Jim Corrigan arrives on the scene of a crime in which an armored car has been held up and the guards shot to death. When he learns that a member of the gang was killed by his own men, it is the Spectre who decides to track down the gang members one by one and exact justice.
- "The Wrath of... the Spectre" (Spectre) written by Michael Fleisher, penciled and inked by Jim Aparo and art continuity by Russell Carley.
- "Is a Snerl Human?" written by Sheldon Mayer, penciled and inked by Alex Toth.
"The Wrath of... the Spectre"
The story opens on a secluded stretch of a highway. An armored truck with $1,000,000 is hit by fire grenades. The armored truck driver stops the burning truck, and the four guards are forced to vacate the vehicle. One of the guards calls out a plea, “Don’t shoot!” But Fritz, one of the armed robbers, unleashes a hail of gunfire from a submachine gun. Bullets riddle the four guards. One of the masked robbers complains to Fritz afterward about killing the guards, but Fritz is unphased. As the gunmen collect the money, they hear a police siren. They rush for their getaway car. One of the robbers, Pete, is wounded by an arriving police officer before he can make it to the door of the getaway car. Rather than aid his partner in crime, Fritz shoots down Pete, and the car speeds away.
New York Police Detective Lieutenant Jim Corrigan is one of the investigators at the scene of the armored truck robbery. On the body of Pete, the dead robber, Corrigan finds a business card from an antique store, which is operated by one of the surviving armoed truck robbers, Charlie.
At the antique store, Hank and Charlie, the other two armored truck robbers, again confront Fritz about shooting the guards and their own man, Pete. Fritz flippantly replies that now each person gets a greater share of the money stolen.
After Fritz and Hank have left the antique store, Corrigan arrives and confronts Charlie about the armored car holdup. Charlie reaches for a gun in his desk and fires four shots at Corrigan, and the bullets go right through him. Instead of toppling over, Corrigan says, “Those are all the questions I have...for now!” Then, he fades away like a true ghost. Charlie is spooked by the incident. He takes his money and starts to flee in a car. He calls Hank at a telephone booth and warns him of his encounter with the ghostly Corrigan. Hank laughs it off, but Charlie is still afraid. Charlie drives away from the phone booth. He sees the Spectre in the road, and veers to avoid him, causing his car to drive off a cliff.
The next day, the Spectre visits Hank who is reading a newspaper article about the death of his partner, Charlie. Hank aims a machine gun at the Spectre and warns the Spectre to stay away. But the Spectre shows no fear, even telling Hank that Hank can’t kill him, for he is already dead. When Hank asks why he is there, the Spectre replies, “I want to sleep in a nice warm grave...I want the ever-lasting peace that is rightfully mine.” Suddenly, Hank’s machine gun barrel melts, then Hank’s arms melt, and then the rest of his body.
Aboard a jet bound for South America, the Spectre emerges from Fritz’s smoking pipe. He confronts Fritz about his crime and tells Fritz to look into the Spectre’s eyes of death. Fritz talks loudly exclaiming that he will do nothing the Spectre wants. Fritz calls for a stewardess. The stewardess and other passengers can not see or hear the Spectre, so they presume Fritz is hallucinating. Fritz draws a gun and tries to take the stewardess as a hostage. The Spectre says, “Farewell, murderer.” The lights go out for a few seconds in the jet. When the lights blink back on, Fritz’s skeleton, still holding the handgun, sits on floor in the aisle.
The following morning, the New York Police Chief grumbles that Corrigan has no leads on the armored car robbers. The story ends with Corrigan’s reply: “Those mugs don’t have a ghost of a chance.”
Notes
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