The newest issue of Gotham By Midnight delivered some huge changes to the origin of The Spectre, one of DC's oldest superhero characters. This issue revealed that, rather than being an instrument of divine justice as always believed, the Spectre is actually just carrying out the whims of his host, Detective Jim Corrigan.

Art by Juan Ferreyra

Gotham By Midnight focuses on Corrigan and the unusual team of GCPD officers that make up "The Midnight Shift," a special task force designed to investigate the increasing number of supernatural crimes in Gotham City. The fact that Corrigan has been bonded with The Spectre has been an asset in their investigations, but it's also left a trail of dead bodies. This issue saw Corrigan forced to answer for those killings as he was interrogated by his fellow detectives. And though he tried to play it cool, Corrigan eventually lost control of the Spectre and caused the two detectives to be brutally murdered.Here is where the issue delivered a major twist to the Spectre's nature and origins. This supernatural entity has traditionally been portrayed as an instrument of a higher power (sometimes even a fallen angel), tasked with delivering righteous vengeance to killers and criminals on Earth. The Spectre is usually tied to a human host in order to ground him in a mortal world. Aside from Corrigan, other past hosts have included Hal Jordan and fellow GCPD detective Crispus Allen.However, this issue revealed that The Spectre doesn't answer to a higher power at all. Instead, he's merely been acting out Corrigan's desires to punish the wicked. Corrigan is responsible for all the deaths in this series, in effect making him the book's real villain. This reveal also addresses some of the thorny questions surrounding the Spectre's presence in the DC Universe, including why he never seems to direct his wrath against costumed villains like Joker.This plot twist is reminiscent of the legendary The Saga of the Swamp Thing #21 from writer Alan Moore and artist Stephen Bissette. That issue turned Swamp Thing's origin story on its head by revealing that, rather than being a man who was transformed into a monster, Swamp Thing was merely a plant creature imparted with the echoes of Alec Holland's memories. Moore used that twist as the foundation to build a hugely influential run on the series.We might wonder if the same will prove true for Gotham By Midnight if not for the fact that DC just canceled the series as of December's issue #12. On the other hand, The Omega Men was recently granted a reprieve due to reader demand, so maybe there's still hope for this book's ongoing future. Perhaps this latest Spectre-related twist will give Gotham By Midnight the sales boost it needs to find a second wind.

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