Agnew's Mind He's got a long journey ahead of him.

DC University : The Spectre

    by Mike Agnew Jr.

Characters of the DC Universe fall into several categories: aliens, magicians, demons, time-travelers, etc. The Spectre falls into a very specific category only one other character shares (as far as I know). To be honest I just found this out in one of the recent comics I read.  The other interesting point here is that comic book characters develop just like the stories.  They grow and change and even have revelations from time to time.  The Spectre is the perfect example of this because he has a few origins, many of them conflicting.   This occurs a lot when writers want to resurrect stories and characters from the past.  They sit around and try to think up some way to bring some minor character back into the picture and usually get scrutinized for it.  But I digress, time to meet the Spectre.

He is the wrath of God incarnate. See I told you, whole new category. Let's jump into the back story...the original back story. God is good. Devil builds up an army. The Devil revolts against God. Devil loses. God smites him. Yay God. As the story goes the Spectre was one of the angels that revolted with the devil but later repented. God punishes the Spectre by sending him to earth deal out judgment, which he carries out in a very poetic and sometimes completely misguided way.  For instance, in the case of the pending execution of a wrongfully convicted man. His death sentence was commuted to life in prison after the Spectre threatened to kill the entire population of the state of New York in retribution, arguing that if the execution was carried out, the "people of the state of New York" would become guilty of murder in his eyes.  For those of you who have read the bible or just the cliff notes, the angel of death that killed all the first born sons of Egypt....the Spectre....at least according to the DCU.

To balance this wrathiness, the Spectre has always been paired with a human host.  Someone to say, "Hey you know wiping out New York is not such a good idea."  You end up with a buddy system that makes situations very intense and confrontational as an internal debate ensues.  Jim Corrigan, a murdered cop who decided to reject the afterlife, assumed the role of the Spectre for a very long time.  He is the version of the Spectre we see as part of the JSA(Justice Society of America, a 1950's style Justice League).  Later on his soul found rest and for a while the Spectre was on his own.  At one point he was tricked into thinking that all the magic elements in the world were evil and had to pass judgment on them.  I would say a good 50-60% of all magic characters were killed off in the chaos that was the Day of Vengeance.  Soon the role was passed to one of my favorite characters, the late (at the time) Hal Jordan. After the Green Lantern went a little nuts and tried to rewrite the universe....yes...that's right.  He eventually let his guard down and was killed by the Justice League (see Zero Hour). Hal was a cool host for the Spectre because he argued with the ridiculous totalitarian logic of the Spectre on almost every occasion.

To really get a feel for the Spectre you have to read all the big events, Infinite Crisis, Day of Vengence, Identity Crisis...there are a few more but the names escape me.

At one point he was labeled as too powerful but the writers of DC.  How is Superman going to beat the Wrath of God?  By punching him?  So eventually they gave him the weakness of blind justice and absolute power.  When you read a Spectre story there will always be a point where you put down the book and figure out what side you would be on; what you would tell the Spectre.  Then you hope it plays out that way.

I like the Spectre.  He's mid-level character but definitely one of the good ones.

Read: Books of Magic; Day of Vengeance; Crisis on Infinite Earths; Zero Hour

DC Univeristy: The Martian Manhunter

    by Mike Agnew Jr.

Martian Manhunter is one of the greatest character in the DC universe. His real name is J'onn J'ones, which you kinda have to say with a french accent, jjjjjawn jjjjjjowns. For the most part, J'onn's story is similar to Superman's. As sole survivor of the planet Mars, J'onn travels to Earth and assumes the identity of a detective for the Chicago police Department under the name John Jones. As a detective he learns much about the human race. He witnesses the good with the bad. This turmoil is what defines his character. He's kinda like batman, not really trusting everybody and often going his own way and excluding himself from missions based on his personal beliefs. Actually, J'onn and Batman have a cool friendship. Sometimes the two of them have telepathic conversations while Superman and the rest of the Justice League battle out some argument about ethics. These conversations can be quite funny. J'onn normally talks in a very definitive tone and when someone like Batman makes a counterpoint that shuts him up there is normally a funny quirk or cliche that follows.

On to his Powers... He has a bunch so let me just list them off: Super-Speed, Flight, Shape-Shifting, Super-Sight, Martian Vision (X-ray), Super-Strength, Telepathy, Eye-Energy Beam, and the ability to turn invisible and let things pass through him or travel through walls. His telepathy is often used as a switchboard between minds ,allowing teams to communicate even when their com links are down. Superman often refers to him as "the most powerful being on earth". He does, however, have a weakness to fire. Fire is what destroyed his home world so he holds a buried fear. This fear normally causes him to return to his martian form and return to the fetal position. There have been times where he overcomes this fear in times of need but, for the most part, he reacts like the Scarecrow versus the Wicked Witch. As with most comic book characters, if you give them all the powers you have to give them a simple weakness in order to achieve some power balance.

Manhunter normally comes in two looks: the native martian look where he's pretty much naked and has a very long and alien shaped head and the super hero look where he has a normal human shaped bald head, a cape, trademark red crisscross straps across his chest. In both forms he is still very green. When he is undercover as John Jones he is in classic trench coat gear.

Manhunter is one of my favorite characters because he is a contrast from all the other major characters ,even though he shares so much with them. The difference is he is constantly trying to figure out the human race and much, like the Flash, he keeps the League morally in check. His story is also a sad one since he lost his wife and daughter during the destruction of Mars. His telepathy powers often cause him to playback this event over and over as if he is reliving it.

Aside from his superhuman powers, the Manhunter is also a skilled and very capable detective. As Batman mentions in his file, "in many ways, Martian Manhunter is like an amalgam of Superman and the Dark Knight himself."

He has one other weakness that I also share......

Suggested Readings: Kingdom Come