Scott Tipton’s witty BIRTHDAY TRIBUTE to the late Golden Age artist, who was born 108 years ago… By SCOTT TIPTON  You know, some superheroes have it better than others when it comes to origins. Spider-Man was bitten by a radioactive spider; irritating, but hardly traumatic. Superman’s rocketship ride to Earth from Krypton? Maybe crippling emotionally, but hey, he was young – he adjusted. When it comes to origins, nobody had it worse than the Spectre, who had to be beaten and drowned before getting his superpowers. Makes that whole “gamma-bomb explosion” deal look pretty good in comparison, doesn’t it? Let’s take a glance at DC Comics’ resident “spookerhero,” the Spectre, created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Bernard Baily, who was born 108 years ago, on April 5, 1916. In 1939, publishers everywhere were scrambling to cash in on the unprecedented success of National Comics’ Superman and Batman. National’s sister company, All-American, was about to make their presence felt on the newsstands with their triple threat of super-types: the Green Lantern, Hawkman and the Flash. National’s competitors weren’t sitting on their hands either; Timely had already introduced Bill Everett’s Sub-Mariner and Carl Burgos’ Human Torch, and it was only a short while until Fawcett would unleash Captain Marvel on the world as well. National had their fair share of mysterious adventurers like the Crimson Avenger and the Sandman, but they weren’t really superheroes (at least not yet – in the months to come, both the Crimson Avenger and the Sandman would find their cloak-and-fedora, pulp-styled modus operandi a thing of the past, and see themselves saddled with skintight long underwear and apple-cheeked boy sidekicks). In an effort to corner the market, National set out to find superhero series for their two remaining monthly books: Adventure Comics and More Fun Comics. Adventure would soon see the debut of the Hourman, while More Fun would be the home of, you guessed it, the Spectre. Created by Siegel (fresh from the success of Superman) and Baily, the Spectre makes his first appearance in February 1940, in More Fun Comics#52. In the debut episode, hard-boiled police detective Jim Corrigan is set to marry his girlfriend, socialite Clarice Winston. Unfortunately, work keeps getting in the way: namely, singlehandedly busting up the operations of local crime boss “Gat” Benson. Before long, “Gat” has had enough,...