The Wrath Of God Has Been Neutered

Relativism strikes another blow to pop culture in "Countdown To Mystery" from DC comics.

I love the Spectre. One of my favorite character concepts. The Wrath of God bonded to a human soul. John Onstrander's run with Tom Mandrake doing artwork was a critical success, but since they stepped down, the character has gone downhill. First with the J.M. Dematteis "Spectre the Friendly Ghost" series, where the character suddenly became the "Spirit of Redemption", going on all sorts of touchy feely journeys with people who "really aren't so bad after all."

Now don't get me wrong. I'm all about redemption. I know my own heart, and I'm certainly deserving of some wrath. But there are people in this world who are completely given over to evil and they will never seek redemption.

Granted, we don't want to be judgmental and pretend we know who those people are, but history has demonstrated that plenty of people go their graves cursing everyone around them and having no remorse for the horrific evils they've committed. They may not be in the majority, but they definitely exist.

And what's more, if you're writing a work of fiction, you objectively know what your character's "spiritual condition" is. So the Spectre is the perfect opportunity to write stories that remind us that there really is such a thing as evil and there really is such a thing as justice. There was a time when ANY superhero book could be looked at for clear examples of good, evil and justice. But as American pop-spirituality infects entertainment media, we run increasingly short on stories that handle these ethical realities with clear definition or distinction.

In Countdown to Mystery, a book partially showcasing the Spectre, we see a cruel, remorseless murderer kill someone in cold blood with a smile on his face. The Spectre shows up and kills the murderer. But instead of going to hell or facing ANY real form of punishment other than the brief discomfort of death, he just hangs around. Why? Because he's an athiest, and so he has "nowhere to go".

Okay, fine. But the grounding of the Spectre, as a character, is based on the absolute, monotheistic concepts of the Bible, or at least the Old Testament. The Spectre is supposed to be unstoppable. But now, some sick jerk who has no value for human life can look at the Spectre and essentially pout, "I don't believe in you. Go away!" and get off the hook?

Why even bother writing stories about the Spectre anyway if it's that easy to avoid justice?

Anyway, I'm a DC fan, a Spectre fan and so far the rest of the story and art are compelling enough to continue reading. However I can't avoid a sigh every now and then...