January 6-7: In Gateway City, a window-washer slips and falls, but his life is saved in exchange for his shadow, the latest of several such bargains, which include a Mongolian bandit in the Gobi Desert, spelunker Andre Vosin in France, and world-renowned big game hunter Olive Morell in Africa. Detective Captain Jim Corrigan and the Spectre both notice that the man has no shadow. Sensing an evil aura in the man, the Spectre follows him and is soon drawn into his body by ectoplasmic magnetism. Finding the missing shadow within, the Spectre battles it and is quickly thrown into the psycho-matter dimension of Dis, where he is attacked by other spirit beings such as Tsathhala of the Hundred Seas and Ahriman of the Windy Worlds, who seek to invade Earth's dimension. Becoming millions of light years large, the Spectre escapes them and is able to return at normal size to Gateway City. There the Voice speaks to him, telling the Spectre that Shathan the Eternal has attempted to destroy him, and tells him to go back in time to the beginning of all things to discover how Shathan began. Returning to the creation of the universe at the Big Bang, the Spectre witnesses how an explosion creates his universe, while an implosion creates the evil and malignant psycho-matter universe of Dis. There Shathan ruled the demonic inhabitants of that universe, but sought over time to dominate the physical matter universe as well, using Earth as a stepping-stone. But even as Shathan sent evil mental images that influenced human history, the forces of good brought up great men such as Moses, Peter, Buddha, and Mohammed to lead the way of goodness and push back the evil. Centuries later, Shathan sends his personally trained deputy Azmodus to Earth to pave the way for his own appearance, despite being defeated by the Spectre. Now, by taking human shadows, he has created a loyal following of people whose belief in Shathan cause him to exist on Earth. In the present, the Spectre saves Corrigan's life after Shathan tries to kill him twice, and the Spectre realizes he's being kept busy so that Shathan can assemble his followers, whose shadows he owns. Unfortunately, the Spectre tracks down Shathan after his followers have caused him to manifest in a long-forgotten temple. The Spectre attacks Shathan, and the two battle throughout the universe until the Spectre brings him back through time to October 30, 1961, to drop him in the middle of a 57-megaton thermonuclear bomb, then to the Tunguska explosion of June 30, 1908, and the volcanic explosion on Krakatoa on August 21, 1883. Finally, the Spectre brings Shathan back to the beginning of time, where Shathan's body is hurled outward to be spread across the vast universe for all eternity. Back in the present, the Spectre returns Shathan's former followers, their shadows restored, to their homes. Note: The Spectre's battle with Shathan the Eternal is said to be his greatest battle, and may also be the reason he was created in the first place. [“Beyond the Sinister Barrier,” Showcase #61 (March-April, 1966)]