A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR: The following is a proposed 6-issue story featuring Batman and The Spectre written by Michael Uslan that unfortunately never came to fruition at DC Comics. It would’ve been part of Batman’s 80th-anniversary celebration, as well as the beginning of The Spectre’s 80th anniversary. Thanks to Mr. Uslan for sending it over for the BOF audience to read. Check out the outline and post your thoughts in the comments below! – Bill “Jett” Ramey
“The Spectre exists as the embodiment of the wrath of God. Jim Corrigan was, at the moment of his violent murder, merely the latest human spirit assigned to host and guide The Spectre in his pursuit of vengeance while he walks the earth.” – From the Chronicles of The Phantom Stranger
The last shocking secret of the origin of The Spectre is revealed by…
THE BATMAN and THE SPECTRE in…
“MY FATHER, WHO ART IN HEAVEN….”
Our tale opens on that night…that very night…the most renowned night of horror in the history of the DCU…
Young Bruce Wayne and his parents walk through what will soon become known as Crime Alley on the way home from a movie. In the dim street light, an assailant tears away Martha Wayne’s necklace as her husband, Thomas, intercedes only to be shot down in cold blood. Martha’s screams cause the panicky murderer to kill again, and he silences her with a bullet. As he runs off, the boy is left behind to cry over the bodies of his parents… a cry that will soon resolve into a vow of vengeance to get the man who did this…to get all the evil ones… to make a difference in this world.
That night, a legend is born…
Correction…
That night, TWO legends are born…
A traumatized boy will become The Batman…
And his brutally murdered father will become The Spectre!
Before Jim Corrigan, The Spectre walked the earth… and his host was Dr. Thomas Wayne.
In this five to six-issue story arc or one graphic novel, learn why The Spectre chose Dr. Thomas Wayne as his host and what Wayne brought to The Spectre in terms of his conscience, his nature, and his need or lack of need for vengeance.
See what happens when a Batman emerges and learns the difference between vengeance, revenge, and justice as he encounters a powerful ghostly apparition that appears even more frightening than himself.
With no idea that the Ghostly Guardian is his own father, The Batman does not quite comprehend just how The Spectre is influencing and altering The Dark Knight’s mission and purpose in life. But amazingly, The Batman is also having an impact on how a ghost sees life.
With help from Lt. Jim Gordon and Lt. Jim Corrigan, The Batman and The Spectre solve the murders of Thomas and Martha Wayne and purge much evil from Gotham City, a modern-day Sodom or Gomorrah.
Throughout the story, The Batman and The Spectre conflict with each other as The Batman defines himself as a vigilante against crime while The Spectre defines himself as crime’s judge, jury and executioner.
In the end, the repercussions are staggering for The Batman when he finally learns that The Spectre is the ghost of his own slain father.
The last secret of The Spectre is revealed when The Batman learns why The Spectre must depart Thomas Wayne, moving on to Lt. Jim Corrigan as his next human host.
Artists: n/a
Written by: Michael Uslan
