Which brings up another unanswered question: somehow, somewhere, The Spectre became a publicly-known crime-fighter (maybe via his association with the JSA). But how much does the public know about him? Strange powers, ability to operate while invisible, that they certainly seem to know, but do they know he's a ghost (or that he's supposed to be a ghost--I guess accepting that as a fact would be even more socially impactful than acknowledgment of super powers), or do they think he's just a supernaturally-powered person in a costume, like Dr. Fate?
I guess I always assumed that the public only had vague information about the "mystery men". Some witness accounts and news reports, but obviously the JSA would not put out bios specifying the nature of everyone's powers (maybe they kicked out Hour-Man as a liability for giving away his gimmick--and vulnerability--in his name?). But I suppose as long as there were rumors of a ghostly origin, a woman with a peculiar affinity for the occult could have taken an interest in him (and he flaunted his impressive physique more openly than any of his more modestly-attired peers, so if a woman likes the fair-skinned fellows...).

More Fun Comics #95 (Jan-Feb 1944) "The Book Bandits"



Synopsis: A truck carrying a load of seemingly unimportant books donated to the U.S.O. disappears outside of a diner Percival Popp happens to be frequenting. Struck by the random and apparent meaninglessness of the crime, Popp can't help but take an interest in the matter, especially when he's accosted by some of Goggles Gus' men worried that he may have figured out how the trick was pulled. Thankfully for Popp, The Spectre shows up (not literally since he's still invisible, but he is there) and races to his defence care of a few pies to the thugs faces and that sort of thing. I guess these stories are becoming about as predictable to The Spectre as they are to us since our hero knows enough not to ask how the disappearing truck trick was accomplished or why Goggles Gus is even after what appears to be worthless books - I mean, The Spectre is obviously curious about the matter, but whereas in the past we would have gotten a 'why is your boss stealing books? How did he pull that stunt with the truck?' here The Spectre simply skips the interrogation as if he knows that would ruin the mystery too early in the tale.




Anyhoo...

We, at least, learn how the truck disappeared when the tale cuts to Gus himself. "There's more than one hundred thousand dollars for us, boys, if I find what I'm looking for! That was worth spending five grand outfitting that elevator near the diner!" Ok, so secret elevator - that explains the vanishing truck, but what's this about "All I have to do is find one book!"? Well, that we don't know yet.

Having returned to Charley's Diner, The Spectre and Popp hide atop the next U.S.O. truck filled with books pulling up to the restaurant. The elevator starts up, the truck and its occupants are lowered, and Gus' men are dumbfounded when they find themselves being attacked by the contents of the vehicle being flung at them as if guided by an invisible hand. Shrugging off the perplexing incident, the goons head back to their boss who lets them in on his little secret. It seems that a Shakespearian scholar known to Gus once found a letter from the bard to Lord Bacon describing his latest play Romeo and Juliet. Unfortunately, this scholar's other interests weren't quite so harmless and as such, had the law breathing down his neck. However, possessing enough foresight to return the letter to the book in which it was discovered with the intention of retrieving it later, but not enough clairvoyance to know that the books would wind up in the possession of the U.S.O., this is where Gus comes in. Learning of the letter and recognizing its importance and with it, value, Gus has been carrying out his audacious robberies in the hopes of finding that one books with that particular letter, but guess who followed his men back to his hideout?

So The Spectre and Popp arrive upon the scene and Gus correctly guesses that "The Spectre is doin' tricks! Popp wouldn't come here without him!" The Spectre indeed may be doin' tricks (actually, just his usual invisible fisticuffs) but it is Popp who clumsily knocks over an oil lamp setting the hideout ablaze. Though he handles Gus easily, The Spectre is unable to stop the blaze and comments ruefully upon the fact that "there's a lot of money in there burning right down to ashes" as the building burns. A few days later, The Spectre catches Popp leafing through stacks of books in the hopes that Shakespeare may have written a second letter...



Thoughts: It does seem after all, that it is known in some circles that where Percival Popp goes, so goes The Spectre. Goggles Gus arrives at that deduction almost immediately upon Popp's bumbling into his hideout and is presented as a foregone conclusion rather than a result of some evidence being presented to him in that moment. His men however, are completely baffled when Popp seemingly gives them the food thrashing of their lives at the diner at the start of the story and similarly confounded when later in the comic are attacked by a pile of books. How Popp's pairing with The Spectre is open knowledge to some and a secret to others is difficult to understand.

Fox doesn't do much of anything with the Shakespeare letter hidden in a book to elevate it beyond a good concept and into the driving force of this story. There are no suspense ridden brushes with discovering the letter, no close calls with it being located and then snatched away by one party or the other, no sense of desperation in locating the prized parchment - The Spectre's attitude upon learning of the existence of the letter is "It's priceless! It proves Shakespeare did write his own stuff!" and upon seemingly watching it burn is a rather ho-hum acknowledgement that "There's a lot of money in there burning right down to ashes!" as he stands casually by from a distance. In between those two disparate and hard to reconcile exclamations? Just your usual invisible socks to the jaws and little else. Fox was also the author who gave us the classic Bat-Man vs. Doctor Death tale in which Batman utters his immortal "Death to Doctor Death" line as he watches his villain's hideout burn to a cinder. This is a far cry from that and it's hard to believe that the same author who scripted that fast-paced classic would go on to limply drag The Spectre through this one.

And how do we even know that the letter went up in that fire since it was never actually discovered on that second truck. While the story notes that that second truck is the last batch, we don't know for certain that it wasn't mislaid elsewhere. It's just another one of those "since the story would be less interesting if it weren't on that truck, then we can assume it was on the truck" moments akin to the previously mentioned "since the story would be less interesting if The Spectre could learn from those hoods what their boss is up to, we can assume that there's no point in having him question them" scene. Fox has a real "Look, do you want to wrap this story up as quickly as possible so we can all go home or do you want to keep reading this when you could be doing so many other better things with your time?" attitude when it comes to these pieces that doesn't really endear me to him.

There was a moment of pathos early on in this yarn which suggested a deeper direction for Fox's script. After being roughed up by a U.S.O, officer who mistakenly thinks that Popp must have stolen the missing truck at the diner, the super-cop remarks that what hurt him the most was that someone thought he would steal from his own country during wartime. Though the suggestion that Popp would be driven to restore his name and his dignity is made, it's quickly forgotten and the detective is back to delivering pratfalls for the story's duration.

So, another disappointing entry and even though only half a dozen remain for this title, I can't help but marvel that the number is that high given the fact that Fox is clearly running on fumes. Well, he's surprised me before so perhaps he'll somehow do it again...

Got an error message and my response was deleted when I hit 'Respond'.  Gah!  Sorry if this comes out a little jumbled -

I've mentioned before how Corrigan was introduced to us as little more than a thug with a badge at the start of this series and actually softened when bonded with The Spectre.  Now that the two have gone their separate ways, The Spectre has become downright goofy.  Considering how regularly Corrigan used to bemoan his fate of being shackled to The Spectre for eternity, he sure got out of that deal pretty easily.  Corrigan's actions remind me of a big brother trying to get rid of his pesky little brother so he can go be an adult on his own and given how silly The Spectre's become, one can understand why.  "Hey, Spec!  Come here, boy!  Come here!  See that big looking tough guy with the glasses and wiry hair?  That guy's a SUPER-cop!  Me, I'm just a regular ol' ordinary cop!  Wouldn't you rather be with him?  Sure you would!  Go get him, boy!  Go get him!  ...you mangy idiot."

I mean, we assumed that The Spectre was the tough guy of the pair, but who knows what was going on in their head when they shared a body?

Spectre:  Jim!  Hey Jim!  Jim!  
Corrigan:  What?!  What is it now?!
Spectre:  When we bust into that hideout, and they go 'The Spectre!' why don't we say 'You can call me anything you like, just don't call me late for breakfast' and then throw a pie at them?  
Corrigan:  ...
Spectre:  We gonna do that, Jim?  Huh?  Are we?  Are we?  What about it, Jim?  Are we?
Corrigan:  Will you shut the Hell up for a change?!?!

I give this review three swiss harps.

A "Swiss Harp", as seen in the linked stock photo, is a traditional Alpine cheese-making tool, and looks just like the same implement The Spectre is wielding.

Spec's coasting to retirement taking on gangs with the most modest of criminal ambitions...I mean, robbing the cheese factory, for crying out loud?!

Good catch on the log--the caption box ("Whissshh!" Down hurtles the log!") draws unnecessary attention and implies that the reader is already aware that The Spectre is totin' timber. Like you said, just weird. I guess some shortcuts are necessary at the abbreviated 7 1/2 page count we're at now.

That last page sure makes it seem like The Spectre can turn on his visibility when he wants to, chatting away with reporters who've been led to witness Popp's humiliation. The artist continues to do nothing to suggest that they are conversing with an unseen spirit.

All-Star Comics #19 (Winter 1943)



Synopsis: Having individually received bare boned notes upon which have been printed a single musical note, The JSA begins to worry when they trace these sheets back to Hawkman. Observing that their fellow teammate must be in some sort of trouble, they repair to a ramshackle house after being summoned by one of his pet hawks to that location. Finding a piano in these rather sad dwellings, Wonder Woman strikes the seven keys corresponding with each note left to Starman, Spectre, Johnny Thunder, Doctor Fate, The Atom, Sandman, and Dr. Mid-Nite. When each key is struck, a letter containing an address and a rhyme slides free from a concealed panel within the instrument. Each member pursues their unusual clew and The Spectre is no exception heading, as he does, for Kensington Manor.

"The Bell Shall Knell its Evil Spell, Till Ghost Appear the Curse to Quell"

A bit of back story is provided before The Spectre enters the scene. During the Manchu Dynasty (which a quick online search assures me ran from 1644-1911/12 but for the sake of this story, I think it's safe to assume that these events transpired closer to the start of this era than to its end) a poor bell-caster was murdered by a jealous rival who sought the heart of a Princess who had fallen for the lowly workman. His death is a horrible one - tossed into the molten metal intended to make the bell which would serve as the centerpiece for a great tower - and with his final words, the poor unfortunate soul imparts a curse upon the bell so that it "shall bring bloody death to countless thousands and to all who play it, until a ghost shall arise to slay the evil that it brings!"

Sure enough, the curse succeeds with an earthquake in China killing half a million people. Years later, the bell was broken down and recast as a set of carillons (a set of smaller bells) and by the time of our story, has brought nothing but riches and plaudits to Armand Baulaire, the musician who possesses them now. An anonymous letter however, informs Baulaire of the bells sordid history, and the musician finds himself wondering whether he should tempt the curse or give up his hitherto successful career.



Meanwhile, The Spectre has determined from the rhyming clew that he should pay a visit to Baulaire given that his carillons "must be the bells the saying on this paper refers to". Finding that the musician isn't at home when he pays his call, The Spectre helps himself to Baulaire's diary where the worried entertainer expresses his concerns about the curse placed upon his bells. Arriving home minutes later (and after his guest's departure) Baulaire is attacked by hoods dressed like the very Manchu Dynasty thugs who attacked bell and curse-caster Ching Tso whose death set these woes in motion. Flying back to the scene, The Spectre spies this odd tableau and rescues Baulaire, thus fulfilling the "a ghost shall arise to slay..." portion of Tso's prophecy. With Baulaire's mind put to rest along with an assurance from The Spectre that there are no such things as curses, all's well that ends well for the musician whose performance that evening, the tale assures us, was "inspired".




The comic itself ends with The Spectre helping to free Hawkman after getting the address of his kidnapper from Baulaire's attackers.  We learn that the mastermind behind his disappearance and the attacks on the various musicians within each respective tale is due to jealousy over their success and resentment over his own failure within the same field.

Thoughts:  Quite a backstory here - Ching Tso being tossed alive into molten metal so that he can actually become part of the bell he would have been casting had he not glanced at a woman who loved him is a pretty chilling set-up for what would surely have made a classic Spectre tale had it been told at an earlier date.  Of course, when your story runs only five pages in length you've pretty much run out of room for anything else once your first two pages are up.  The Spectre does grow to enormous height and pick up Baulaire's pursuers as if they were fleas - always an impressive feat to witness though it isn't anything we haven't seen before - but what else is there to say?  Fox doesn't complicate things by giving The Spectre an unneeded weakness, Baulaire's superstitious quandary is easily resolved, and even the wrap up with the big bad villain is easily achieved.

So nothing really memorable, but nothing which disrespects the character which has to count for something at this late date.

Speaking of which...

Though I'm not really a fan of revisions, retroactive continuity, and reading between the lines for the most part, I can't help but come to the conclusion that this Spectre simply isn't the same Spectre goofing around in More Fun.  A while back, I wondered just what happens when Corrigan heads off in one direction while The Spectre goes in another - could Corrigan transform into The Spectre while his other half is on an errand and if so, does the Spectre on the other side of town have to rush to his aid or does Corrigan just turn into another Spectre?  I mean, he seemed to retain his Spectre powers while the two were apart with no seeming distress being endured by his supernatural half - could he just keep changing into Spectres for as long as he likes.  He did turn into three separate Jim Corrigan's way back during his first adventure after all.

Anyhow, where I'm going with this is could Corrigan have left another Spectre unaccounted for at some point in the past?  Say, at a JSA meeting?  Could account for why All-Star Spec is still visible and has retained some of his dignity in comparison with his More Fun counterpart (whose "I can't show my face anymore" stipulation seems suspiciously more like a response to being paired up with Percival Popp every month than it does a result of being separated from Corrigan if you ask me).