Spectre #36 (1995)

Jim Corrigan fights with Madame Xanadu's demons, but she eventually gains control over them and commands them to stop. Madame Xanadu then tells Corrigan about her deal with Neron. She admits that he tricked her; she has always been impulsive, and the demons act upon her least whim. Corrigan then tells her how Neron separated him from the Spectre-Force. Madame Xanadu summons her demons and tells them to bring her to the Spectre. Over Jerusalem, the Spectre Force is still fighting Ramban. Madame Xanadu arrives with Corrigan and three of her demons, and she orders the demons to attack the Spectre. Ramban is glad to take a break from the fighting. Corrigan tells Ramban that he suspects another soul has been bound to the Spectre. Then, Corrigan enters the Spectre's mind via his eyes. He discovers that there is indeed a new soul bound to the Spectre: Louis Snipe, the man who set him up to be killed back in the 1930s. Snipe explains that he had been burning in Hell for the last year, but then Neron tricked him into partnering with the Spectre. Corrigan understands Neron's plan—combine the Spectre-Force with a weak-natured soul, which is enough to satisfy Heaven's rule but not enough to curb the Spectre itself. But Snipe understands why Corrigan has come, so Snipe turns into a giant green spider and threatens to destroy him. In the streets of Jerusalem, Madame Xanadu makes a small golem out of clay. Inside the Spectre, Corrigan pulls off one of the spider's legs and stabs him with it. Outside, the Spectre has defeated Madame Xanadu's demons, and Madame Xanadu grows weak because her well-being is tied to theirs. Inside, Corrigan demands that Snipe leave the Spectre. He tosses Snipe out of the Spectre's eye, and one of Madame Xanadu's demons catches him. The demon then hurls Snipe into the golem. Snipe is now six inches tall and made of clay. Corrigan faces the Spectre-Force and says it has no choice but to reunite with him. The archangel Michael confirms Corrigan's remarks, saying the Spectre must meld with Corrigan or be banished to Limbo. The Spectre reunites with Corrigan, but Ramban suspects that the Spectre has been corrupted by Neron. He wonders who will truly be in charge—Corrigan, or the wrath of God. Corrigan himself admits that he doesn't know if he is truly in charge again. Later, at a bar in New York City, Corrigan meets with Father Craemer because he needs to feel human. Father Craemer understands that Corrigan is afraid to let the Spectre loose. Corrigan admits that as long as Neron is around, the Spectre may be finished.