Broken Frontier

The Spectre returns with a bang as he chooses Crispus Allen to wield the awesome power of a vengeful God.

They say the third time’s the charm, but for Crispus Allen it may turn out to be more of a curse than a blessing. Already we have seen Jim Corrigan and Hal Jordan take up the mantle of the Spectre, and now Crispus has become the third successor. He’s getting his chance here to shine in a three issue series that follows plot threads developed during Infinite Crisis.

The story opens with Crispus wandering the streets of Gotham still clinging onto the fading memories that he held dear to him while alive. The Spectre has given him a year to linger in a limbo-like existence while he mulls over the offer to become the new spirit of vengeance. Of course Crispus is reluctant to accept, and he spends the year watching his family strive on without him and he even has the opportunity to discover Batman’s true identity. In the end though he ultimately accepts the offer and expects the first order of business is to bring his killer to justice, but he gets a big shock when the Spectre leads him to someone else.

Now much of this story is actually just a set-up, but writer Will Pfeifer has a firm handle on the concept. He told the story in a first person narrative and it was never boring nor was it paced too slowly for my tastes. In fact, most of the exposition centered upon Crispus Allen’s emotional state, and I thought it worked well for a story that has been told twice before when Corrigan and Jordan faced a similar fate. The difference here with Crispus is that he doesn’t fit the profile of his predecessors (being tormented souls) and I think this will make the Spectre more unique the third time around.

The artist chosen to bring this tale to life was Cliff Chiang. I enjoyed his past work on Human Target and The Creeper, and he brings the same graphic laden style to this book. It worked for the most part, but I thought his portrayal of the Spectre sporting Allen’s goatee gave him a somewhat offbeat look. I don’t think this worked for me, since I find it detracts from the Spectre having this ominous presence. Maybe it’s just something that I have to get used to, so the jury is still out for me on this one.

Overall though, I wasn’t totally enamored with this issue. Again I think this is partly due to the majority of the story being devoted to the set-up. The good thing here long term is that Will Pfeifer is an excellent enough writer to revitalize the Spectre, and I am sure the crux of his tale will become more thrilling as the action moves forward. His previous writing on Hero and Aquaman took some time to gestate as well, so I believe the same thing applies here. My suggestion is to stick with it and I know you won’t be disappointed when this is all said and done.