9. Offering a balance between action and moral conundrum, the Spectre would be a circumspect and appropriate character for the morally didactic modern age
A founding member of the first superhero team in comic book history – the Justice Society of America – the Spectre was created during the Golden Age in 1940 by Jerry Siegel and Bernard Baily. Centering on Jim Corrigan, a by the book police officer who, whilst on his way home to his fiance, Clarice, is murdered by a gang of criminals, his spirit is denied entry to the peaceful afterlife. Sent back to Earth by an entity known only as “The Voice”, Jim is charged with defeating the evil he had failed to combat in life as a law enforcement professional. Seeking vengeance against those responsible for his death, the original series was ahead of its time in both graphic detail and maturity.
Despite the initial popularity of the character, the Spectre faded after World War Two before being rebooted again in the 1970s and 1980s. Each time using a different individual as the backstory for the avenging spirit, the character was capable of undergoing an easy “soft” reboot to remain relevant and interesting. Possessing almost limitless powers whilst inhabiting a human form, the character is nevertheless bound by divine law to only harm those judged as unworthy.