Jim Corrigan
Encyclopedia
Jim Corrigan is the name of three fictional character
s that have appeared in numerous comic book
s published by DC Comics
. The first Corrigan initially appeared in More Fun Comics
#52 (February 1940), a deceased cop acting as host to the cosmic entity the Spectre
, and was created by Jerry Siegel
and Bernard Baily
.
The second Jim Corrigan was an African-American policeman who first appeared in Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #149, (May 1972). The character was created by John Albano and Jose Delbo. He later became a regular supporting character in Black Lightning
beginning with volume 1 issue #4.
The third Jim Corrigan appeared years later in issue 12 of Gotham Central
, a series that focuses around the Gotham City Police Department
. The character, created by Greg Rucka
, Ed Brubaker
, and Michael Lark
although similar to the first Corrigan in being a cop, has not been directly connected to the first since this version is a corrupt, self-serving villain who murders his colleague Crispus Allen — who then becomes involved with the Spectre.
Jim Corrigan began his career as the Spectre in the early 1940s, when the hard-boiled police detective was murdered. Put into cement and thrown into the water by crime-boss Gat Benson, Jim Corrigan's soul left his body and went on to the afterlife. Instead of going into Heaven, his spirit refused to pass into the afterlife, and his rage was heard by the archangel
Michael
, who bonded his spirit to the spirit of God's vengeance, the Spectre. He was condemned to return to Earth for sixty years of punishing wrongdoings.
As the Spectre, Jim Corrigan returned to the mortal plane as a partial human, where he proceeded to rain his vengeance on Gat Benson and his accomplices. In the process however, his fiancée, Clarice Winston, was mortally wounded. Using his newfound power, he was able to return Clarice to life, but later ended their relationship in order to spare her any further pain. He also broke off with his partner, and became more of a lone agent, trying to distance himself from his mortal ties, although he retained his job on the police force.
As the popularity of superhero comics began to decline in the mid-1940s, the Spectre suffered as a result. He was reduced to playing the role of "guardian angel" to a bumbling character called "Percival Popp, the Super Cop." Introduced in #74, December 1941 (aside from a head-shot in a one-panel preview at the end of #73's Spectre story), he was a would-be civilian sleuth who, in his words, latched onto Corrigan "of all the detectives on the force because it appeared to me that you are the most intelligent of the lot! You and I ought to be an unbeatable combination, sir!" In the following story, the Voice allowed the physical body of Jim Corrigan, still in cement at the bottom of the river, to be resurrected with the Ring of Life, which had helped the Spectre out of some jams in a few previous stories. The Ghostly Guardian found that he could emerge from Corrigan and maintain a separate existence. In More Fun #90, April 1943, Jim Corrigan per se was completely removed from the feature — he enlisted in the military for World War II service — and the Spectre's reduction to guardian angel status was complete; he even became invisible to everybody but Percy.
As the Spectre, Jim Corrigan ran with the JSA, but he was replaced in 1944, and afterwards Jim Corrigan and the Spectre disappeared from the DC Universe for more than twenty years.
#60, January–February 1966, Jim Corrigan played an important part, as editor Julius Schwartz
and writer Gardner Fox
made significant use of the resurrection of Corrigan's body depicted back in More Fun #75. While the Ghostly Guardian would be crossing from one mystical plane of existence to another fighting occult menaces, Corrigan, now a captain of Gateway City's police force, was fighting his own battles against a more mundane criminal element. Jim would often get involved in Spectre's conflicts, however. In that first story, another spirit, named Azmodus, took possession of a small-time criminal, and while the two astral beings engaged in cosmic combat, the two mortal men slugged it out. In Showcase #64, September–October 1966, when the Spectre took possession of the body of a dying man, Ace Chance, to preserve its spark of life after his soul had departed, that spirit found the living but soulless Corrigan and entered him. With Chance's physical form hospitalized and on life-support, the Spectre found he could not re-enter Jim. Ace had no desire to give up this body, and began romancing heiress Mona Marcy. After Chance was put back into his proper body, Corrigan wondered what he was going to do about Mona, who had no idea who she had really been dating. In fact, a year later the Spectre was awarded his own comic, and in #2, January–February 1968, Jim asks his astral alter ego for a little privacy, as he has a date with Mona. While she wouldn't be mentioned again, things would become more involved for Corrigan. This series would establish that prolonged separation from his corporeal body would deplenish the Spectre's energies, and more than once, Jim's will power would be able to keep his spirit form from entering him. The latter instance found Corrigan pinned down by criminals he was after, and his demands for Spectral help result in the tired spirit acting harshly and hurting an innocent man in the vicinity. Shortly after this, the Spectre was chained to The Journal of Judgment, and Jim made no more appearances in this era.
#s 431–440, March–April 1974–July–August 1975. Here, writer Michael Fleisher
, ably abetted by atmospheric art from Jim Aparo
(Frank Thorne
and Ernie Chan
spelled him on the pencils once and twice respectively when his schedule became too tight), took the Spectre back to his earliest days. As in the first two years in More Fun Comics
, the hero and his civilian identity were simply two guises of the same entity. Nevertheless, Corrigan's "life" did get interesting. Now a lieutenant in New York City, Jim was investigating the murder of wealthy businessman Adrian Sterling, and met the victim's daughter Gwen. Despite his assertions that romance was out of the question for him, she fell in love with Corrigan. In saving her life from her father's murderer, he had to reveal his true nature. Gwen fell under the influence of a medium
, and told him about Corrigan's situation, and asked him if he could restore the detective to life. Unfortunately, he was a con artist that the department, and Jim in particular, were investigating, and he took advantage of what he presumed was the woman's mental illness to trap and kill Corrigan. As he was already dead, the plan backfired horribly. Not long later, a reporter named Earl Crawford noticed the number of gruesome finishes that many local criminals had been meeting recently, and suspected a connection. By lying to his editor as to just what he had in mind, he arranged an assignment to ride around with a police criminal investigator, and of all people, Lt. Jim Corrigan was the lucky cop. Crawford soon saw the Spectre in action for himself. Despite being a ghost, Corrigan returned Gwen's feelings and pled into the night in his dark apartment for a reprieve. Without telling him, the Voice granted the request, and he awoke the next morning a mortal man. Corrigan did not realize this until he was shot in the line of duty a few hours later. Once out of the hospital, he proposed to Gwen who promptly accepted. However, Corrigan was again murdered by criminals, and again sent back to Earth as the Spectre. He appeared to Gwen to give her the news, then took vengeance upon his killers.
A direct follow-up to this run appeared a few years later as a three-issue story arc in the Dr. Thirteen, Ghostbreaker
series that Paul Kupperberg
was writing in Ghosts
, #s 97–99, February–April 1981. Here, the Spectre was still slaughtering particularly brutal criminals and Earl Crawford was still looking for a way to stop the supernatural entity he knew was responsible, but now Dr. Thirteen was trying to prove he was something normal. Even though Earl and Terry came up with the idea that Lt. Jim Corrigan was somehow connected to the killings, his appearances here were brief and perfunctory.
Another sequel to the Adventure run was published seven years later. A deluxe format miniseries, The Wrath of the Spectre, reprinted the original ten stories in its first three issues, and in its fourth presented, newly drawn by Jim Aparo
and various inkers, three stories that had been written by Michael Fleisher
in 1975 but left on the proverbial shelf when the series was replaced with Aquaman
(even though Fleisher was already on the record in 1980 as having left just two stories). Here, Earl Crawford is charged with murdering a criminal that was actually eliminated by the Spectre, but found not guilty by reason of insanity, and committed to an asylum. Corrigan demonstrates compassion, first by having a disguised Gwen Sterling visit and comfort him, then by using the powers of the Spectre to clear him.
Jim Corrigan appeared in each of the Spectre's three The Brave and the Bold team-ups with Batman
during this era (#116, December 1974-January 1975; #180, November 1981; #199, June 1983). One other instance is worth noting: in the revived All Star Comics
, Jim Corrigan, this time an Inspector with the Gotham City
P.D., was seen in #70, January–February 1978.
Among the many changes made to DC Comics' characters during the later half of the 1980s (following the Crisis on Infinite Earths
), the Spectre (and thereby Jim Corrigan) was largely de-powered. First, in the conclusion to Alan Moore
's Swamp Thing
series, "American Gothic", the Spectre was defeated by evil incarnate as it advances to destroy Heaven. Finally, the Spectre, in Last Days of the Justice Society of America, failed to resolve the situation and is punished by God for his failure. Under the authorship of Doug Moench
, he became nearly a generic mystical figure, with Corrigan joining an occult detective agency.
This was largely notable because now, Jim Corrigan and the Spectre became two separate entities (although the body of Jim Corrigan was in fact a piece of the Spectre's ectoplasm as later revealed). The body of Corrigan still served as a host to the Spectre, but the Spectre could move on his own separately for a whole day, afterwards needing to return to Corrigan's body to replenish his energy. This allowed for Corrigan to actually team up with the Spectre (rather than the two being one), in essence splitting the 'workload' in two, since one could handle research and the other could get the job done. It also allowed for Corrigan to become a full-fledged detective again.
Nonetheless, if the two were separated for too long, it would spell disaster for both, and therefore Madame Xanadu
, who was not only instrumental in returning the Spectre to Earth (and 'separating' Jim Corrigan) but also held her place of operations in the same building as Corrigan's agency, introduced a guardian for Corrigan. The attractive young woman Kim Liang became not only Jim's secretary, but also a caretaker, herself a separated piece of Xanadu's soul (although this was unknown to her at the time). The importance of Xanadu in these actions would later set the stage for her role in Corrigan's life when John Ostrander
set up a new Spectre title.
Corrigan's transformation begins in the first few issues of the new volume. Corrigan meets Amy Beitermann, a social staff worker and Inspector Nate Kane, a friend of Amy. While investigating the old murder of a woman, Corrigan learns that although he is able to solve her murder, he is unable to understand the victim, whose ghost continues to wander the scene of her death. When Corrigan exchanges memories with Amy, she learns of his true purpose: "To confront and to comprehend evil", an element newly introduced by Ostrander. Amy serves as Corrigan's spiritual guide from then, until she is murdered by a serial killer in issue #12.
Troubled, Jim Corrigan turns to the church, where he meets Father Richard Craemer (a character introduced by Ostrander in Suicide Squad
), a somewhat unorthodox one at that though, often disagreeing with the church method. After Corrigan's confession, Craemer gives his advice, mentioning Vlatava, a country torn by civil war.
The Spectre razes the country of Vlatava, and he concludes that in order to eradicate evil, he will need to destroy Earth. The Phantom Stranger
gathers a group of mages to stop him, and Madame Xanadu gathers the Israeli sorcerer Ramban (also a character Ostrander used in Suicide Squad) and Craemer.
The group led by the Stranger face an Eclipso
-controlled Spectre while the other group reaches out to Corrigan's soul. Thanks to Craemer, Corrigan is able to reassert control of the Spectre and see the error of his ways. The archangel Michael appears, stating that Corrigan now finally truly can do his work as the Spectre. From then on, Craemer becomes a spiritual advisor to Jim Corrigan.
The Spectre however is deemed a threat to the American government, and with the help of a Professor Hazard is confronted by Superman
, who holds the Spear of Destiny, the only weapon known to hurt the Spectre. The Spectre is eventually able to defeat Superman and banish the Spear. Corrigan also learns that unbeknownst to him, he has been keeping his old fiancée Clarice Winston alive with his powers. She is almost killed by her granddaughter Clarissa, and as punishment the Spectre switches their souls.
Azmodus eventually returns and restores Clarissa Winston's (now trapped in her grandmother's body) youth. This body is still connected to the Spectre, and thereby Azmodus can tap into the Spectre's power. The Spectre confronts Azmodus, but is captured as he is shocked to learn that Azmodus is in part, a previous host of the Spectre. His friends, most notably again Father Craemer and the reluctant Nate Kane, are able to free him and beat Azmodus, separating Caraka, previous host to the Spectre from the demon he was bonded with. In order to defeat Azmodus however, the Spectre required to cut his lifeline to Clarice's body, he decides to switch again with her repentant granddaughter. As Clarice goes to Heaven, it is revealed that she was in fact, Caraka's soulmate all along, and was attracted to Jim because of their similarities. After this ordeal, Jim Corrigan continues to serve as the Spectre, now once more a step closer to his redemption, with Craemer as his advisor.
In order to find his connection to humanity again, Jim Corrigan gets himself assigned as Nate Kane's partner, the two becoming a police duo. Eventually the Spectre is seduced by the demon Neron
and Jim is allowed to go into Heaven, now separated from the Spectre, but he refuses. He retakes control of the Spectre although he learns that he wasn't as in control as he thought.
Nate Kane is shot, and the two become involved in a plot concerning a mystical talisman that represents the iconic America. Near the end of that quest for the various broken pieces of the talisman, Nate Kane and Jim Corrigan are once again forced to grow closer after Jim has to enter Nate's body in order to heal himself after a short side-adventure in which he had to use his Spectre powers to keep the Earth alive during The Final Night.
During the course of the search for the talisman, Jim also come to new insights as he not only meets the spirit of his old childhood friend Lonetree, but is also confronted with the fact that he was a man of the 1930s. As a hardboiled no-nonsense cop in the 30s, Corrigan was a different man faced with different situations.
Corrigan was finally able to see the current American world, including its segregation of the African American
s, the abuse of the Native Americans
, but also the subjugation of women (and the connected witch-hunt
s) and other parts of America's past.
Ultimately, with the help of his friends, and various spirits that represent the spirit of America today, a new American talisman is created, and Jim Corrigan also finds himself starting to change into a different man, and what he believes to be a better man.
As Nate Kane and Jim Corrigan share the body of Kane, Nate comes to experience certain memories of Corrigan's revolving around a murder case from the 30s. Intrigued, Nate Kane investigates further, and comes upon facts that indicated that Jim Corrigan might have been a murderer before his involvement with the Spectre. Meanwhile, the Spectre grows more savage, among other things killing all of the guilty on death row in a New York jail. Craemer continues to try and guide him. Corrigan also learns of what Nate is doing and the two part ways. To atone for his murdering of the criminals in the New York jail, Corrigan helps to prove the innocence of the one man he did not kill, but loses control once more, killing a bunch of corrupt police officers. During this time, he also comes across the troubled Michael Holt
, whom he influences to become the second Mr. Terrific
.
The Spectre continues his merciless way, dispensing justice on every guilty person that he comes across. He also finally meets Nate Kane, and meets the woman he previously thought he had murdered. Trying to come to grips with his own sins as well as hers (she had killed her mother and tried to frame Corrigan for it), the woman's granddaughter mercy killed her grandmother in fear of what the Spectre would do. Forced to judge her, Corrigan and the Spectre fight and decide that they will need the judgement of God on their own existence.
To their surprise, God has gone missing, as has Heaven. The two decide to work together and they visit various pantheons, as well as entering the Source Wall. Given only two cryptic messages, the Spectre demands to confront God. He is bombarded with the nature of God and becomes one with every particle in the universe. The experience again conflicts the Spectre and Corrigan, and pushed to the brink, they are ejected from the Source Wall. They then learn that the gap between the two has grown so wide that they can separate themselves. At the advice of Father Craemer, the two travel inside themselves and are eventually confronted by a seemingly crazy God who resembles Corrigan's father.
God assumed the form of Corrigan's father, a travelling preacher, because he was the most influential person during Jim Corrigan's youth. Jim's father tried to imprint his black and white view of good and evil on the young boy (usually through both verbal and physical abuse), even though he himself often gave into sin. Eventually the ruse is uncovered and it turns out that Jim has finally undergone his final test and is ready to leave the mantle of the Spectre.
With the help of the Spectre, Jim Corrigan's old (dead) body is given a proper burial, and his funeral is attended by many heroes and friends. Then Jim Corrigan relinquishes the Spectre, and as Father Craemer bids his last respects to his friend, from the heavens, a message is carved upon the formerly blank gravestone of Jim Corrigan, stating: "James Corrigan, servant of God".
, the Spectre is controlled by the fallen angel
Asmodel, who uses the Spectre's awesome might to freeze Hell and unleash hordes of demons upon the world.
In an effort to stop the Spectre, the heroes divide into groups, of which one is sent to collect the soul of Jim Corrigan, so that he can reclaim the Spectre mantle. Amongst his old friends of the JSA and his love Amy in Heaven, Corrigan refuses to leave the afterlife to rejoin with the Spectre, stating that he is finally at peace. The heroes decide to respect Jim's wishes, and they will eventually recruit the soul of Hal Jordan
to assume the mantle of the Spectre.
During the recent resurrection of the Spirit King
- due to Hal's attempts to turn the Spectre's role to one of redemption having weakened the Spectre's hold on the spirits that he had damned in the past-, Father Craemer appeared to try and advise Hal Jordan on how to regain control of the spirit, saying that Jim Corrigan had sent him to help, but what he specifically meant by this was never explained.
who worked with both Jimmy Olsen
and Black Lightning
. He first appeared in Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #149, (May 1972). He later became a regular supporting character in Black Lightning beginning with volume 1 issue #4.
, Jim Corrigan is, like so many of that city's police force, corrupt. He routinely abuses his position by selling crime scene memorabilia, such as bullets as well as more extravagant items lost by the city's colourful villains.
Although the Internal Affairs
division was aware of his activities, they could not interfere due to an explosive encounter between Corrigan and Renee Montoya
, of the Major Crimes Unit, when Crispus Allen
had been accused of murder.
Allen, who loathed the fact that Corrigan had gotten off due to Montoya's desire to protect him, had begun investigating Corrigan. Just as his investigation began to bear fruit however, Corrigan shot and killed Detective Allen.
This spurred the GCPD to arrest Corrigan, but unfortunately the past incident with Montoya along with a decent alibi had given Corrigan the defense he needed to avoid court and jail.
Montoya, who was blind with fury and had been slowly falling into a deep depression over the past few months, had finally snapped with the loss of Allen. She stormed into Corrigan's apartment and after knocking out his girlfriend, threatened to kill Corrigan. The previously smug CSI officer broke down and tearfully began pleading for Montoya to spare his life. Despite her thirst for vengeance, Montoya let him go and then resigned from the force.
In the final issue of the three-issue miniseries Crisis Aftermath: The Spectre, a miniseries about Crispus Allen dealing with his new role as the Spectre, it was revealed that Corrigan had spent the time after Montoya's attack, drinking (Allen found him in this way but did not take vengeance — too easy and too personal), but one night upon stumbling into an alley he was confronted by Allen's young son Mal and shot multiple times, killing him. Later stories instead identify Corrigan's killer as Mal's brother, Jacob Allen.
The connection between this Jim Corrigan and the Jim Corrigan who had in the past been a host for the Spectre is uncertain. There is a significant physical resemblance, the Spectre had a cameo in Gotham Central #37, and the cover of the following issue features Corrigan prominently and bears a title including the word "Spectre," rendered in a style similar to the logo of the Moench-scripted Spectre comic series.
ten years have passed, and Jim Corrigan has remained the Spectre (not unexpected, as the mini-series was published during 1996 when Jim Corrigan was still the Spectre). However, as the Spectre, he required an additional human guide in the form of Norman McCay so that he could rightfully judge the actions of the humans and meta-humans. In the end, the Spectre's intervention was not necessary, and he was later shown grousing over "The Spectre platter" (spinach and cottage cheese) while eating with McCay in the superhero-themed restaurant Planet Krypton.
#42, September 1996. As this was a Vertigo series, DC Universe canonicity is unclear.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
s that have appeared in numerous comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
s published by DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
. The first Corrigan initially appeared in More Fun Comics
More Fun Comics
More Fun Comics, originally titled New Fun: The Big Comic Magazine a.k.a. New Fun Comics, was a 1935-1947 American comic book anthology that introduced several major superhero characters and was the first American comic-book series to feature solely original material rather than reprints of...
#52 (February 1940), a deceased cop acting as host to the cosmic entity the Spectre
Spectre (comics)
The Spectre is a fictional character and superhero who has appeared in numerous comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in a next issue ad in More Fun Comics #51 and received his first story the following month, #52...
, and was created by Jerry Siegel
Jerry Siegel
Jerome "Jerry" Siegel , who also used pseudonyms including Joe Carter, Jerry Ess, and Herbert S...
and Bernard Baily
Bernard Baily
Bernard Baily was an American comic book artist best known as co-creator of the DC Comics characters the Spectre and Hourman, and a comics publisher, writer, and editor.-Early life and career:...
.
The second Jim Corrigan was an African-American policeman who first appeared in Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #149, (May 1972). The character was created by John Albano and Jose Delbo. He later became a regular supporting character in Black Lightning
Black Lightning
Black Lightning was one of the first major African American superheroes to appear in DC Comics. He debuted in Black Lightning #1 , and was created by Tony Isabella and Trevor Von Eeden.- Publication history :...
beginning with volume 1 issue #4.
The third Jim Corrigan appeared years later in issue 12 of Gotham Central
Gotham Central
Gotham Central is a police procedural comic book series that was published by DC Comics. It was written by Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka, with pencils initially by Michael Lark....
, a series that focuses around the Gotham City Police Department
Gotham City Police Department
The Gotham City Police Department is a fictional police department servicing Gotham City, as depicted in comic books published by DC Comics, in particular those tied into the Batman books.-History of GCPD:...
. The character, created by Greg Rucka
Greg Rucka
Gregory "Greg" Rucka is an American comic book writer and novelist, known for his work on such comics as Action Comics, Batwoman: Detective Comics, and the miniseries Superman: World of New Krypton for DC Comics, and for novels such as his Queen & Country series.-Career:Rucka's writing career...
, Ed Brubaker
Ed Brubaker
Ed Brubaker is an Eisner Award-winning comic book writer and cartoonist. Brubaker first early comics work was primarily in the crime fiction genre with works such as Lowlife, The Fall, Sandman Presents: Dead Boy Detectives and Scene of the Crime...
, and Michael Lark
Michael Lark
Michael Lark is an American comics artist.Lark has provided pencils for DC Comics' Batman, Terminal City, Gotham Central and Legend of the Hawkman. His work for Marvel Comics includes The Pulse and Captain America...
although similar to the first Corrigan in being a cop, has not been directly connected to the first since this version is a corrupt, self-serving villain who murders his colleague Crispus Allen — who then becomes involved with the Spectre.
More Fun Comics and All-Star Comics
Archangel
An archangel is an angel of high rank. Archangels are found in a number of religious traditions, including Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Michael and Gabriel are recognized as archangels in Judaism and by most Christians. Michael is the only archangel specifically named in the Protestant Bible...
Michael
Michael (archangel)
Michael , Micha'el or Mîkhā'ēl; , Mikhaḗl; or Míchaël; , Mīkhā'īl) is an archangel in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic teachings. Roman Catholics, Anglicans, and Lutherans refer to him as Saint Michael the Archangel and also simply as Saint Michael...
, who bonded his spirit to the spirit of God's vengeance, the Spectre. He was condemned to return to Earth for sixty years of punishing wrongdoings.
As the Spectre, Jim Corrigan returned to the mortal plane as a partial human, where he proceeded to rain his vengeance on Gat Benson and his accomplices. In the process however, his fiancée, Clarice Winston, was mortally wounded. Using his newfound power, he was able to return Clarice to life, but later ended their relationship in order to spare her any further pain. He also broke off with his partner, and became more of a lone agent, trying to distance himself from his mortal ties, although he retained his job on the police force.
As the popularity of superhero comics began to decline in the mid-1940s, the Spectre suffered as a result. He was reduced to playing the role of "guardian angel" to a bumbling character called "Percival Popp, the Super Cop." Introduced in #74, December 1941 (aside from a head-shot in a one-panel preview at the end of #73's Spectre story), he was a would-be civilian sleuth who, in his words, latched onto Corrigan "of all the detectives on the force because it appeared to me that you are the most intelligent of the lot! You and I ought to be an unbeatable combination, sir!" In the following story, the Voice allowed the physical body of Jim Corrigan, still in cement at the bottom of the river, to be resurrected with the Ring of Life, which had helped the Spectre out of some jams in a few previous stories. The Ghostly Guardian found that he could emerge from Corrigan and maintain a separate existence. In More Fun #90, April 1943, Jim Corrigan per se was completely removed from the feature — he enlisted in the military for World War II service — and the Spectre's reduction to guardian angel status was complete; he even became invisible to everybody but Percy.
As the Spectre, Jim Corrigan ran with the JSA, but he was replaced in 1944, and afterwards Jim Corrigan and the Spectre disappeared from the DC Universe for more than twenty years.
Spectre (vol. 1)
When the Spectre was revived in ShowcaseShowcase (comics)
Showcase has been the title of several comic anthology series published by DC Comics. The general theme of these series has been to feature new and minor characters as a way to gauge reader interest in them, without the difficulty and risk of featuring "untested" characters in their own ongoing...
#60, January–February 1966, Jim Corrigan played an important part, as editor Julius Schwartz
Julius Schwartz
Julius "Julie" Schwartz was a comic book and pulp magazine editor, and a science fiction agent and prominent fan. He was born in the Bronx, New York...
and writer Gardner Fox
Gardner Fox
Gardner Francis Cooper Fox was an American writer best known for creating numerous comic book characters for DC Comics. Comic-book historians estimate that he wrote over 4,000 comics stories....
made significant use of the resurrection of Corrigan's body depicted back in More Fun #75. While the Ghostly Guardian would be crossing from one mystical plane of existence to another fighting occult menaces, Corrigan, now a captain of Gateway City's police force, was fighting his own battles against a more mundane criminal element. Jim would often get involved in Spectre's conflicts, however. In that first story, another spirit, named Azmodus, took possession of a small-time criminal, and while the two astral beings engaged in cosmic combat, the two mortal men slugged it out. In Showcase #64, September–October 1966, when the Spectre took possession of the body of a dying man, Ace Chance, to preserve its spark of life after his soul had departed, that spirit found the living but soulless Corrigan and entered him. With Chance's physical form hospitalized and on life-support, the Spectre found he could not re-enter Jim. Ace had no desire to give up this body, and began romancing heiress Mona Marcy. After Chance was put back into his proper body, Corrigan wondered what he was going to do about Mona, who had no idea who she had really been dating. In fact, a year later the Spectre was awarded his own comic, and in #2, January–February 1968, Jim asks his astral alter ego for a little privacy, as he has a date with Mona. While she wouldn't be mentioned again, things would become more involved for Corrigan. This series would establish that prolonged separation from his corporeal body would deplenish the Spectre's energies, and more than once, Jim's will power would be able to keep his spirit form from entering him. The latter instance found Corrigan pinned down by criminals he was after, and his demands for Spectral help result in the tired spirit acting harshly and hurting an innocent man in the vicinity. Shortly after this, the Spectre was chained to The Journal of Judgment, and Jim made no more appearances in this era.
Bronze Age
The next time Jim Corrigan was seen was in the brief but controversial Spectre series in Adventure ComicsAdventure Comics
Adventure Comics was a comic book series published by DC Comics from 1935 to 1983 and then revamped from 2009 to 2011. In its first era, the series ran for 503 issues , making it the fifth-longest-running DC series, behind Detective Comics, Action Comics, Superman, and Batman...
#s 431–440, March–April 1974–July–August 1975. Here, writer Michael Fleisher
Michael Fleisher
Michael L. "Mike" Fleisher is an American writer known for his DC Comics of the 1970s and 1980s, particularly for the characters the Spectre and Jonah Hex.-Early life and career:...
, ably abetted by atmospheric art from Jim Aparo
Jim Aparo
James N. "Jim" Aparo was an American comic book artist best known for his 1960s and 1970s DC Comics work, including on the characters Batman, Aquaman and the Spectre....
(Frank Thorne
Frank Thorne
Frank Thorne is an American comic book artist-writer, best known for popularizing the Marvel Comics character Red Sonja.-Biography:...
and Ernie Chan
Ernie Chan
Ernesto "Ernie" Chan is a Filipino-born American comic book artist.-Biography:Chan migrated to the United States in 1970, and became a citizen in 1976. For a number of years, he was obliged to work under the name "Ernie Chua" as that name had been wrongfully entered on his U.S...
spelled him on the pencils once and twice respectively when his schedule became too tight), took the Spectre back to his earliest days. As in the first two years in More Fun Comics
More Fun Comics
More Fun Comics, originally titled New Fun: The Big Comic Magazine a.k.a. New Fun Comics, was a 1935-1947 American comic book anthology that introduced several major superhero characters and was the first American comic-book series to feature solely original material rather than reprints of...
, the hero and his civilian identity were simply two guises of the same entity. Nevertheless, Corrigan's "life" did get interesting. Now a lieutenant in New York City, Jim was investigating the murder of wealthy businessman Adrian Sterling, and met the victim's daughter Gwen. Despite his assertions that romance was out of the question for him, she fell in love with Corrigan. In saving her life from her father's murderer, he had to reveal his true nature. Gwen fell under the influence of a medium
Mediumship
Mediumship is described as a form of communication with spirits. It is a practice in religious beliefs such as Spiritualism, Spiritism, Espiritismo, Candomblé, Voodoo and Umbanda.- Concept :...
, and told him about Corrigan's situation, and asked him if he could restore the detective to life. Unfortunately, he was a con artist that the department, and Jim in particular, were investigating, and he took advantage of what he presumed was the woman's mental illness to trap and kill Corrigan. As he was already dead, the plan backfired horribly. Not long later, a reporter named Earl Crawford noticed the number of gruesome finishes that many local criminals had been meeting recently, and suspected a connection. By lying to his editor as to just what he had in mind, he arranged an assignment to ride around with a police criminal investigator, and of all people, Lt. Jim Corrigan was the lucky cop. Crawford soon saw the Spectre in action for himself. Despite being a ghost, Corrigan returned Gwen's feelings and pled into the night in his dark apartment for a reprieve. Without telling him, the Voice granted the request, and he awoke the next morning a mortal man. Corrigan did not realize this until he was shot in the line of duty a few hours later. Once out of the hospital, he proposed to Gwen who promptly accepted. However, Corrigan was again murdered by criminals, and again sent back to Earth as the Spectre. He appeared to Gwen to give her the news, then took vengeance upon his killers.
A direct follow-up to this run appeared a few years later as a three-issue story arc in the Dr. Thirteen, Ghostbreaker
Doctor Thirteen
Dr. Terrence Thirteen, known simply as Doctor Thirteen or Dr. 13, is a fictional character in comic books set in the DC Universe. The character's first published appearance is in Star Spangled Comics #122, ....
series that Paul Kupperberg
Paul Kupperberg
Paul Kupperberg is a former editor for DC Comics, and a prolific writer of comic books and newspaper strips.-Biography:Kupperberg entered the comics field from comics fandom, as had his brother, writer/artist Alan Kupperberg...
was writing in Ghosts
Ghosts (DC Comics)
Ghosts is a comic book series published by DC Comics for 112 issues from September-October 1971 to May 1982. Its tagline was "True Tales of the Weird and Supernatural" , changed to "New Tales of the Weird and Supernatural," as of #75 , and dropped after #104...
, #s 97–99, February–April 1981. Here, the Spectre was still slaughtering particularly brutal criminals and Earl Crawford was still looking for a way to stop the supernatural entity he knew was responsible, but now Dr. Thirteen was trying to prove he was something normal. Even though Earl and Terry came up with the idea that Lt. Jim Corrigan was somehow connected to the killings, his appearances here were brief and perfunctory.
Another sequel to the Adventure run was published seven years later. A deluxe format miniseries, The Wrath of the Spectre, reprinted the original ten stories in its first three issues, and in its fourth presented, newly drawn by Jim Aparo
Jim Aparo
James N. "Jim" Aparo was an American comic book artist best known for his 1960s and 1970s DC Comics work, including on the characters Batman, Aquaman and the Spectre....
and various inkers, three stories that had been written by Michael Fleisher
Michael Fleisher
Michael L. "Mike" Fleisher is an American writer known for his DC Comics of the 1970s and 1980s, particularly for the characters the Spectre and Jonah Hex.-Early life and career:...
in 1975 but left on the proverbial shelf when the series was replaced with Aquaman
Aquaman
Aquaman is a fictional superhero who appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger, the character debuted in More Fun Comics #73 . Initially a backup feature in DC's anthology titles, Aquaman later starred in several volumes of a solo title...
(even though Fleisher was already on the record in 1980 as having left just two stories). Here, Earl Crawford is charged with murdering a criminal that was actually eliminated by the Spectre, but found not guilty by reason of insanity, and committed to an asylum. Corrigan demonstrates compassion, first by having a disguised Gwen Sterling visit and comfort him, then by using the powers of the Spectre to clear him.
Jim Corrigan appeared in each of the Spectre's three The Brave and the Bold team-ups with Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
during this era (#116, December 1974-January 1975; #180, November 1981; #199, June 1983). One other instance is worth noting: in the revived All Star Comics
All Star Comics
All Star Comics is a 1940s comic book series from All-American Publications, one of the early companies that merged with National Periodical Publications to form the modern-day DC Comics. With the exception of the first two issues, All Star Comics primarily told stories about the adventures of the...
, Jim Corrigan, this time an Inspector with the Gotham City
Gotham City
Gotham City is a fictional U.S. city appearing in DC Comics, best known as the home of Batman. Batman's place of residence was first identified as Gotham City in Batman #4 . Gotham City is strongly inspired by Trenton, Ontario's history, location, atmosphere, and various architectural styles...
P.D., was seen in #70, January–February 1978.
Spectre (vol. 2)
Crisis on Infinite Earths
Crisis on Infinite Earths is a 12-issue American comic book limited series and crossover event, produced by DC Comics in 1985 to simplify its then 50-year-old continuity...
), the Spectre (and thereby Jim Corrigan) was largely de-powered. First, in the conclusion to Alan Moore
Alan Moore
Alan Oswald Moore is an English writer primarily known for his work in comic books, a medium where he has produced a number of critically acclaimed and popular series, including Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell...
's Swamp Thing
Swamp Thing
Swamp Thing, a fictional character, is a plant elemental in the created by Len Wein and Berni Wrightson. He first appeared in House of Secrets #92 in a stand-alone horror story set in the early 20th century . The Swamp Thing then returned in his own series, set in the contemporary world and in...
series, "American Gothic", the Spectre was defeated by evil incarnate as it advances to destroy Heaven. Finally, the Spectre, in Last Days of the Justice Society of America, failed to resolve the situation and is punished by God for his failure. Under the authorship of Doug Moench
Doug Moench
Douglas Moench , better known as Doug Moench, is an American comic book writer notable for his Batman work and as the creator of Black Mask, Moon Knight and Deathlok.-Biography:...
, he became nearly a generic mystical figure, with Corrigan joining an occult detective agency.
This was largely notable because now, Jim Corrigan and the Spectre became two separate entities (although the body of Jim Corrigan was in fact a piece of the Spectre's ectoplasm as later revealed). The body of Corrigan still served as a host to the Spectre, but the Spectre could move on his own separately for a whole day, afterwards needing to return to Corrigan's body to replenish his energy. This allowed for Corrigan to actually team up with the Spectre (rather than the two being one), in essence splitting the 'workload' in two, since one could handle research and the other could get the job done. It also allowed for Corrigan to become a full-fledged detective again.
Nonetheless, if the two were separated for too long, it would spell disaster for both, and therefore Madame Xanadu
Madame Xanadu
Madame Xanadu is a fictional character, a comic book mystic published by DC Comics. The character is identified with Nimue, the sorceress from Arthurian mythology made popular by Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur.-Publication history:...
, who was not only instrumental in returning the Spectre to Earth (and 'separating' Jim Corrigan) but also held her place of operations in the same building as Corrigan's agency, introduced a guardian for Corrigan. The attractive young woman Kim Liang became not only Jim's secretary, but also a caretaker, herself a separated piece of Xanadu's soul (although this was unknown to her at the time). The importance of Xanadu in these actions would later set the stage for her role in Corrigan's life when John Ostrander
John Ostrander
John Ostrander is an American writer of comic books. He is best known for his work on Suicide Squad, Grimjack and Star Wars: Legacy, series he helped create.-Career:...
set up a new Spectre title.
Spectre (vol. 3)
Jim Corrigan's status quo was changed when John Ostrander landed the job as writer to a new Spectre ongoing series. Jim Corrigan and the Spectre were now one once more, and he had moved out of his agency. Throughout Ostrander's tenure, Jim Corrigan started to come into conflict with the Spectre as he started to grow as a person. He learned that his old methods no longer applied to the world he lived in, and he was forced to make certain concessions.Corrigan's transformation begins in the first few issues of the new volume. Corrigan meets Amy Beitermann, a social staff worker and Inspector Nate Kane, a friend of Amy. While investigating the old murder of a woman, Corrigan learns that although he is able to solve her murder, he is unable to understand the victim, whose ghost continues to wander the scene of her death. When Corrigan exchanges memories with Amy, she learns of his true purpose: "To confront and to comprehend evil", an element newly introduced by Ostrander. Amy serves as Corrigan's spiritual guide from then, until she is murdered by a serial killer in issue #12.
#13-26
Troubled, Jim Corrigan turns to the church, where he meets Father Richard Craemer (a character introduced by Ostrander in Suicide Squad
Suicide Squad
The Suicide Squad, also known as Task Force X , is a name for two fictional organizations in the DC Comics Universe. The first version debuted in The Brave and the Bold #25 , and the second in Legends #3...
), a somewhat unorthodox one at that though, often disagreeing with the church method. After Corrigan's confession, Craemer gives his advice, mentioning Vlatava, a country torn by civil war.
The Spectre razes the country of Vlatava, and he concludes that in order to eradicate evil, he will need to destroy Earth. The Phantom Stranger
Phantom Stranger
The Phantom Stranger is a fictional character of unspecified paranormal origins who battles mysterious and occult forces in various titles published by DC Comics, sometimes under their Vertigo imprint.-Publication history:...
gathers a group of mages to stop him, and Madame Xanadu gathers the Israeli sorcerer Ramban (also a character Ostrander used in Suicide Squad) and Craemer.
Eclipso
Eclipso is a fictional supervillain in the DC Comics Universe. The character is the incarnation of the Wrath of God and the Angel of Vengeance that turned evil and was replaced by the Spectre...
-controlled Spectre while the other group reaches out to Corrigan's soul. Thanks to Craemer, Corrigan is able to reassert control of the Spectre and see the error of his ways. The archangel Michael appears, stating that Corrigan now finally truly can do his work as the Spectre. From then on, Craemer becomes a spiritual advisor to Jim Corrigan.
The Spectre however is deemed a threat to the American government, and with the help of a Professor Hazard is confronted by Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
, who holds the Spear of Destiny, the only weapon known to hurt the Spectre. The Spectre is eventually able to defeat Superman and banish the Spear. Corrigan also learns that unbeknownst to him, he has been keeping his old fiancée Clarice Winston alive with his powers. She is almost killed by her granddaughter Clarissa, and as punishment the Spectre switches their souls.
#27-36
Azmodus eventually returns and restores Clarissa Winston's (now trapped in her grandmother's body) youth. This body is still connected to the Spectre, and thereby Azmodus can tap into the Spectre's power. The Spectre confronts Azmodus, but is captured as he is shocked to learn that Azmodus is in part, a previous host of the Spectre. His friends, most notably again Father Craemer and the reluctant Nate Kane, are able to free him and beat Azmodus, separating Caraka, previous host to the Spectre from the demon he was bonded with. In order to defeat Azmodus however, the Spectre required to cut his lifeline to Clarice's body, he decides to switch again with her repentant granddaughter. As Clarice goes to Heaven, it is revealed that she was in fact, Caraka's soulmate all along, and was attracted to Jim because of their similarities. After this ordeal, Jim Corrigan continues to serve as the Spectre, now once more a step closer to his redemption, with Craemer as his advisor.
In order to find his connection to humanity again, Jim Corrigan gets himself assigned as Nate Kane's partner, the two becoming a police duo. Eventually the Spectre is seduced by the demon Neron
Neron
Neron is a fictional demon, a comic book character published by DC Comics. He first appeared in the DC Comics cross-over event Underworld Unleashed #1, , and was created by Mark Waid and Howard Porter.- Publication history :...
and Jim is allowed to go into Heaven, now separated from the Spectre, but he refuses. He retakes control of the Spectre although he learns that he wasn't as in control as he thought.
#37-50
Nate Kane is shot, and the two become involved in a plot concerning a mystical talisman that represents the iconic America. Near the end of that quest for the various broken pieces of the talisman, Nate Kane and Jim Corrigan are once again forced to grow closer after Jim has to enter Nate's body in order to heal himself after a short side-adventure in which he had to use his Spectre powers to keep the Earth alive during The Final Night.
During the course of the search for the talisman, Jim also come to new insights as he not only meets the spirit of his old childhood friend Lonetree, but is also confronted with the fact that he was a man of the 1930s. As a hardboiled no-nonsense cop in the 30s, Corrigan was a different man faced with different situations.
Corrigan was finally able to see the current American world, including its segregation of the African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
s, the abuse of the Native Americans
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
, but also the subjugation of women (and the connected witch-hunt
Witch-hunt
A witch-hunt is a search for witches or evidence of witchcraft, often involving moral panic, mass hysteria and lynching, but in historical instances also legally sanctioned and involving official witchcraft trials...
s) and other parts of America's past.
Ultimately, with the help of his friends, and various spirits that represent the spirit of America today, a new American talisman is created, and Jim Corrigan also finds himself starting to change into a different man, and what he believes to be a better man.
#51-62
As Nate Kane and Jim Corrigan share the body of Kane, Nate comes to experience certain memories of Corrigan's revolving around a murder case from the 30s. Intrigued, Nate Kane investigates further, and comes upon facts that indicated that Jim Corrigan might have been a murderer before his involvement with the Spectre. Meanwhile, the Spectre grows more savage, among other things killing all of the guilty on death row in a New York jail. Craemer continues to try and guide him. Corrigan also learns of what Nate is doing and the two part ways. To atone for his murdering of the criminals in the New York jail, Corrigan helps to prove the innocence of the one man he did not kill, but loses control once more, killing a bunch of corrupt police officers. During this time, he also comes across the troubled Michael Holt
Mister Terrific (Michael Holt)
Michael Holt is a fictional character, a comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics. First appearing in Spectre #54 , he is the second character to take up the Mister Terrific mantle....
, whom he influences to become the second Mr. Terrific
Mister Terrific (comics)
Mister Terrific is the name of two different superheroes in the DC Comics universe.-Terry Sloane:The Golden Age's Mister Terrific was Terry Sloane, a self-made millionaire whose photographic memory, Olympic-level athletic skills, and mastery of the martial arts made him a virtual Renaissance man...
.
The Spectre continues his merciless way, dispensing justice on every guilty person that he comes across. He also finally meets Nate Kane, and meets the woman he previously thought he had murdered. Trying to come to grips with his own sins as well as hers (she had killed her mother and tried to frame Corrigan for it), the woman's granddaughter mercy killed her grandmother in fear of what the Spectre would do. Forced to judge her, Corrigan and the Spectre fight and decide that they will need the judgement of God on their own existence.
To their surprise, God has gone missing, as has Heaven. The two decide to work together and they visit various pantheons, as well as entering the Source Wall. Given only two cryptic messages, the Spectre demands to confront God. He is bombarded with the nature of God and becomes one with every particle in the universe. The experience again conflicts the Spectre and Corrigan, and pushed to the brink, they are ejected from the Source Wall. They then learn that the gap between the two has grown so wide that they can separate themselves. At the advice of Father Craemer, the two travel inside themselves and are eventually confronted by a seemingly crazy God who resembles Corrigan's father.
With the help of the Spectre, Jim Corrigan's old (dead) body is given a proper burial, and his funeral is attended by many heroes and friends. Then Jim Corrigan relinquishes the Spectre, and as Father Craemer bids his last respects to his friend, from the heavens, a message is carved upon the formerly blank gravestone of Jim Corrigan, stating: "James Corrigan, servant of God".
Day of Judgment
Although Corrigan was laid to rest, the power of the Spectre was still in the world. During the mini-series Day of JudgmentDay of Judgment (comics)
Day of Judgment was a DC Comics limited series and crossover storyline during the autumn of 1999. The limited series was written by Geoff Johns, with art by Matthew Dow Smith....
, the Spectre is controlled by the fallen angel
Fallen angel
Fallen angel is a concept developed in Jewish mythology from interpretation of the Book of Enoch. The actual term fallen angel is not found in either the Hebrew Bible or the New Testament. Christians adopted the concept of fallen angels mainly based on their interpretations of the Book of...
Asmodel, who uses the Spectre's awesome might to freeze Hell and unleash hordes of demons upon the world.
In an effort to stop the Spectre, the heroes divide into groups, of which one is sent to collect the soul of Jim Corrigan, so that he can reclaim the Spectre mantle. Amongst his old friends of the JSA and his love Amy in Heaven, Corrigan refuses to leave the afterlife to rejoin with the Spectre, stating that he is finally at peace. The heroes decide to respect Jim's wishes, and they will eventually recruit the soul of Hal Jordan
Hal Jordan
Harold "Hal" Jordan is a DC Comics superhero known as Green Lantern, the first human shown to join the Green Lantern Corps and a founding member of the Justice League of America. Jordan is the second DC Comics character to adopt the Green Lantern moniker...
to assume the mantle of the Spectre.
During the recent resurrection of the Spirit King
Spirit King
The Spirit King is a character in the DC Universe; he was initially an adversary of the original Mister Terrific, but later expanded to be a threat to the entire Justice Society, particularly the Spectre and the Flash.-Fictional character biography:...
- due to Hal's attempts to turn the Spectre's role to one of redemption having weakened the Spectre's hold on the spirits that he had damned in the past-, Father Craemer appeared to try and advise Hal Jordan on how to regain control of the spirit, saying that Jim Corrigan had sent him to help, but what he specifically meant by this was never explained.
Fictional character biography
An African-American police officer based in MetropolisMetropolis (comics)
Metropolis is a fictional city that appears in comic books published by DC Comics, and is the home of Superman. Metropolis first appeared by name in Action Comics #16 ....
who worked with both Jimmy Olsen
Jimmy Olsen
Jimmy Olsen is a fictional character who appears mainly in DC Comics’ Superman stories. Olsen is a young photojournalist working for the Daily Planet. He is close friends with Lois Lane, Clark Kent/Superman and Perry White...
and Black Lightning
Black Lightning
Black Lightning was one of the first major African American superheroes to appear in DC Comics. He debuted in Black Lightning #1 , and was created by Tony Isabella and Trevor Von Eeden.- Publication history :...
. He first appeared in Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #149, (May 1972). He later became a regular supporting character in Black Lightning beginning with volume 1 issue #4.
Jim Corrigan (2000s)
Fictional character biography
A Crime Scene Unit officer in the Gotham City Police DepartmentGotham City Police Department
The Gotham City Police Department is a fictional police department servicing Gotham City, as depicted in comic books published by DC Comics, in particular those tied into the Batman books.-History of GCPD:...
, Jim Corrigan is, like so many of that city's police force, corrupt. He routinely abuses his position by selling crime scene memorabilia, such as bullets as well as more extravagant items lost by the city's colourful villains.
Although the Internal Affairs
Internal affairs (law enforcement)
The internal affairs division of a law enforcement agency investigates incidents and plausible suspicions of lawbreaking and professional misconduct attributed to officers on the force...
division was aware of his activities, they could not interfere due to an explosive encounter between Corrigan and Renee Montoya
Renee Montoya
Renee Montoya is a fictional comic book character published by DC Comics. The character was initially created for Batman: The Animated Series, and was preemptively introduced into mainstream comics before the airing of her animated debut in 1992....
, of the Major Crimes Unit, when Crispus Allen
Crispus Allen
Crispus Allen is a fictional character in the DC Comics universe. Greg Rucka and Shawn Martinbrough created the character in Detective Comics #742 . Allen later went on to be one of the main characters in Gotham Central...
had been accused of murder.
Allen, who loathed the fact that Corrigan had gotten off due to Montoya's desire to protect him, had begun investigating Corrigan. Just as his investigation began to bear fruit however, Corrigan shot and killed Detective Allen.
This spurred the GCPD to arrest Corrigan, but unfortunately the past incident with Montoya along with a decent alibi had given Corrigan the defense he needed to avoid court and jail.
Montoya, who was blind with fury and had been slowly falling into a deep depression over the past few months, had finally snapped with the loss of Allen. She stormed into Corrigan's apartment and after knocking out his girlfriend, threatened to kill Corrigan. The previously smug CSI officer broke down and tearfully began pleading for Montoya to spare his life. Despite her thirst for vengeance, Montoya let him go and then resigned from the force.
In the final issue of the three-issue miniseries Crisis Aftermath: The Spectre, a miniseries about Crispus Allen dealing with his new role as the Spectre, it was revealed that Corrigan had spent the time after Montoya's attack, drinking (Allen found him in this way but did not take vengeance — too easy and too personal), but one night upon stumbling into an alley he was confronted by Allen's young son Mal and shot multiple times, killing him. Later stories instead identify Corrigan's killer as Mal's brother, Jacob Allen.
The connection between this Jim Corrigan and the Jim Corrigan who had in the past been a host for the Spectre is uncertain. There is a significant physical resemblance, the Spectre had a cameo in Gotham Central #37, and the cover of the following issue features Corrigan prominently and bears a title including the word "Spectre," rendered in a style similar to the logo of the Moench-scripted Spectre comic series.
Kingdom Come
In the mini-series Kingdom ComeKingdom Come (comics)
Kingdom Come is a four-issue comic book mini-series published in 1996 by DC Comics. It was written by Alex Ross and Mark Waid and painted in gouache by Ross, who also developed the concept from an original idea...
ten years have passed, and Jim Corrigan has remained the Spectre (not unexpected, as the mini-series was published during 1996 when Jim Corrigan was still the Spectre). However, as the Spectre, he required an additional human guide in the form of Norman McCay so that he could rightfully judge the actions of the humans and meta-humans. In the end, the Spectre's intervention was not necessary, and he was later shown grousing over "The Spectre platter" (spinach and cottage cheese) while eating with McCay in the superhero-themed restaurant Planet Krypton.
Justice League Unlimited
Jim Corrigan appears in Justice League Unlimited #37. He helps Batman and Shayera Hol in bringing his counterpart Spectre back under his control.Vertigo
Police detective Jim Corrigan appeared in Sandman Mystery TheatreSandman Mystery Theatre
Sandman Mystery Theatre is a comic book series published by Vertigo, the mature-readers imprint of DC Comics. It ran for 70 issues between 1993 and 1999 and retells the adventures of the Sandman, a vigilante whose main weapon is a gun that fires sleeping gas, originally created by DC in the Golden...
#42, September 1996. As this was a Vertigo series, DC Universe canonicity is unclear.
In other media
- In a possible allusion to his Gotham CentralGotham CentralGotham Central is a police procedural comic book series that was published by DC Comics. It was written by Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka, with pencils initially by Michael Lark....
iteration, Corrigan is mentioned in The Gotham Times (a viral website/print advertising campaign for the film The Dark KnightThe Dark Knight (film)The Dark Knight is a 2008 superhero film directed, produced and co-written by Christopher Nolan. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, the film is part of Nolan's Batman film series and a sequel to 2005's Batman Begins...
) as being one of several GPD officers who are under investigation for corruption.
- The Jim Corrigan Spectre appears on the cover of a comic book in the WatchmenWatchmen (film)Watchmen is a 2009 superhero film directed by Zack Snyder and starring Malin Åkerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Patrick Wilson. It is an adaptation of the comic book of the same name by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons...
tie-in Under the Hood.
- Jim Corrigan was featured as The Spectre in the DC Showcase: The SpectreDC Showcase: The SpectreDC Showcase: The Spectre is a 2010 short animated film, directed by Joaquim Dos Santos and written by Steve Niles, featuring Gary Cole as Detective Jim Corrigan, whose suspects are brought to justice by his alter-ego the Spectre...
animated showcase. He was voiced by Gary ColeGary ColeGary Michael Cole is an American actor. Cole is known for his supporting roles in numerous film and television productions since the 1990s.-Early life:...
.