Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Decent Comics: "The Man Who Stalked the Spectre" by Fleisher, Carley, and Aparo

You may have already heard, Groove-ophiles, that Michael Fleisher passed away this past February 2. Fleisher was a fave of Ol' Groove's. He was a unique voice who wrote some of my all-time favorite comics. Not just the fabulous Spectre in Adventure Comics, but he was also the longest-running Jonah Hex writer. But that's not all. Fleisher wrote many issues of Sandman, Shade, and Warlord (in the 80s), along with tons of short stories for DC's mystery mags. At Marvel, Fleisher had long runs on Ghost Rider, Spider-Woman, and Conan (in Conan the Barbarian and Savage Sword of Conan). He also wrote many horror stories for the Warren mags, and was a guiding force for some of Atlas/Seaboard's wildest concepts:  Brute, Grim Ghost, Iron Jaw, Morlock 2001, and Tarantula (in Weird Suspense). Michael Fleisher never got the accolades he deserved during his lifetime, but hopefully those of us who remember his amazing stories will pass on the love and memories to today's comicbook fans. Thanks for everything, Mr. Fleisher.

Here's one of his best Spectre stories, "The Man Who Stalked the Spectre" from Adventure Comics #435 (July 1974) with art, naturally, by Jim Aparo...














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5 comments:

  1. keythd23March 20, 2018 at 12:26 AM

    Sorry to hear Michael Fleisher passed away (age?). As a groovy age fan of 61 this is unfortunately becoming all too frequent as those I grew up enjoying are passing on. The ending where the Spectre turned the man into a block of wood and buzzsawed him was downright creepy.

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  2. Sir A1!March 20, 2018 at 9:22 AM

    Harlan Ellison has always been a cranky dude, but yeah, that's a pretty messed up ending. Amazing that code people/editorial were, like, "Well, he was wood before he got sliced up, so that's fine." Bold stuff still.

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  3. Charlie Horse 47March 20, 2018 at 1:50 PM

    Excellent! This run on the Spectre has stuck with me even 45 years later!

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  4. AnonymousMarch 21, 2018 at 12:30 AM

    I didn't know Fleisher had died. That's too bad. I Loved his and Aparos Spectre. I also enjoyed his run on Ghost Rider with Don Perlin. Great post Groove, thank you.

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  5. J_D_La_Rue_67March 21, 2018 at 3:23 AM

    The Grandenetti Gang... part of the Eisner Crime Syndicate.

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