizard Shazam,[40] and the Lords of Chaos and Order.

[40][41] For a time, the Spectre was considered a force of its own but after the death of Jesus, the incarnation of divine wrath was ordained to be bonded to a human soul in order to temper its more violent tendencies.

Arrogant and mean-spirited for a time, Corrigan was eventually killed by mobster Gat Benson in 1940 but found himself bonded to the Spectre (Aztar) as his soul cried for vengeance.

[47] At his peak, the Spectre possess near omnipotent magical and physical abilities, making him capable of virtually any feat, controlling space, time, reality, and matter.

These include the capacity to become intangible, animate and possess objects, intrude upon an individual's mind or soul, and draw others into his own being, where his power reigns supreme.

[37] He is also subject to specific divine laws and tasks set by the Presence[47] and is vulnerable to the artifact known as the Spear of Destiny, capable of killing him due to its being bathed in the blood of Jesus Christ.