Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Spectre #40 & 41 (1996)

Man, John Ostrander and Tom Mandrake really created something special with this book, didn't they?

These two issues are sea-based, as the Spectre gets amnesia and links up with the zombie crew of Captain Fear. Fear is actually a pretty solid guy, but he is carrying around the souls of his crew around on a ghost ship, always seeking revenge on the evil Baron Hemlocke. Most of issue 40 deals with Fear's history (although there is a great revenge sequence with Spectre killing some human traffickers). Issue 41 is filled with awesome stuff too, like a ghost ship battle in the streets of New York. Who would even think of that?

This is ostensibly part of a greater story running through the Spectre, but it works just fine on its own.

Tom Mandrake's art is chilling and effective. Issue 40's deaths are particularly nice, as the Spectre manifests as a giant wave, a squid, a horde of piranha, and a sperm whale. He actually eats a guy and then digests him with stomach acid! These books have an old-timey horror-comic feel, but they look modern and striking. Spectre is a great book!

Good

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