With DC’s Green Lantern: Rebirth mini-series featuring the return of Hal Jordan to the company’s universe of heroes, a void arises in the character of the Spectre. When Jordan “vacates the post,” and returns to life, who will serve as the new Spirit of Vengeance?

In answering that question, one must look back at the history of the character. The costumed hero, the Spectre, first appeared 65 years ago this month in More Fun Comics #52, February, 1940. However, the Spectre “force” was created much earlier than this. It was formed by God, imbuing the creation with a tiny bid of Himself in order to mete out vengeance as required by His will. Various destructions were attributed to the Spectre force, such as the fall of Sodom and Gomorra. The Spectre force was primarily used by the higher being to express his anger with humanity and to serve as intermediary between Himself and Earth.

After Christ died, the Spectre force was free, but as God preferred having this intermediary relationship, He allowed the force to take on several hosts, ending up in New York City Police Detective Jim Corrigan. Corrigan had just been shot by a thug named Gat Benson. The detective died, but some mysterious voice from beyond the grave spoke to him, telling him to return to Earth and avenge especially evil actions.

The early episodes saw the Spectre mete out his own brand of justice and vengeance in particularly grisly ways. The criminals were almost always killed, and their souls sent to suffer eternal damnation.

Later, the Spectre served as a founding member of the Justice Society of America, and All-Star Squadron. During wartime, after witnessing the Nazi Holocaust he became enraged, vowing to wreak vengeance on the Nazis for their wanton slaughter, but was held-back by the JSA members. The results of this have never been explained, so we assume no vengeance was given for this.

Over time, the Spectre’s vengeance cooled a bit. During the 1960’s era, he fought alongside the JLA and JSA, and dealt with more costumed villains. During one crossover of Earth-1 and Earth-2, the Spectre force prevented a collision of the two earths and was presumably destroyed. He was, rather, sent to Earth-1, where he merged with the Jim Corrigan of that earth, once again finding his vicious side when it came to passing judgement on criminals. Some he turned into blocks of wood and ran them through a saw; others were cut in half by a giant pair of scissors.

Post-Crisis, the Spectre’s powers seem to have weakened as he is much more susceptible to magic. He has seemed more of a balancing power between good and evil rather than a spirit of vengeance, fighting the supernatural more so than the common crook. He appeared with Madame Xanadu and Swamp Thing, and is familiar with Nabu, the force behind Dr. Fate. Corrigan was later allowed an opportunity to set his own soul at peace, finally receiving a funeral and leaving the Spectre without a host.

During the Day of Judgement mini-series, Hell opened its doors on the material plane and again the Spectre force was needed. Corrigan was offered to host, but refused. Former Green Lantern Hal Jordan took the mantle and remains the Spectre at this time. He has serious doubts about his role, however, thus leaving the door opened for Green Lantern: Rebirth.

Many believe that another Jim Corrigan, a familiar character in the comic Gotham Central, would be the obvious choice to take the role after Jordan’s eminent departure. Whether this character is the original Jim Corrigan, or a mere coincidence remains to be discovered, and also whether he would even accept the job of host. Perhaps a character such as Kent Nelson, the former Dr. Fate, or Madame Xanadu would be better suited…or perhaps not.

One thing remains clear, however. The Spectre character is an integral part of the DC mythology, and is a position that must be filled. We will simply have to look in the pages of DC comics to come to find the answer as to who will fill those sizeable shoes.