DC Finest: The Spectre: The Wrath of the Spectre

by Gardner Francis Fox

Genres: Comics, Dc Comics

656 pages, Paperback

Published September 16, 2025

About the author

Gardner Francis Cooper Fox was an American writer known best for creating numerous comic book characters for DC Comics. Comic book historians estimate that he wrote more than 4,000 comics stories, including 1,500 for DC Comics.
Fox is known as the co-creator of DC Comics heroes the Flash, Hawkman, Doctor Fate and the original Sandman, and was the writer who first teamed those and other heroes as the Justice Society of America. Fox introduced the concept of the Multiverse to DC Comics in the 1961 story "Flash of Two Worlds!"

Pseudonyms: Gardner F. Fox, Jefferson Cooper, Bart Sommers, Paul Dean, Ray Gardner, Lynna Cooper, Rod Gray, Larry Dean, Robert Starr, Don Blake, Ed Blake, Warner Blake, Michael Blake, Tex Blane, Willis Blane, Ed Carlisle, Edgar Weston, Tex Slade, Eddie Duane, Simon Majors, James Kendricks, Troy Conway, Kevin Matthews, Glen Chase

Reviews

[Gary Sassaman · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3.5 stars)

I think I’m correct in saying that The Spectre was the last of the Golden Age revamps to come forth in the 1960s Silver Age from editor Julius Schwartz, and it didn’t quite take. The character never had its own book back in the 1940s and was featured in Adventure Comics and as a member of the Justice Society of America. I liked the four issues by Fox and Anderson (the three Showcase try-outs, 60, 61, and 64 and The Spectre issue 1) and the Neal Adams issues (2 through 5), but after that it went downhill pretty quickly, not actually being enjoyable again until Michael Fleischer and Jim Aparo brought the character back in the 1970s with a 10-issue run in Adventure Comics, in which The Spectre became a quasi-horror title (the book was called “Weird” Adventure Comics for a spell) and the character embodied the spirit of vengeance, killing criminals in truly horrible ways. I do love Aparo’s art on those issues, though. The DC Finest timeline on this volume wanders around from 1966 through ’69, 1974-75, and 1981 through ’83, and includes the above-mentioned Showcase issues, The Spectre 1-10 (mysteriously listed as “volume 2,” when there was no volume 1), Adventure Comics 431-440, Ghosts 97-99, The Brave and the Bold 72, 76, 116, 180, and 199 (mainly team-ups with Batman), and All-Star Squadron 27-28. The Spectre would return in another series to more long-lasting success in the 1990s, running for 63 issues (0 through 62) by writer John Ostrander and artist Tom Mandrake.

[Matt Sautman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Specter collection is somewhat odd. The first half of stories feel hap-dashed, elevated by powerful art but too much like golden age stories to merit a sense of sustained continuity. Once the comics turn towards horror, however, the Specter elevates in quality to five stars easily.

[Del · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really spectrecular collection.

Really enjoyed the silverage issues. Standouts are the penned Gardner Fox issues, and the penned and drawn issues by Neal Adams. Some really awesome work here.

After finishing the silver age, the bronze age spectre is so different, much more brutal, and it plays much more into the supernatural spooky side of things. Penned by Michael Fleisher, if you have read his work on Marvel's Ghostrider, you can instantly draw some parallels as The spectre is a far more vengeful spirit than the silver age iteration. The characterization is clearly different here.

In the silver age issues, Corrigan and Spectre are separate entities, and at times need to team up to defeat the villains, whereas in the bronze age, Corrigan and Spectre are more or less one and the same person, I personally preferred the silver age in this aspect. But even so, these are really good reads, but sadly, they are mostly only 12-13 page issues. I think one is 20 pages, which is possibly the best one.

The 3 ghosts issues were also short but sweet. Doctor 13 was a interesting character, curious if he was inspired by the Bob Hope Ghost breakers film, I'd be surprised if he wasn't. There is also a panel that is clearly Colombo from the 70s detective series, which was a nice touch.

The Brave and the Bold batman issues were really solid, the standout for me was the one where the Spectre has lost Jim Corrigan's body and needs Batman't detective skills to trace it. Really well done.

And the collection finishes with 2 all star squadron issues penned by Roy Thomas, with the Spectre at the centre of the plot. These were very long but very good reads, I've never read all star squadron before, but based on these, I'd be interested in a future DC finest release if it happens.

So overall, this collection is a really great mix of different eras, most issues are really great stuff, and the artistry, especially from the silver age issues by Murphy Anderson and Neal Adams, is stunning. Highly recommend this one, quite possibly one of the best DC finests released so far.

[Ángel Javier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hay cosas que no se entienden. Que aparezcan como autores en la portada del cómic Gardner Fox, Neal Adams y Murphy Anderson cuando los mejores tebeos de este volumen vienen firmados por el tándem Michael Fleischer-Jim Aparo (y no son precisamente pocos: 10 números de la colección regular más varios de The Brave and the Bold) me parece incomprensible. Pero aparte de esa injusticia absurda, hay que reconocer que esta compilación es otro gran acierto de la línea DC Finest: historias clásicas sólidas que llegan a rozar la excelencia cuando se alcanza la colección Wrath of the Spectre, en la que tenemos a este personaje prácticamente todopoderoso cobrándose terribles venganzas en bandidos, gánsteres, etc., excelentemente plasmadas por el gran Aparo, que dota a sus viñetas de una cualidad macabra y retorcida en perfecta consonancia con el carácter de nuestro protagonista. Nunca entenderé por qué el Espectro no desata su ira divina sobre, por ejemplo, Lex Luthor, el Flash Reverso o Sinestro (eximo al Joker porque está loco y, por tanto, no responsable de sus actos), pero bueno, cosas de los cómics...

[Greg Trosclair · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have read most of these stories multiple times and they are some of the best stories DC tells in both the 60's and 70's. The Spectre is an incredible character that almost never gets his due. In particular the 1970's Adventure Comics stories drawn by Jim Aparo feel like a precursor to the Vertigo type of books from DC beginning in the late 80's. They were a step beyond what most books using the Comics Code got away with at the time.

[Gabriel Rojo · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars
The early Gardner Fox stories are typical 60s DC nonsense, but the collection really comes into its own during the ghastly, merciless Michel Fleisher / Jim Aparo stories. Still, the character's potential will lie mostly untapped until the later John Ostrander era.

[Doug Duncan · Rating 4 out of 5]

a fun book overall, the stories don't feel like they have much weight to them but as classic old school stories go, they are enjoyable. I really liked the artwork throughout.

[Matt Fuller · Rating 5 out of 5]

This shows the transition of the Spectre from a Golden Age hero to an intense horror comic. Great stuff in here. Covers 1966-1983.