Welcome to Longbox Junk, the place to find all the comic book reviews you never wanted!
October is almost over, but the Longbox Junk Halloween Party is still going! It's been a good time so far. . .I mean, at least the neighbors haven't called the police yet, right? It's like I always say: There ain't no party like a Longbox Junk Halloween party, 'cause a Longbox Junk Halloween party don't stop!
Well. . .I guess it stops in November. But for now, we ain't stopping!
This time out we're going to take a little trip to HELL with DC's Supernatural Superhero, The Spectre.
Sound good? You in? LET'S GO!
THE SPECTRE #5
DC (1993)
COVER: Charles Vess
THE COVER:
It's a cover by the great Charles Vess.
Here's my policy when it comes to Charles Vess: If I see Vess. . .I buy Vess. Simple as that.
In MY humble opinion, he's one of the greatest fantasy illustrators out there. Unfortunately, he seems to be a bit overlooked when the conversation turns to great comic artists, but in MY house Charles Vess is a hero.
So. . .great cover. Let's get inside this thing!
THE STORY:
A Rage In Hell
SCRIPT: John Ostrander
PENCILS: Tom Mandrake
INKS: Tom Mandrake
We begin our tale on a rainy night. A police chase ends in a fiery crash. But these aren't just petty criminals meeting their fate on a rain-slick highway. They're kidnappers who have taken a child and buried him alive. They were on their way to pick up the ransom when they ran a stop sign and attracted the attention of a random patrol car. . .
As they rush the lone survivor of the crash to the Emergency Room, the devastating situation becomes clear. He's the only one left who knows where the child is buried! The Detectives in charge of the case and the child's parents are quickly summoned to the hospital, but it's too late. The kidnapper dies, taking his knowledge to the grave. . .
The situation is beyond grim. The child's parents are in a panic. Nobody knows where their son is buried and he's sure to die soon! The Detectives can bring them no comfort. They have no leads, no clues, nothing.
But then Jim Corrigan arrives. He's a friend of Amy, one of the Detectives. Corrigan is a "Psychic Detective" and he tells them he's there to help. Head Detective Kane is skeptical, but Amy has seen Corrigan at work before.
Amy is well aware of Corrigan's supernatural powers. She follows him into the room with the dead body of the kidnapper. His name was Eddie Vega. Corrigan tells Amy he's going to follow Vega's soul to wherever it may be, but she needs to watch over him and maintain his connection to this world. Amy reluctantly agrees, and Corrigan goes to work. . .
He follows the thin thread of Vega's soul, first trying to catch up to it in the Land of the Recently Departed, but Vega's soul is nowhere to be found. Spectre knows that Vega must already be at his final destination. . .HELL!
Upon his arrival in the infernal realm, Spectre is immediately assailed by the tormented spirits of some of those he has sent to this place. Spectre ignores them and demands that the Lord of Lies present himself!
He declares that Spectre has no power in his realm, and taunts the hero by saying the life of the child doesn't matter to Spectre. . .he's only there because HE didn't get to deliver judgement on Vega.
Enraged by the demon's taunts, Spectre let's Shathan know that his wanting Vega is NOT a request! He grows and attacks Shathan, who continues to taunt Spectre, telling him he's outstepped his bounds.
And it's ON! Shathan fights back, continuing to taunt Spectre as he inflicts some of the same torments the Spectre has used in judgement of others upon him. Spectre dies in agony again as again as Shathan boldly declares that the Spectre has no power in HIS realm.
He declares that his powers derive from the unavenged and he wields their rage everywhere. . .and ESPECIALLY in Hell! Re-energized, Spectre breaks free of Shathan's mental torture!
Spectre attacks Shathan with renewed energy, forcing the demon to experience his own fearsome hellfire! It's too much. The Spectre prevails and takes the soul of Eddy Vega from Shathan.
The triumphant Spectre thanks the defeated demon lord for the entertainment, then takes his prize and readies to leave the infernal realm. But Shathan bids him to wait. . .taunting Spectre one last time with rumors he's heard that the Spectre is actually half demon, but doesn't even know it. Spectre dismisses Shathan's words as lies. . .but ARE they?
Leaving Shathan and his rumors behind, Spectre takes the soul of Eddy Vega to the gates of Hell, where he demands the information about the kidnapped child's location. . .
Vega's pathetic soul, overjoyed at being released from torment at the hands of Shathan, gladly blurts out the information the Spectre needs. The child is buried in a graveyard in a nearby city under a headstone marked "Krause".
But Vega's joy is short-lived. Once Spectre has the information he wants, he casually tosses Vega's soul back into Hell to continue with its deserved eternal torture.
BACK ON EARTH. . .
At the hospital, Detective Kane hears screams and finds Amy in the room with the dead body of Vega. The corpse is standing and telling them where the child is buried! Kane can't believe his eyes, but he rushes out to summon some officers and the child's parents to go with him to the graveyard. . .
While Amy remains at the hospital, helping Corrigan leave the dead body behind, Kane and his officers find the grave and dig it up, rescuing the boy. Detective Kane wonders what just happened, and what Amy has gotten herself mixed up in.
The End. . .To be continued.
THE REVIEW:
A harrowing trip into hell, a battle against a demon with a child's life hanging in the balance. Such a great little story!
Although this issue IS part of the ongoing continuity of the 1992 Spectre ongoing series, it reads well as a one shot story. You don't need to know too much background to understand that Spectre is a powerful being willing to go to hell and fight a demon to save an innocent soul.
So the story is pretty good, but the Golden Ticket HERE to me is the fantastic Tom Mandrake art!
Mandrake is someone that I feel is a bit underrepresented when it comes to conversations about great comic artists. I know his work best from this run of Spectre, as well as Batman, Grimjack and Sgt. Rock, but he did a LOT of solid work over his career and probably deserves more mentions than he gets.
My source for this high opinion of Mandrake? EXHIBIT A: Just look up above at the scans from this one single issue! Mandrake's brutal vision of Hell is about as disturbing as it gets. When he inks his own work (as he does here), his art hits HARD.
CONCLUSION
Overall, I give this issue a certified Longbox Junk Gold Seal of Approval™. It's got an engaging story and is PACKED with superb artwork from the great Charles Vess cover to the final page.
I hope that by spotlighting this single issue within the run, that someone out there who might not have read the 1992 Spectre run, or who might not have thought about reading a Spectre comic at all might change their mind and take a look at this series.
It's a fairly lengthy run for the 90s at 63 issues and an Annual, but it's a solid read all the way through.
You can find issues in the bargain bins, but I think this is a series not many people get rid of, so they're a bit sparse. There are collections that can be found pretty easily, though. This is still a popular series even after almost 35 years. It's one that's managed to ride out the scorn heaped on a lot of other 90s comics, due to the quality of the stories and art. Check it out!
Up Next. . .
October ain't over, so the Longbox Junk Halloween Party ain't over, either!
Be there or be square.
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