You know, though I had seen this cover before - and it is great - I had never read the story until now.  I think I had dismissed it as 'Giant Astral Beings Pummel One Another for Some Fate of the Universe Something or Other Thing' but now, I can't help but think how down to earth it was in a way.  There's no cosmic being intent on ruling the universe using these two heroes as pawns, but a bitter, sort of wronged individual trying to settle a score from 50 years past.  Sure, The Ghost Pilot is a spectral being himself, but his intentions, emotions, goal are all too human and recognizable - he isn't some alien being motivated by capturing some cosmic stones or something which I would have thought more likely based on the nature of this cover.  The spectral dogfight in space is out there of course, but this is still a story grounded in human emotions.

Brave and the Bold #75 (January 1968) "The Grasp of Shahn-Zi!"

Author:  Bob Haney
Artist:  Ross Andru

"But how long can you hold me, upstart?  A thousand years have taught me a thousand tricks... a thousand strategems!  Sooner or later, I shall break free!"  

Synopsis: Chinese New Year's kicks off in Gotham's Chinatown with a surprise appearance from none other than Batman himself. Appropriately enough, since the bat is apparently the symbol of this new year. So Batman swings unto the scene, shakes the hand of Chinatown's unofficial "Mayor" Bill Loo, and comments upon how modern the area has quickly become. The festivities with the "Mayor's" son playing electric guitar against the backdrop of Mod looking go-go dancers certainly bears this out. But despite Batman grinning like an idiot throughout the evening (picture the unashamed ear-to-ear grin expression found on a fourth grader's yearbook photo) not all present are happy with recent developments.

"Insolent one! Nothing changes! The old ways -- the old power -- the ancient mastery -- remain forever!"



And with that, this strange, cloaked figure slinks off into a nearby empty warehouse where he - with "this water of the Yellow River" poured onto "The Wheel of Ming" (a wooden facsimile of a water wheel) - arranges to project himself into the festival where he announces himself as "The River Lord". With the older partygoers immediately bowing their heads in reverence to this man (aka "My Lord Shan-Zi") it seems as if his dramatic entrance wasn't quite so dramatic considering his seemingly vaunted reputation. Certainly, it pales in comparison to what happens next.

Growing to incredible size, Shahn-Zi casts a spell which creates a transparent barrier around Chinatown "which cannot be passed by mortals!" And this is only the start of what he promises to be a 1,000 year rule. But since a giant barrier cast around Chinatown is hard to keep secret, Commissioner Gordon soon enters the scene and he's brought with him a fellow officer courtesy of Gateway City here to learn how the GCPD gets things done - Detective Jim Corrigan himself. As Batman confirms to his satisfaction that the barrier cannot be breached from within with a solid punch, Gordon orders his men to ram the shield with one of their specially designed riot wagons. When this attempt (spurred on as much by a desire to penetrate the barrier as it is to show what a "young fellow" such as Corrigan can learn from "an old pro" as Gordon) and an another to fly a helicopter into the area fails, Corrigan sneaks away to confer with and summon The Spectre.

"The smell of evil is on that wall -- the dark forces are threatening again! This wall -- it's incredible! Only some master of necromancy and incalculable cunning could have created it!"

Bidding his other half farewell, The Spectre passes through the barrier - an achievement which doesn't go unnoticed by Shahn-Zi who transforms into a rat and sneaks into Bill Loo's office where he presents the "Mayor" with an ultimatum.

"A thousand years have I lived -- but now my time is short! I shall die soon... therefore, a new Shahn-Zi must take my place! I have chosen mu successor... your son!"

Of course, this is more an ultimatum for Loo's son Danny who must "willingly" accept this position, but "Mayor" Bill makes it clear that he has no intention of letting this happen. Adopting the form of a snake as he makes his disappearance through a window, Shahn-Zi's proposition is left with Loo who relays it to Batman as he swings into the room through the window opposite the one the villain left.

"Keep your chin up, Bill... as long as the old Bat-Guy can still swing on a rope, we're not licked!"

Still, Batman is forced to admit to himself that he isn't quite sure what he can accomplish against a being of Shahn-Zi's magnitude. Thankfully, the odds are about to become a little more favorable as The Spectre streaks through the sky. Sensing that his "astral emanations are everywhere", the grim ghost divides himself into five copies to follow the different tracks he is detecting.



Coming across Shahn-Zi disguised as a dog, one of these forms offers the fiend with an ultimatum of his own.

"I am called The Spectre, and my power is formidable! I order you to remove that wall or feel those powers!"

Naturally, Shahn-Zi refuses and grapples with his new enemy who, having divided himself so, is not as powerful as his whole self would be. Things look dire for our hero when Shahn-Zi prepares to toss The Spectre into the wall he's created with the ghost acknowledging that should his discarnate body touch the barrier in his weakened state, it would be the end for him. Summoning his splintered selves to reform, the disparate Spectres arrive just in time to give the unified hero the strength he needs to stop short of hitting the wall at the last second.

Another bit of good news arrives for our champion when he discovers that Batman was trapped within the barrier when it was erected and now offers his aid against this menace. Unfortunately, it doesn't look as if he's going to be much help when Shahn-Zi flings him through the air (he catches a flagpole and saves himself) and turns his attention once more to The Spectre. The pair do battle in giant sized form with Shahn-Zi taking on the appearance of a multi-headed snake while Spec turns the fire they breathe to ice with his cape. It seems like a pretty evenly balanced match until The Spectre is carried aloft by a pagoda with no end to his journey in sight. Salvation comes in the form of a grapnel hook with Batman at the other end pulling him to safety. As it turns out, Shahn-Zi's contact with the cowled crimefighter had the unanticipated benefit of transferring some of his power to his adversary making such a feat of strength possible.

Still, one person remains unconvinced of the pair's chances against Shahn-Zi and even as The Spectre and Batman discuss their situation, he is setting his own plan in motion. The pounding of a ceremonial drum draws the attention of the duo who watch aghast as Bill Loo leads a procession with his son in tow all as part of their decision to give in to Shahn-Zi's demand. Danny offers his reasoning as such:

"I may be a swinger, Batman, but like all Chinese-American children, I respect and obey my honorable father! It's a bad gig -- but Chinatown must be free again!"

But even as "Mayor" Bill accepts the disgust his act of cowardice must bring to the hearts of The Spectre and Batman with a humble bow, he leaves a clue in the form of a dropped fortune cookie. Contained therein, is a message informing the two heroes where Danny is to meet Shahn-Zi. Which is... not clear exactly. "Deserted ruins", a "certain spot", is about as clear as the text makes it. Nevertheless, Danny is met by Shahn-Zi in lizard form who attempts to hypnotize the teen. The ritual is interrupted by Batman who leaps from out of a nearby drum in an attempt to grab his foe while still in lizard form since Shahn-Zi is vulnerable in this state. Unfortunately, the Gotham Guardian is just too late and Shahn-Zi takes his leave and with it, Danny. Spotting a disturbed manhole cover, Batman and The Spectre give chase and split up. Locating Shahn-Zi first, Batman - with whatever added strength he acquired earlier from the scallywag having now dissipated - is easily captured as his foe grows his arm and hand to enormous size and pins the hero against the wall (replicating the scene adorning this cover, incidentally). The Spectre materializes through the wall announcing that Batman was merely bait for Shahn-Zi (though whether or not the Dark knight Detective was aware of this isn't clear - it actually seems as if it wasn't) and makes his attack while instructing his partner to locate Danny Loo.

Finding the lad in an abandoned warehouse as he attempts to replicate (or complete) the ritual performed at the start of this tale by Shahn-Zi when he poured water from "The Yellow River" (yeech) onto a water wheel, a well thrown batarang smashes the device and breaks the spell just as The Spectre is on the verge of reaching "the disintegration point" which is depicted exactly the way you'd think it would be. With the spell broken however, Shahn-Zi disappears as does his wall and things return to normal. The Spectre and Batman return Danny to Bill with the Caped Crusader proudly remarking, "If there's ever a 'Year of The Spectre', it'll get my vote.

Thoughts: Beneath a forbidding Neal Adams cover featuring a rather pissed off looking Batman, there reads a tale of a masked manhunter who makes an entrance by ripping off the gaudy giftwrap he's covered himself in as if he's jumping out of a birthday cake; who, with hound dog eyes, grins from ear to ear while basking in the applause of an awestruck audience; and who refers to himself as "Bat-Guy". Such is the trademark of a Bob Haney Batman tale.

I remember hearing someone once describe Abraham Lincoln's voice as very high and shrill, that when you heard it for the first time, you were taken aback by its peculiarities, but after a short while, you found yourself thinking not "why does he sound like that", but "why doesn't everyone speak like that"? That's sort of where I can't help but stand with Haney's Batman. It's the swinging 60's and Haney lets you know it whenever he can. From references made to the modern revamping of Chinatown to Danny playing an electric guitar to Batman being treated more as a celebrity than as a crimefighter even the aggressive authoritarian personality which Commissioner Gordon has been lumbered with as he displays an unusual amount of machismo when he endangers his own men so can stubbornly ram a riot wagon into Shahn-Zi's barrier over and over again while shaking his fist in the air. I know that the police weren't exactly popular with a lot of kids in the 60's, but it's still strange to see Gordon suffer for this.



Jim Corrigan is used so briefly however, that his standing with the police force never comes into question. In fact, though he assures The Spectre that "I'll see what I can do outside here!" after conferring with his other half when the latter breaks the force shield, he doesn't pop up again thereafter. Kind of a shame, but it's hard to figure what he could have contributed to this adventure.

The Spectre splits off into five different copies - a trick which goes all the way back to Corrigan's debut when he did the same against "Gat" Benson. That doing so also means dividing his powers between so many "Spectres" neatly explains why it isn't a trick we see more often. He also doesn't seem too hesitant to use Batman as bait when tracking Shahn-Zi in the sewers. "As I hoped -- using Batman for bait lured you out!" While it has already been established that their foe could be listening in at any time to their conversations and that such a plan therefore risked detection if discussed beforehand, it still seems like a cheap thing to do. Still, it effectively illustrates the raised stakes at play here that The Spectre finds it necessary to take such a risk. Good thing we're dealing with a Batman who takes things in stride.

While the script does acknowledge that Batman is a bit out of his realm here, Haney deserves credit for setting things up so that his crucial contribution in being the one to sound Shahn-Zi's death knell isn't contrived. Having a human agent sneak in and attack the powerful God where he's most vulnerable while The Spectre goes after him on the villain's own playing field works well especially since it's been established that a being as powerful as Shahn-Zi would likely know if someone were going after his protege if he weren't being distracted by someone else. Of course, this is exactly the sort of relationship The Spectre should be having with Jim Corrigan, but, hey, it's Haney's idea and it's for a Batman team-up comic, so what can you do?

Would have been nice had Haney developed Bill and Danny Loo a little more. Sure, they're not the stars of this comic, but a father handing his son over to a demon God with only the faintest hope of defeating him surely deserves some attention.

Finally, there are no half-hearted attempts to explain how The Spectre could be on Earth-One if he's from Earth-Two. Haney, thankfully, doesn't broach the subject and I think it's safe to assume that The Spectre resides on both worlds should you need an explanation. Unless of course, the GCPD is capable of transferring police officers from Earth-Two.

Interestingly, Shahn-Zi and Danny Loo apparently return in Brave and the Bold 1#37 when Haney will revisit these characters in that issue's Batman/Demon team-up. I'm sure I'll check it someday, but up next, The Spectre #1...

The Spectre #2 (Feb. 1968) "Die, Spectre -- Again!"



Writer:  Gardner Fox
Artist:  Neal Adams

"Ah!  A bouquet of flowers up my sleeve -- bearing the sweet smell of -- defeat -- for The Spectre!"

Synopsis: An attempted robbery victim gets the upper-hand on mugger/stage magician Dirk Rawley and proceeds to turn his would-assailant's revolver on the now cowering criminal. Rawley is saved when a faceless man sucker punches the passerby and introduces himself as "your etheric self". Slowly, the man's blank features morph into that of Rawley's who listens stunned as his other self explains:

"Your emotional state - brought about by the intense fear of being killed - has at long last released the etheric body which has always been a part of you! I breathe! I live! Farewell for now, Dirk Rawley! I go to the ancient, demon-haunted town of Arkham -- to bathe in the evil emanations which form a vicious vortex there, and gather strength! But -- we shall meet -- again!"


Alright, so you're going to be hearing "etheric body" a lot during this review, so just is an "etheric body"? As The Spectre will later explain to Jim Corrigan -

"It's a spirit counterpart of the huma body which it resembles -- and usually subject to the commands of its physical double! By changing its density, an etheric double can pass through solid walls - yet keep itself solid enough to pick up tangible objects! By surrounding these solid objects with its aura, it is able to transport them through walls!"

That bit about keeping "itself solid enough to pick up tangible objects" turns out to be crucial to this ethereal being's comings and goings for it explains how the vault of a Gateway City bank and later, a gem collection whose seal still remains unbroken despite the loss of what it was meant to proect, could be robbed seemingly without effort. Of course, Detective-Captain Jim Corrigan investigating these "impossible crimes" doesn't know any of these supernatural details yet. Besides, he has a date with Mona Marcy. For this reason, when The Spectre shows up that evening to "restore my psychic energies within you", Corrigan suggests that he doesn't overstay his welcome seeing as how he'd likely some privacy with his date. Interestingly, we do learn - or at least get confirmation - that Corrigan doesn't actually have to verbally tell Spectre anything for his other self to learn details the lawman is privy to.

"I should have told my other self about the "impossible crimes" case -- but while he's inside me he'll find out about it quickly enough!"

Good thing too, for even as Corrigan focuses his attention on what he thinks is an unrelated matter - introducing Mona to magician, Dirk Rawley at the ball they're attending - The Spectre perceives the hand of a spirit being in the recent spate of Impossible Crimes. Arriving within the vault of The Gateway Bank to look for any clues still emanating from the scene of the crime, The Spectre finds the lingering residue of "sinister energies" a potent enough threat to literally tear him apart should he not break free at once. This accomplished, our hero heads to crime location #2 - that of The Soames Mansion where the contents of jewelled chest were absconded with by his unknown enemy. With the energies here not as powerful as at the bank, The Spectre manages to follow the psychic trail left by the culprit behind these robberies and traces it to a museum where he finds the criminal's latest robbery already in progress.



Recognizing the blaggard as the stage magician from the ball, The Spectre flies into action but discovers that Rawley's twin's stay in Arkham has only enhanced his abilities. Countering with violent attacks of energy as well as common magic tricks with an "etheric energy" twist - a giant rabbit, a bouquet of flowers, a giant deck of cards which becomes animated and malicious in its intentions towards the grim ghost - the doppelganger manages to escape The Spectre with the goods he came to pillage. The Spectre returns to Corrigan's home where he fills his partner in on the details.

When Corrigan expresses skepticism at the notion that the same man he saw perform at his ball could have simultaneously battled The Spectre elsewhere, the grim ghost fills his partner in on the explanation cited earlier in this review which brings forth a different concern: "How do we stop this spook crook?" The Spectre's best guess? If Corrigan hits Rawley's physical body at the same moment that The Spectre hits his etheric one, they might successfully "'knock' it out of existence".

The pair gets their chance soon after when Mona invites Corrigan to a charity dinner where Rawley is scheduled to perform. Thinking it likely that the magician will use his public appearance as an alibi for another robbery elsewhere, both the detective-captain and The Spectre are on their guard. Sending a mental message to Corrigan advising him to strike on his command, The Spectre locates Rawley's etheric self in the west end as he attempts to rob a jewelry store as he prepares to do the same. However, the sight of Jim Corrigan rushing the stage to attack the evening's entertainment doesn't make for good optics ("He's run amok!") and the officer is prevented from carrying out his mission by concerned waiters and patrons. On top of that, Rawley promises to prefer charges for his attempted assault.

Things backfire on The Spectre who finds that Rawley's other half has prepared for his arrival with a ruby designed to trap his very being. The villain leaves the gem in the store as he returns to Arkham to bathe in evil energy thus restoring his energies. Meanwhile, by shifting his body violently within the ruby, The Spectre manages to roll towards a diamond dropped by the crook as he made his leave. Scratching the jewel which contains him succeeds in creating just enough of a weak spot that by propping his makeshift prison up against a nearby radiator, The Spectre manages to break free and locate Jim Corrigan...

...just as he's turning in his badge.

So Corrigan has been suspended and Rawley is going to make it difficult for the pair to time their simultaneous attack from here on out. Sure enough, Corrigan trails his prey for a couple of days before finding a possible opening for an attack when he spots Rawley entering an amusement park. Knowing that something is up given the way Rawley keeps looking at his watch, Corrigan determines that when Rawley enters the parks 'Airplane Ride' and boards one of the 'jets' designed to spin overhead, his cue has arrived. The only question is, how can he reach Rawley when he's spinning around and around overhead at such a great speed? Corrigan had better think fast since The Spectre's telepathic message informs him that he's about to come into contact with his etheric self.

"All set, Jim? I'll give you a twenty second countdown! At zero... hit him hard!"

Remembering that he has a friend in the park and that this friend runs the 'Human Canonnball' ride, Corrigan manages to be fired from the contraption (which he's instructed his pal to aim at the Airplane ride) and slug Rawley on the jaw just as The Spectre does the same with his other self elsewhere in the city. With both Rawleys incapicitated, The Spectre imprisons his etheric body in Arkham under a shield of "goodness" while Corrigan turns his human form over to the police. When asked if he has any evidence of his complicity in these crimes, The Spectre shows up and presents the missing goods. When it's pointed out that there's nothing to connect Rawley with these stolen items, The Spectre brings Hubert Desmond into the room. Who's Hubert Desmond? He's the man who Rawley attempted to rob at the start of this tale and you can bet that he's willing to testify against the fiend. How can we know for sure that Desmond has positively identified his assailant? By the fact that Rawley is wearing a watch inscribed to Desmond. Corrigan is cleared and The Spectre echoes his sentiments that not all of their cases are as difficult as this one.

Thoughts: It's nice to see that Fox has found a suitable means by which he can focus as much attention on Corrigan as he can on The Spectre. While The Spectre's world may be old hat to him, it becomes all the more unusual and intriguing when viewed through the lens of someone unaccustomed to such matters - ie. Corrigan. And while there is nothing in those early More Fun tales which indicate that Corrigan and The Spectre are supposed to be two separate entities, if Fox is going to take that route, then I think he should play up their differences wherever he can.

Despite presenting Corrigan back in Showcase #60 as the one longing for the days when he could transform into The Spectre, Fox neatly illustrates that it is the lawman who tends to get the short end of the stick in this relationship. I like how while Corrigan tells The Spectre "all I had to do is say Dirk Rawley's body etheric body was out robbing for him while his physical body was here -- and they'd throw me in the looney bin!" The Spectre is able to tell the police commissioner precisely that (as he materializes through a wall) and the only complaint directed his way is "well, I believe you, but a jury wouldn't". I'd still like to know just how The Spectre came to work with the police if for no other reason than it might shed light on why Corrigan would look crazy if he starts yapping about etheric spirits and The Spectre doesn't.  Even little details such as having The Spectre shoving Corrigan aside in bed with a "now let's both get some sleep" as Corrigan clearly looks put out is an amusing touch.



Neal Adams has continued Murphy Anderson's penchant for depicting The Spectre as lounging about when in conference with Corrigan. Grant Morrison once remarked that despite images to the contrary, a being of Superman's might would be unlikely to stand around with his chest puffed out and muscles flexed since his powers and invulnerability would negate for such a defensive stance. I like that this has been acknowledged with The Spectre as well. He doesn't need to be on the look-out - his life is one battle after another and such a character should appreciate his downtime whenever he can find a few minutes to spare. By contrast, it's Corrigan who comes across as tense as he has to wonder how to extricate himself from jams which might be a plaything to The Spectre but seem impossible to your average joe. The Spectre's indifference to his partner's problems - "How am I supposed to strike a guy who's spinning around and around 100 feet in the air?", "That's your problem, Jim! I'll give you twenty seconds to think of something!" - comes across as realistically callous - I mean, if you had to zip across the city, do battle with powerful sorcerers, fight your way out of a ruby, would you want to hear the relatively trivial concerns of some ordinary human? I did notice though, what seems to be a hastily added seatbelt drawn across The Spectre's chest as he rides in Corrigan's vehicle as if someone thought it less than prudent to have the good guy - even if he is The Spectre - not be shown taking such a precaution while driving.

It's also nice to see the return of Mona Marcy though with this being Fox's last issue on the title, I can't imagine we'll be seeing her again especially since he does nothing with the character to warrant a reason future writers would want to use her again. The superhero's girlfriend has always been one of those tropes I've never understood why anyone should care about, but since it presented an opening for a writer to do something with Corrigan I liked that it was there as an option. Hopefully, we'll get more of the Captain-Detective regardless of his love-life from here on out.

Once again, The Spectre comes up against an opponent who, on his own merits, is more powerful than he. It's been a recurrent theme - in fact, the norm - since the early days of the strip and while it's understandable that writers should want to stack the deck against our champion, it does call into question just why The Spectre so often seems like such a novice against other newcomers to this game. Rawley, for instance, is a genuine threat against the guy despite coming into existence only recently. After a brief jaunt to Arkham, we're expected to believe that he learns enough in that short period of time than The Spectre has in the five or so years that he's been around (I'm not including the 20 years he spent trapped inside of Corrigan). Either that, or dark magic is simply more powerful than good magic.

One other note: In recapping The Spectre's origin, Fox does away with the quotation marks when making reference to Corrigan's death and The Spectre being his ghost. It seemed for a while that Fox was trying to dance around the supernatural details of the character by suggesting that Corrigan didn't literally die or that The Spectre wasn't literally a ghost. Superman and Batman comics of this time made sure to ascertain that the supernatural didn't exist and I would guess, most other titles followed suit. Interesting that The Spectre tried to respect this rule (or at least not out-right contradict it) but has now embraced its true origins.

So a strong tale and quite a shift from last month's goofy pirate yarn - hard to believe that only a single month separates these two issues. We'll see what the next issue has to offer when Mike ("I hereby cast my vote for not giving him own magazine") Friedrich takes over writing duties from Gardner Fox.

I thought he did alright in those two panels - I like how he renders The Spectre's face as a flat two-dimensional object and you really do get a sense that he's being pulled by forces beyond his control, but you make a great point - would Adams have been able to manage something so absurd and surreal as what Mike Sekowsky did with his distorted bobble-headed Spectre over in Justice League?  Hard to picture it.

Strange - if The Spectre were a straight up horror book, Adams would be in his element - look not further than his 'terrified kids' uncovering something they really shouldn't have themed covers he'd soon be doing all over the place.  Interesting that Jim Aparo working in Adams' style could do so much with the vicious killer Spectre in about five years time, whereas Adams was working under more constrained conditions ('constrained' for what he was great at). 

Y'gotta respect Mike Friedrich taking on the challenge of teaming the JSA's most over-powered member with the most modestly-equipped non-powered member (The Atom had limited super-strength, Mr. Terrific was a genius and master of numerous skills and subjects of knowledge, and Black Canary had gimmicks beyond a motorcycle, making Wildcat, arguably, the weakest of them). Between this and the Brave & Bold and Super-Team Family appearances, I have to think there was a persistent idea that Wildcat was the Golden Age character that had the most potential for a successful comeback as a solo, and Mike Friedrich does perhaps perceive the one under-utilized quality that I think does in fact give Wildcat immense plot potential: as a renowned heavyweight champion of the world, he has easy purchase into nearly every corner of the culture, from political events to high-society fundraisers to the local Elks Lodge to the slums. On top of that, he's got a powerful trademark code name--Wildcat--that DC would be reluctant to abandon and likely attracted additional buyers every time he teamed with Batman, whether they knew this character or not.

I've always loved the energy and turmoil Adams so perfectly brought to this cover.




Very important character-building moment, and it might be one of the first modern depictions (i.e. Silver Age-forward)of an older superhero openly acknowledging his age or being past his prime. Silver Age-revived Captain America & Namor never even considered that, and I'm not sure the other DC Golden Age heroes (post 1956) ever analyzed themselves in that way, either.




Yes, he threw himself into the story and actually delivered a very solid issue.



Adams was rapidly proving that he could dramatically transform any character in the DC roster with few equals. Once he added his distinctive visual "voice" to a character, it was difficult to see any one else attempt to follow him (with exceptions such as Aparo on the Bat-titles). You mentioned his brand of aliens--yes, he was at the forefront of "superhero" comic artists challenging the silly convention that alien life were simply humans of another flavor like counterparts from low-budget 50s sci-fi movies. He would take this same expansive take on aliens to covers of Adventure Comics and during his early 70s run at Marvel (among other publishers).