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The Spectre
The Spectre: Tales of the Unexpected
Collecting stories from TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED #1-8! Detective Crispus Allen was murdered during the events of INFINITE CRISIS and was reborn as the instrument of God's wrath known as The Spectre. Now, he is on a quest to brutally punish those who choose to do wrong.
128 pages, Paperback
First published December 5, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 6, 2018
This is one ugly, scary mess.
I had a sense this was going to be brutal, when the plot synopsis for the previous 4 issues ran two pages. Two pages without pictures. Oh my!
The Spectre’s been around since the 1940’s and has always been a formidable and powerful super hero. Once he was able to keep two different planet Earth’s from colliding. In another story, he’s able to predict and influence the future. In another, he was able to make party animals from balloons. Really scary party animals. Here, he’s on a vengeance spree, or justice spree or a creative punishing death spree or something.
He’s no longer Jim Corrigan, but Crispus Allen, but Allen doesn’t have full control of him.
It seems Allen was murdered by Jim Corrigan. Not the Spectre’s previous alias, but another, different Jim Corrigan (?)
What the hell was DC editorial drinking when they let that factoid slip by is anybody’s guess?
It’s Gotham City and Batman is up to his cowl in crime and now mystical, magical, murderous mayhem is added to the ledger.
Instead of pulling up his Bat-Depends and pointing The Spectre in the direction of The Joker, the Bats has words with The Spectre. Harsh words.
…and gets in a lucky kick.
Because The Spectre is incorporeal. It’s a really, really lucky kick.
The Phantom Stranger shows up but instead of, well, saving people from getting butchered, he tells Mr. Allen toman Spectre-up and take charge.
This creepy-assed comic’s unifying story is about a murder committed in a tenement building and has an Agatha Christie twist if Christie wrote cozy demonic splatter mysteries.
Bottom Line - The Spectre as a character seems like it’s been a dumping ground for decades for whatever power-set DC wants to give him du jour. For lovers of the Saw movies or for those of you who enjoyed the time that Hal Jordan/Green Lantern was bonded with the Spectre or anybody who just likes terrifying and obtuse comics.
I had a sense this was going to be brutal, when the plot synopsis for the previous 4 issues ran two pages. Two pages without pictures. Oh my!
The Spectre’s been around since the 1940’s and has always been a formidable and powerful super hero. Once he was able to keep two different planet Earth’s from colliding. In another story, he’s able to predict and influence the future. In another, he was able to make party animals from balloons. Really scary party animals. Here, he’s on a vengeance spree, or justice spree or a creative punishing death spree or something.
He’s no longer Jim Corrigan, but Crispus Allen, but Allen doesn’t have full control of him.
It seems Allen was murdered by Jim Corrigan. Not the Spectre’s previous alias, but another, different Jim Corrigan (?)
What the hell was DC editorial drinking when they let that factoid slip by is anybody’s guess?
It’s Gotham City and Batman is up to his cowl in crime and now mystical, magical, murderous mayhem is added to the ledger.
Instead of pulling up his Bat-Depends and pointing The Spectre in the direction of The Joker, the Bats has words with The Spectre. Harsh words.
…and gets in a lucky kick.
Because The Spectre is incorporeal. It’s a really, really lucky kick.
The Phantom Stranger shows up but instead of, well, saving people from getting butchered, he tells Mr. Allen to
This creepy-assed comic’s unifying story is about a murder committed in a tenement building and has an Agatha Christie twist if Christie wrote cozy demonic splatter mysteries.
Bottom Line - The Spectre as a character seems like it’s been a dumping ground for decades for whatever power-set DC wants to give him du jour. For lovers of the Saw movies or for those of you who enjoyed the time that Hal Jordan/Green Lantern was bonded with the Spectre or anybody who just likes terrifying and obtuse comics.
November 24, 2011
I quite enjoy anything with The Spectre in it. What I really loved about this book was the inner conflict Crispus Allen has. On one hand he acknowledges that The Spectre is killing off insanely guilty people but on the other hand is it right? Every bone in my fiber says that it is but then I get this one little thought in the back of my mind: "Why does The Spectre get to judge? Couldn't he just save the innocents from a horrible death? Or does he get off from killing the guilty?" That's why I love The Spectre and Crispus Allen together because Crispus Allen on the one hand wants to save the innocents but "can't" and on the other hand he sometimes takes pleasure in killing the guilty. It's a thin line between good and evil, between right and wrong, who's to judge?
June 11, 2020
Don't really have much to say about this one. Picked it up for $3 at a discount store since I love The Spectre. Afterwards, I remembered that, yes, I do love The Spectre; however, Crispus Allen is my least favorite host. In know this book is early on in his tenure, and he is still learning his role, but Allen just feels like another Deadman in this book. It probably doesn't help there is only two pages of vague text describing his origin or that the first two issues are so disjointed that there is no character building. After the first two issues though, the story turns into an Agatha Christie-esque mystery concerning a murder in Granville Apartments, and combined with a decent team of artists, the the book moves from the chaotic to the readable. Overall, if you find it for $3 at a discount store (or for free at your local public library *wink wink*), or if you just LOVE The Spectre, it is worth the read. Otherwise, probably move on to the next thing. Maybe read Injustice Year 3 again.
Bonus points for the fact Phantom Stranger shows up for one issue and waxes philosophical for about 10 meaningless pages. But I don't care because he's The Phantom Stranger!
Bonus points for the fact Phantom Stranger shows up for one issue and waxes philosophical for about 10 meaningless pages. But I don't care because he's The Phantom Stranger!
November 24, 2017
Like the other volume of this series, this could have been something great and instead fell flat.
January 1, 2018
Goofy, fun throwback. I was obsessed with this series in 2006, without knowing the background or that I was actually reading a re-boot. A fun read for any half-hearted comic/graphic novel fan.
June 22, 2019
Reprints Tales of the Unexpected (Limited Series) #4-8 (March 2007-July 2007). Crispus Allen finds himself tortured as the host for the Spectre and unable to help the people he used to protect as an officer. Murderers and criminals are allowed to continue to run rampant as Allen is only able to enact justice after the crime. As Driver investigates the murder of slumlord Leonard Krieger, the Spectre is conducting his own investigation…and the guilty will be punished!
Written by David Lapham, The Spectre: Tales of the Unexpected is a DC Comics comic book collection. Featuring art by Eric Battle, Prentis Rollins, and Tom Mandrake, the series collects part of the Tales of the Unexpected limited series, but it does not collect the Doctor Thirteen portions of the issues.
I liked Stray Bullets and find David Lampham to be a solid writer. I really enjoyed Gotham Central and this series seemed like a natural progression. The problem I have with the volume is that it is a really strange, unnecessarily unbalanced collection.
The series was intentionally collecting Lapham’s run which started with Tales of the Unexpected #4. Unfortunately, much of the story happened in the first part of the volume. The collection is so small and it feels like it should have just collected the other three issues despite the author change. It has a small summery, but it largely leaves the reader in the lurch as to what is happening and who the players are…it is a disservice to the reader.
The story is largely Crispus Allen’s battle with the Spectre for control (a battle he is losing). This would have been a fine subject for the story, but the larger and dominant thread running through the collection is the mystery surrounding the death of a tenement landlord. Since this is the main plot, it is even worse that you don’t see the events leading up to the collection.
The Spectre is a potentially interesting character. He is overly powerful and difficult to write because he is a supernatural being. I hated the Hal Jordan period of the character, and Crispus Allen seems to at least be a better direction. The series could have been fun and might be fun…if we had gotten to see all of it collected. With only eight issues total, I don’t see why that wasn’t possible. The Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang Doctor Thirteen portion of the series were collected as Doctor 13: Architecture and Mortality.
Written by David Lapham, The Spectre: Tales of the Unexpected is a DC Comics comic book collection. Featuring art by Eric Battle, Prentis Rollins, and Tom Mandrake, the series collects part of the Tales of the Unexpected limited series, but it does not collect the Doctor Thirteen portions of the issues.
I liked Stray Bullets and find David Lampham to be a solid writer. I really enjoyed Gotham Central and this series seemed like a natural progression. The problem I have with the volume is that it is a really strange, unnecessarily unbalanced collection.
The series was intentionally collecting Lapham’s run which started with Tales of the Unexpected #4. Unfortunately, much of the story happened in the first part of the volume. The collection is so small and it feels like it should have just collected the other three issues despite the author change. It has a small summery, but it largely leaves the reader in the lurch as to what is happening and who the players are…it is a disservice to the reader.
The story is largely Crispus Allen’s battle with the Spectre for control (a battle he is losing). This would have been a fine subject for the story, but the larger and dominant thread running through the collection is the mystery surrounding the death of a tenement landlord. Since this is the main plot, it is even worse that you don’t see the events leading up to the collection.
The Spectre is a potentially interesting character. He is overly powerful and difficult to write because he is a supernatural being. I hated the Hal Jordan period of the character, and Crispus Allen seems to at least be a better direction. The series could have been fun and might be fun…if we had gotten to see all of it collected. With only eight issues total, I don’t see why that wasn’t possible. The Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang Doctor Thirteen portion of the series were collected as Doctor 13: Architecture and Mortality.
January 15, 2023
God, this was awful. At the time, police detective Crispin Allen had been murdered and taken over the role of the Spectre. For eight issues, he just moans and whines about having no control as the Spectre gives murderers crazy deaths. It's brutal and awful like the Saw films. This is one of those things that will probably only appeal to those into torture porn, because it doesn't have any of the nuance of the 90's series by John Ostrander and Tom Mandrake.
April 30, 2011
Sob argumento de David Lapham, o Espectro é redefinido como habitando o espírito de um polícia afro-americano cuja revolta perante as injustiças alimenta a violência vingativa do personagem mas cujo toque humano é o único limite à megalomania, numa história recheada de crimes com castigos tétricos.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews