Secret Origins of the World's Greatest Super-Heroes

Secret Origins (1986-1990) #32, 35, 36, a2

by Dennis O'Neil, John Byrne, Christopher J. Priest

Batman!
Superman!
Flash!
Green Lantern!
Martian Manhunter!
The Justice League of America!

The Secret Origins of the World's Greatest Super-Heroes - who they are and how they came to be - including an all-new, never-before-published origin of the Batman.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Comic Book, Batman, Superheroes, Dc Comics, Fiction

145 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Dennis "Denny" O'Neil was a comic book writer and editor best known for his work for Marvel Comics and DC Comics from the 1960s through the 1990s, and Group Editor for the Batman family of titles until his retirement.

His best-known works include Green Lantern/Green Arrow and Batman with Neal Adams, The Shadow with Michael Kaluta and The Question with Denys Cowan. As an editor, he is principally known for editing the various Batman titles. From 2013 unti his death, he sat on the board of directors of the charity The Hero Initiative and served on its Disbursement Committee.

Reviews

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know several of these stories have been retconned out of DC existance but I always enjoyed the learning the origins of the heroes I read about. Recommended

[Tawfek · Rating 3 out of 5]

the first story about batman is a good story it ties between batman year one and batman shaman and the death of his parents and his trips around the world seeking learning and martial arts expertise.
my superman story review is on the original issue of man of steel #6 but i liked that story too.
third story about Hal gordan 3 stars not really impressed by the story it didn't really make me any closer to the character, it was weird seeing OA empty like that i think in newer comics there is leagues of lanterns out there.
i liked the origin story of man hunter since i didn't know much of this character anyway except the alternate version of flashpoint.
all i knew of the character before this retro story was that he feared fire.
i liked the first flash origin story the second and third were not really origin stories but they were good 3 star stories.
about the justice league story i liked it its a 4 star story from me a really good story even though its very old didn't really expect much but i was thoroughly amazed.

[Devero · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tradotto dalla Play Press a inizi anni '90 in Italia, questo volume è stato utile per conoscere le origini post Crisis del principali eroi DC che iniziavano a essere pubblicati in Italia in quegli anni dopo un decennio di assenza.
La resa di stampa italiana non fu ottimale e la famigerata brossura Play, con fogli svolazzanti dopo la prima lettura, non mi hanno lasciato un buon ricordo.
Eppure in se il volume fu funzionale all'epoca. Le storie erano buone e i disegni più che dignitosi.

[JD Comics · Rating 5 out of 5]

Secret Origins was released in 1990. It collects the origin or early stories of Batman, Superman, Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, and the Justice League of America. I picked this up because of Dennis O’Neil’s “The Man Who Falls”, a Batman story that, at the time of the release of this book, was never collected before. This is the shortest story in this book (only 17 pages) but, bias aside, it is also the best story in this book. This is a really good Batman origin story. It covers Bruce Wayne’s childhood, and early trainings under different mentors before his return to Gotham City. The story also makes reference to Batman: Shaman and Batman: Year One.

The Superman story is another good story. This story is about Clark discovering for the first time that he is an alien. It also gives the history between Clark Kent and Lana Lang, which I enjoyed. The Green Lantern story was just okay. Hal Jordan is basically just telling his origin story to a fan. Nothing special. The same goes for the Martian Manhunter story, which is just pure narration from the point of view of his friend.

Flash has two stories which I really like. This first one is about how he got his powers and the second one features the Rogues. In my opinion, Flash has the bes­­t DC rogues' gallery (they are literally called the Rogues) next to Batman’s rogues' gallery. The Justice League of America (“JLA”) story was a fun story. It is about aliens fighting each other, and they chose earth as their battle zone. This is a post-Crisis retcon of the origin story of the JLA. The founding members of the JLA in this story are Aquaman, Black Canary, Flash, Green Lantern, and Martian Manhunter.

Collects Secret Origins (1986) #32 and 35-36, Secret Origins Annual #2, and Man of Steel (1986) #6.

Chronology: I recommend reading this after Batman: Shaman because it has Shaman spoilers.

My Batman Collected Editions Instagram page

[ατζινάβωτο φέγι. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Που ειναι η Wonder Woman οεο ??

[Dave Lester · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having mentioned before that comic compilations can be complex to review, I will apply that same reasoning to "Secret Origins of the World's Greatest Super-Heroes" as the beginnings of Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Flash, and then ultimately the Justice League of America are explored by a diverse pallet of writers and artists. The graphic novel begins with an origin story of the Caped Crusader entitled "The Man Who Falls" written by Dennis O'Neil. The account plays nicely with Frank Miller's masterpiece "Batman: Year One" but isn't nearly as good. A highlight of the graphic novel comes next with John Byrne's "The Haunting" which recounts an early Superman story from his run on "Man of Steel". That story is the best of the lot and makes me want to check out more Byrne's Superman.

Green Lantern's origin story is also pretty good as is the Martian Manhunter but from there, the proceedings really drop off. Flash is a fun character but the writing of his story is actually fairly bad. The Justice League of America story is also disappointing being plotted by Keith Giffin. Black Canary has a very brief and rushed origin account as does Aquaman (kind of).

The graphic novel starts with the best stories and builds to stories that are not as good which highlights the unevenness of the book. Also, where is Wonder Woman in this book? A stunning omission by editor Mark Waid.

[Tony Laplume · Rating 3 out of 5]

The gem here is the Batman origin from Denny O’Neil and Dick Giordano, which is original to the collection, which otherwise reprints material from the late ‘80s series, plus an excerpt from John Byrne’s Man of Steel. Mark Waid, when he was still just an editor, provides the introduction. These stories, which in the right hands (Martian Manhunter’s, from Mark Verheiden and Ken Steacy, comes closest to avoiding such a fate), feel dated, rooted in the storytelling of the time, especially the Green Lantern segment. This is fine; it also means it’s a window into those times, of course. The Flash piece feels akin to what Waid himself would be doing, later. The JLA piece (which takes the place of the absent Wonder Woman), feels least essential. I’m not sure anyone has yet nailed a good secret origin for the team. Worth a look. Waid’s sentiment that these things require constant updating is certainly prescient.

[Kevin Findley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great snapshot of DC's biggest heroes just a few short years after the world changing events of Crisis on Infinite Earths (CoIE).

Four of the tales are from the Secret Origins title that began just as CoIE was coming to a close. They covered the Green Lantern (#36), Martian Manhunter (#35), the Flash (Barry Allen) (Annual #2), and the JLA (#32). Superman is here with the retelling of his origin from issue six of the Man of Steel mini-series written by John Byrne.

The standout of the book is the Batman origin. It is a new story written for this trade paperback by Dennis O'Neil and gets referenced often, even now, thirty-six years later.

Find it! Buy it! READ IT!

Note: I've had a copy of this since around 1995. Somehow, I have never reviewed it until today. Strange.

[Aimee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn’t think I was going to like this because it just looked very tacky and outdated, but I was very surprised to find that I actually enjoyed reading all the rebooted origins stories from the ‘80s of these heroes!

[Trey Kennedy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I mostly got this for the origin of Batman, which takes place before Year One and helped inspire Batman Begins. It’s worth it for that story definitely.

[Tamara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ahhhhh
La verdad sí me gustó mucho
Cortito pero bueno

[Jules VonDoom · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great introduction.

[Tamara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ahhhhh
La verdad sí me gustó mucho
Cortito pero bueno

[Nate]

An enjoyable compilation of origin stories for five heroes plus the JLA. All the stories were written in the late 80s after Crisis. Save for Batman’s and Superman’s, they essentially retell the heroes’ Silver Age origins. The Green Lantern one was my favorite. “The Man Who Falls” directly influenced Batman Begins.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

what? no love for Wonder Woman?
she is sorely lacking from this book.

[Matías Fuentes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Leído solamente lo referido al origen de Batman.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd give it 4.5 stars. It was definitely enjoyable. The Batman origin was disappointing though. It's a weak version of Shaman basically.

[Natalia M.G · Rating 3 out of 5]

Leí "el hombre que cae", ya que influyó en la película de Batman Begins.

Esta cortísima historia trata sobre los origenes de Batman y el parelalismo que hay entre un accidente que tuvo de niño con lo que hace cada noche; "caer" desde lo alto sobre las oscuras calles de Gotham, una ciudad corrompida.