10 Things DC Comics Wants You To Forget About Green Lantern
2. ...And Then Became The Spectre
By far one of DC's most compelling and intriguing supernatural characters has to be the Spectre.
Created by Jerry Siegel and Bernard Baily in 1940, Spectre is the literal spirit of vengeance, and one of the more violent heroes in DC's library. Plenty of characters have been chosen to represent the spirit, including Jim Corrigan and Crispus Allen, but it was Hal Jordan's tenure as the character that everyone seems to have forgotten about.
Judged to spend the afterlife in purgatory, Jordan was selected to become the Spectre as a means of redeeming his soul. Among his most famous acts as the spirit was his resurrection of Oliver Queen, who'd perished at the hands of a terrorist cell earlier in the decade, only emerging from the role in 2004 when he returned to the Lantern mantle.
With Hal being considered the 'main' Green Lantern, there's little chance he'll be returning to this role anytime soon. It's probably for the best though, seeing as how Corrigan was the best Spectre anyway.