History:  (Spectre III #47 (fb)) - <1948> An alien crashed his ship in Roswell, New Mexico. The military investigated, and took the creature to Area 52. The National Interest, a subversive group bent on remaking America in their own image, investigated the spaceship, and the alien's armor. The alien's race travelled through space by putting only their mind inside battlesuits, and Sam Wilson, a dying member, had his mind absorbed into the suit. The Interest planned to make him their pawn.

(Spectre III #39) - The National Interest sought the American talisman to summon the Spirit of America and remold it in the image of what they thought America should be, and subservient to them. Their agents Jefferson, and Shadrach, a legal entity, claimed one piece of the talisman from Professor Nicodemus Hazzard, but the Spectre managed to destroy Shadrach. They used magic from the spent bullets that killed JFK, MLK and pieces of the Nixon tapes to create a new Shadrach.

(Spectre III #43) - The National Interest continued to collect pieces of the talisman, but Spectre tried to foil them at every turn, and already had two pieces of his own. The Interest performed their occult ritual to raise Shadrach, who'd again been destroyed by the Spectre, but their magic failed. Their government contacts informed them that the Spectre was vulnerable to the Spear of Destiny, so they determined to get their hands on it.

(Spectre III #46-48) - The National Interest located the Spear of Destiny in space hidden in a stone tomb created by the Spectre, and learned that it was cursed with Hitler's madness, and would corrupt its' wielder. Dwayne Hawke said he would wield it because he agreed with a lot of Hitler's politics. The Interest gave the job of retreiving the Spear to Sorcerer, the former Sam Wilson, who they'd brainwashed, and he succeeded in his mission. National Interest When Tahzey Wovoka sold mineral rights of his Mescalero reservation to the National Interest, his brother Victorio Cutter was angered, and performed the Ghost Dance to summon spirits to attack the outsiders. The Interest knew there no minerals in that section of New Mexico, but were hoping to find more aliens from the Sorcerer's species. Hawke, armed in a replica of Sorcerer's suit, and possessed with the Spear, went down with Duchloss and the resurrected Shadrach to take care of business, and hopefully the Spectre. Duchloss used a talisman fragment to summon the Dead Bunch, the spirits of cowboys who'd slaughtered Indians, and sent them against the reservation. Spectre and Lonetress intervened, asking Victorio for his piece of the talisman, but he refused, seeing his power as the only way to keep his tribe safe.

(Spectre III #49, 50) - The National Interest killed Victorio, and shaman William Lonetree used the talisman to have the Spirit Tribe combine their power to Spectre's. Spectre was victorious, but Dwayne Hawke killed Lonetree, and then turned on the Spectre, badly wounding him with the Spear. He then struck a death-blow, leaving behind a smoking crater. Hawke took the remaining pieces of the talisman, and the National Interest could now reconstruct it. The Sorcerer found the remains of his old body, and remembered where he came from. He took the body, which would die without life-support, and flew off, telling the Interest he was done with them controlling him. The National Interest performed their ritual, but something went wrong, and they brought forth the American Scream, the dark side of the American dream. Spectre emerged to fight him, and was backed up by the Patriot, the new avatar of America that the Spirit of America created itself. The heroes were victorious, and the Scream was banished after leaving its dollowers in the Interest mad.

Comments: Created by John Ostrander & Tom Mandrake.

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