Freak Comics

I never thought I would be much of a Spectre fan, but after reading Infinite Crisis as well as Kingdom Come, I grew somewhat intrigued with the character.
Thankfully DC released Tales of the Unexpected, an eight issue mini-series, featuring the Spectre, who is now bound to Crispus Allen, his human host.

Each issue features the Spectre killing off the worst of the worst in criminal scum: rapists, child molesters, and mainly murders are among the victims of the Spectre’s unique brand of blind justice.

The issues move fast, but are always interesting and feature well written dialogue. The side story of Crispus Allen adapting to his new un-life is entertaining, and the arc, which happens to be a murder mystery, is intriguing.

Brian Azzarello has done an amazing job on the art and David Lapham is a great writer.

Then, there’s the bonus crap in the back of each issue: Dr. Thirteen.
I really wanted to like this story. It has all of the elements of classic 1950’s campy horror: vampires, pirates, yeti, Nazi chimps that live in a jungle in the arctic…
However, the dialogue is rather cliche and the story is taking too long to get to the point. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not slow moving, it’s actually very quickly paced… but that’s the problem: it’s running in circles.
The third installment felt like the first and second repeated with different characters. The story feels rushed but frozen, like a person trapped in the woods who rushes to get out, but simply winds up tracing their footsteps again and again in one big circle.

I’m simply not getting it… perhaps it will pick up, but I doubt it.

Don’t let Dr. Thirteen prevent you from enjoying Tales of the Unexpected. It’s just a ‘bonus’, not the main tale. This series is definitely worth reading, especially if you’re a Spectre fan.