Posted by Dan Greenfield on Mar 12, 2023
The TOP 13 SECRET ORIGINS Covers — RANKED
THE OLD ORIGIN CHANGETH… especially in the ’80s… — Our pal and columnist Jim Beard has a grand new book out — The Old Origin Changeth, a series of historical essays on how some of your favorite characters’ not-so-secret origins have evolved over the decades. It’s a great idea for a book and well executed to boot — natch! — featuring a coterie of comics historians. You can get your copy now from Amazon, in multiple formats. Click here to order. You’ll be glad you did. — Dan — By JIM BEARD There are so many comic-book series that have been forgotten or lost in the mists of time and truly deserve our attention. One of my favorites of that ilk is the 1980s 50-issue Secret Origins title from DC. This book came at such an interesting time in DC’s history, when Crisis on Infinite Earths was sending shock waves through not only the company’s long history, but through the comics industry itself. There’d been nothing like Crisis before, and such a monumental event needed support material to show where DC had been, and where it was going. That’s what Secret Origins was all about. It had one foot in the past and the other in the future, and could claim some of the very best caretakers in the business at that time, writers, editors, and artists. Part of the charm of the series was the character selection, and the covers really hammered that home with some of the very greatest of any series at that time. Here’s my take on THE TOP 13 SECRET ORIGINS COVERS — RANKED… a little glimpse into the past when such a title was possible, and something to celebrate. — 13. Secret Origins #29 (Aug. 1988). This one’s a personal favorite of mine, not necessarily because of the cool Keith Wilson art, but because my girl Ma Hunkel wound up on the cover of a modern comic (and with a Shelly Mayer story inside!). — 12. Secret Origins #20 (Nov. 1987). Another personal favorite. Batgirl’s my favorite heroine and Dr. Mid-Nite’s my favorite JSAer — and it doesn’t hurt that Kevin Maguire and Bob Wiacek made them look so super. — 11. Secret Origins #25 (Apr. 1988). This was at a moment in time when any new art from Curt Swan and Murphy...
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