BIZARRO BREAK #7 – The Spectre

BIZARRO BREAK #7 (The Spectre)
Story – Chris Duffy
Art – Craig Thompson
Colors – Dave Stewart
Edits – Joey Cavalieri


It’s been fun over the past few days writing about subjects that folks might actually want to read about… but, it’s about time I got back to a subject nobody cares about, and very few people will bother to read: the #BizarroBreak!


This time out, we’re featuring… oy, the Spectre.  Let’s do it.


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We open with a quick and dirty origin of the Jim Corrigan version of the Spectre… cop killed by gangsters, becomes a spirit of vengeance… yadda, yadda.  We then jump over to the Police Station, where rookie cop Terry Noonan is getting his bearings.  He’s really quite excited to be a part of the force… perhaps, a little too excited, as it would appear that his gleeful exuberance has gotten the attention of… well, Detective Jim Corrigan, who claims to be in the middle of thinking of new ways to fight crime.  Fair enough.  Our boy Terry is warned to keep his distance from grumpy ol’ Jim.

Jim rushes across the precinct with his three-ring binder… and is rather perturbed to find that Danny O’Keefe (perhaps an office manager?) had failed to order him a new three-hole punch!  And so, the Spectre exacts his revenge by punching three-holes of his own into Danny’s torso!

Much of the rest of this story follows this same routine… minor office faux pas are responded to with strict and severe Spectre-y vengeance.  It’s cute, well-drawn… but, there ain’t much more to it.

Like, seriously… this goes on for a few pages.

Finally, Terry Noonan has the revelation that: Jim Corrigan must be the Spectre!  That is, until Jim himself screws with the kid’s head to make him change his mind.

We wrap up with all the officers clocking out for the day, and heading across the street for drinks at the Ringside Pub.  Corrigan digs through his drawers, finds his “Rookie of the Year” plaque, and laments the fact that it sucks being dead.

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Well, I really liked the art in this!  And, ya know… the story wasn’t really that bad either… it just ran for probably twice as many pages as the gag actually needed to make its point.  Then again, I’m not exactly sure what “point” this one was trying to make.  Feels more like a series of “funny, ha-ha’s”… and a wraparound at the end to let us know that ol’ Corrigan doesn’t like being dead.


So… well, uh… what else is there to say?  The art was nice!  Got a very Darwyn Cooke-y vibe from Craig Thompson’s work here.  It’s been awhile since I read Blankets (which I remember enjoying quite a bit), and totally didn’t realize this was the same fella until I popped him into Google a minute ago.  I’d probably say that this entire story is worth it to check out how Thompson plays with taking the Spectre’s vengeance to its “literal” extreme.


Next Bizarro Break: Hal Jordan… back on Oprah?!