Who was the Spectre before Jim Corrigan?

[BTRavage]

In the new Madame Xanadu series the titular character reacts to the Golden Age Spectre's origin like the being was something new to the Mortal Plane. However, we know from other Spectre stories that there has always been a Spirit of Vengence, and after Eclipso was imprisoned, it has always been the Spectre/Aztar. So who was the Spectre's mortal host before the 40's?

[funkymunk]

I don't know their names exactly but in the Ostrander/Mandrake Spectre tite from the 90's the writer alluded to several incarnations of the Spectre in different time periods. The Spectre was originally (I believe, someone else may know better) a demon, spirit of vengeance that God employed to carry out tasks like killing the first born in Egypt, demolishing Sodom and Gommorah and other things. After it went twild one time God decided it should merge with a human host so it would make moral decisions. The title showed pictues of an American Indian Spectre, an Indian Spectre and other such hosts. One host was driven to commit acts outside of its function and was banished to hell and then merged with a demon. I can't remember the demons name (Azrazael?) but he was a mortal enemy of the Spectre and fought the Spectre in its other incarnations. I'm not sure if there was a host directly before Corrigan, perhaps the Spirit was in Limbo until God found a suitable host?

It's well worth checking out the 90's Ostrander/Mandrake Spectre run if you want to find out more. 62 issues and you could probably find the entire run on ebay. It's my favourite title of all time, features heaps of Madame Xanadu (she even became host for the Spectre in one issue) and held me together in those horrible years when Liefeld clones amassed on the scene. Definetely worth reading.