ComicPageOfTheWeekend: Dex-Starr: Secret Origins

Here's something different for a change!
The origin story of everyone's favorite Red Lanterns~

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Green Lantern #55 © DC Comics

ComicPanelsOfTheWeek: The Million dollar debut of BATGIRL

Here's a blast from the past! That's right, it is...

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Detective Comics © DC Comics

CBR Green Arrow & Speedy: Secret Origins

 

I've been readings lots of Mike Grell's Green Arrow run lately.....and then I noticed -
I already talked about some Green Arrow origin stories (Year One and Year One again) but not of Grell's own classic (and mostly definitive) revisited origin!!
(note: the modern 2007 Year One was mostly based and expanded upon Grell's take, it doesn't retcon it but adds upon it)

So here's yet another origin story for the Emerald Archer!

Comic title: Secret Origins #38
Green Arrow Secret Origins story by Mike Grell
Green Arrow Secret Origins art by Hannibal King, Giordano & Starr
Speedy Secret Origins story by Elliot S. Maggin
Speedy Secret Origins art by John Koch & John Nyberg

Published by DC
From 1989
Lineup Green Arrow
Format: Single issue from an on-going series.

I dunno for you, but Mike Grell's take on Green Arrow is still for me the definitive and best version of GA. It was "The" Green Arrow for me.
Sure, I loved Kevin Smith's reboot in the early 2000s, Chuck Dixon's run on GA's son Connor Hawke, Judd Winnick's take after Kevin Smith and J.T. Krul  more recently. And I can already say I can't wait to see what Krul and Dan Jurgens will do in the upcoming new relaunched series.
But under Mike Grell, Oliver Queen was a whole different beast.

Removed from his gadget that made him a wannabe Batman, simplified in his role and concept as a "modern day Robin Hood", Ollie was a hunter. Who used a deadly weapon (more so than, say, a Batarang is). A man who dared not cross a line he knew he had no problem overstepping if need be.

Anyway, after making G.A. popular again and relevant back in the 80s with the story arc Longbow Hunter, and then launching a new on-going series that would last for quite a while (until Ollie's "death"), Grell came upon this retelling of Oliver Queen's origin into Green Arrow. It was done at the height of the series when there was this Secret Origins on-going book which was showcasing and retelling origin of most major DC characters. I already reviewed a few of those.
And since these issues were usually split around two characters, it was only natural to take the occasion and give the second tale to Ollie's sidekick Speedy (not long before he changed his name into Arsenal and outgrew his former sidekick role).
 

The big, green, arrow-guy...

The first story is called "Sometimes a fool notion" and is the main meat in this issue.
It is the story devoted to retelling G.A.'s beginnings.

During its first half, the story is told, in true comic book fashion, over a dual-narration. One half featuring Ollie's wake up on this mysterious island, trying to survive, picking up some techniques to survive by improvising and remembering his early life... The second lower half, in "the real world", the events prior to the shipwreck, establishing his character.

Then, both plots interconnect, joins each other and Ollie gets off that island, now with a new outlook on life.

The second part of this story sees Ollie back in the mainland. He's having problem adjusting back... He never fully lived as much as when on that island, and he can't just back to being a selfish jerk anymore now... Until one time at a costumed party, when trouble happens, Ollie decides to take actions and plays superhero for the first time...dressed as Robin Hood! (his childhood hero)

"What am I supposed to do? Steal from myself and give to the poor?"

D'awww :)

The second comic is called "The kid that couldn't shoot straight".
It's a complete recap of Oliver Queen's ward and sidekick, Roy Harper.
It recaps in just a few pages all of his life, from his youth, growing up in a Navajo reservation until his recent days (and the present of the narration), being a Titan and the proud father of the little Lian Harper. (daughter of Roy and the villainess Chesire).

The story, if a bit short, goes well into details, telling how Green Arrow's path came into his, how he mastered his skills and proved an equal to Ollie.
Then the "Wonder Years", fighting crime side by side. The era in which Ollie started to imitate Batman (sigh...), donning trick arrows, an arrow-mobile, etc.. But Roy's all grown up now. He has to become more responsible (which was playing around his character arc over at The New Titans book), step out from the shadow of his mentor...

"All I can do is teach you what I know... to do justice... to love mercy... to walk humbly... and TO SHOOT STRAIGHT!"

Anyway, both stories, even written and drawn by completely different creative teams form a pretty interesting diptych.

We have these two facets of two different but related characters. In Ollie, we see the man going back to a more primitive regression (as a hunter). Leaving the shell of his past life behind. This adult playing dress-up. Living by having fun.
And with Roy it's the son becoming the father. Growing up. Looking nostalgically at his past.

It's a pretty neat package, and easily amongst my favorite "Secret Origins"!

Overall, it's a pretty good issue of Secret Origins
Easily one of the better ones. (unlike the more randoms like, say, Secret Origins: Batman/Halo...)

It features both classic DC archers, involves there past but was at the time setting their future direction in stones.
Plus, hey, there's also a brief mention and the origin of the trick arrows! How cool is that? XD

If you're a fan of Ollie and come across this, don't hesitate! DC fans or just those who prefer the more realistic-grounded heroes, give it a look to.

I give it:

  2 / 3 Plastic-trophies!

Movie NEWS! BANE revealed!

Here's how Bane will look like in The Dark Knight Rises.
So?
Happy? Traumatized? Ok with the changes?
I dunno for you, but it kinda looks like he's wearing underwear over his face :P

And here's the real Bane for the ones that already missing him:

 

From 52 © DC Comics.

More pictures from the set, below!

Wasn't that Bat-car destroyed in the previous flick? Aww, sucks...
And I was hopeing to see a more Batmobile Batmobile this time around...

CBR Plastic Man/Elongated Man: Secret Origins

 

I'm a big fan of both DC stretching superheroes.
Unlike Reed Richards, they're less serious characters, and neither copy of one another.

A while back when I was checking some old Secret Origins issues from the 80s (like the previously reviewed Blue Beetle one) I found this pretty well themed comic concerning both characters.
So let's take a look, shall we?

If you're interested in more books featuring these characters, I also reviewed:
- Plastic Man: On the Lam
- Plastic Man: Rubber Bandits
- Elongated Man: Europe '92

Comic title: Secret Origins #30
Plastic Man story by Roy Thomas 
Plastic Man art by Stephen DeStefano & Paul Fricke
Elongated Man story by Gerard Jones
Elongated Man art by Ty Templeton & Grant Miehm

Published by DC
From 1988
Lineup Plastic Man/Elongated Man
Format: Single issue from an on-going series.

Like most Secret Origins comics, this one feature two distinct characters' tales.
Both done by separated creative teams, unlike the Blue Beetle one.
But also unlike other SO, this one cover related characters.
(the other issues of this series often paired 2 totally unrelated characters, often one famous such as Batman, Superman,etc and tagged those with B-lister and C-lister heroes who wouldn't get the chance of supporting an origin story over a book otherwise)

For this 30th issue, DC offered a revision of both the Elongated Man and Plastic Man origin stories.

Oh, Ralph... HowI miss thee...

The first story by DeStefano and Thomas is all about the Elongated Man, and for good measure!
"The Home Stretch"
Ralph Dibny returns to his hometown after travelling the states for a while with his wife Sue.
Since he got his superpowers he lived a dozen adventures, first attacking Barry Allen when he was the Flash, then joined him, becoming a detective, his marriage, etc..

Now it's time to go back where he comes from and confronts the people who knew him before.

Through his eyes, his origin story is retold and examined with a fresh new direction.
It pays a lot of respect for Elongated Man's classic stories while being quite nostalgic.
Wally West/The All-new Flash drops in then, which accentuates the nostalgic and growing up aspect.

A pretty neat story from people who seem to have a lot of respect for the character. Simple, sweet.

BAZOOKS, Plas'! Ya sure ya dontcha wanna grab a bit??

"The Secret Origin Of Plastic Man"
The second tale by Gerard Jones & Templeton is more looney, but still very much in the spirit of its character.

Woozy Winks is finally tell us (the reader!) his origin story and where does he actually come from..only to be interrupted by Plas' who definitively steals the show here.
Both from Woozy and common sense as well.

It's quite looney, like a good ol' comic strip story and far less serious than the Elongated Man from the previous pages.

We witness the transformation of the villaneous Eel O'Brian into an elastic plastic hero.
(which the more modern Kyle Baker's Plastic Man series seems to follow pretty closely)
The "secret origin" stays pretty close to his beginning and very first moment as Plastic Man.

Overall, both stories are very much in the spirit of their characters.
Not quite the same, two radically different approach on characters who in the end have very similar powers (to some extend).

The Plastic Man story was then followed by a miniseries (most Secret Origins were used as test runs by DC for potential comics).

A recommended read if you're a fan of either or both characters and also a great introduction to them!
Don't miss it if you stumble across this one in bargain bins!

I give it:

  2.5 / 3 Plastic-trophies!

You wanted him...You GOT him!

I did post a Booster Gold ad not long ago.

Here's what I found in an old Secret Origins issue:

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CBR Blue Beetle: Secret Origins

 

I'm a big Blue Beetle fan, in case you didn't know/guess it from my comic parodies on that other blog.
Over the years, there's been 3 very different Beetles, each perfectly representing the various eras they were invented during.
The Blue Beetles each have a quite original and quite different take unlike all the Green Lanterns or The Flashes, which if they were adapted into a feature film, for example, they'd mostly had to start from the original silver age retelling (a Green Lantern movie had to be about Hal Jordan rather than Kyle Rayner, John Stewart or Guy Gardner, or you'd have to mix the origins of the later with Hal's origin story and end up with a strange hybrid character most people would hate - the same goes for Barry Allen instead of Wally West or Bart Allen conflicted origins).

The original Blue Beetle was the perfect example of a pulp "mysteryman",  using magical artifacts and facing mystical beings.
Blue Beetle II was a more techno-hero, using gadgets, plans and even a vehicle. He relied on science and in that way wasn't very far from characters like Batman and such.
Finally the current Blue Beetle III is a modern retelling using alien technology and adventures himself in plain science-fiction.
All are different in personas and their background. It even shows pretty good in their costume/character design.

Anyway, here's a great starting point to every thing Blue Beetle, their current canon origin story in the DC comics universe.

Comic title: Secret Origins #2 
Art by Gil Kane & Anthony Tollin
Story by Len Wein

Published by DC
From 1986
Lineup Blue Beetle
Format: Single issue from an on-going series.

Like I already said a lot of times in other reviews, and like most of you gals and guys know, in the middle of the 80s DC Comics had a big reboot/simplification of its universe during a big Crisis.
Since most of its publications were restarting out, it was a good time to reintroduce new and long-time readers to their different character's history.
Thus was born "Secret origins".

Secret Origins was a way to retell their different library of character's history without taking a break to produce a mini-series doing the same (example: the Year One line). Secret Origins were single issues-long retelling of one, two or more characters origins in single issues.
The book ran for over 30 issues, each usually telling the origin of a popular character (like Batman, Green Lantern, Superman...) alongside less popular ones in the same book (Halo, Dr. Mid-Nite, Rex the Wonder Dog, Legion of Superheroes members...) or sometimes pairing related characters (Elongated-man & Plasticman...).

In this very 2nd issue of Secret Origins instead of 2 separate stories, Len Wein & Gil Kane offered DC readers an original story retelling and connecting both origins of the then-two Blue Beetles in a single comic!

Magic! Egypt! Monsters! Action! Adventure!

This comic might not be properly divided in two separate stories but under an overall storyline there still is two halves reserved to both Beetles.

This Secret Origins #2 properly introduced old classic Charlton Comics characters into the DCU for the very first time.
Charlton Comics was an old inprint that sadly closer doors around 1985, DC then acquired most of their characters on a recommendation by their then-current editor Dick Giordano who had previously worked for a very long time at Charlton.
After a little cameo appearance during the Crisis, this was their first real debut in DC Comics.

During his original publication the Blue Beetle had several origin stories, Golden Age comics used to adapt and change alongside its readers rather than follow a definite continuity.
This comic stays pretty close in tone and story to one of Dan Garret's origins, the original Blue Beetle.
Dan was an history professor and archaeologist. After being attacked while in Egypt for a dig, Dan founds himself trapped in a tomb with a co-professor. He finds a mystical scarab that seems to give him a lot of powers (such as flight, strength, energy beams...) and strikes back against a revived mummified Pharaoh!

Kaji Dha!
With these mysterious words the scarab is activated and Dan was ready to jump in a life of exotic adventure.
Then we're introduced to several other super villains he fought during the later years (I even posted a sample here).

Blue Beetle - the BWAHAHA years.

The story jumps several years ahead where Dan, now older, meets back one of his old students Ted Kord.
For Ted, Dan had become sort of a mentor and inspiration for his career (always motivated to explor the unknown!).
Dan confess having spent some years helping out his uncle Jarvis Kord build a robotic army without his knowing and wants Dan Garret's help in stopping that mad man.

It's a bit over-the-top, sure, but sets up Ted Kord on-going series  he would later have during the 80s.
There's a sense of continuity, a relation between Dan and Ted, despite how different each Blue Beetle would be.

It builds a bridge between two different generation of heroes, as DC would do with their Golden Age heroes, the JSA, now set up in the past of the modern JLA instead of an alternate universe as they tended to do during Silver Age comics. (see JLA: Year One for more on that!)

Since Ted would have the mystical scarab for a while, neither ever be able to use its powers, his character rely on science, gadget and would have more techno-based super villains (not explore in this Secret Origins, since it would be expanded and continued in his series later).
He's a great example of a more Silver Age/modern superhero.

Overall, a great "collector" book in my mind, for Blue Beetle fans.
Not all Secret Origins are really recommended IMO.
But this one's one of the best they produced.

Great, fun, goes in detail...
"2 Shocking Secrets for the price of one!!" as the cover implies!

It defines Dan Garret role in the past and sets up Ted Kord in the DCU.

Most details were expanded upon in Dan's on-going and some elements were later retconned in the modern days in Jaime Reyes/Blue Beetle (III) (like the scarab actually being alien tech, Kaji Dha being its name, Dan only being able to use 10% of its powers...), but other than that, this story's still all good.

Check out this book if you have the chance to!

I give it:

  2 / 3 Plastic-trophies!

ComicPageOfTheWeekend: Blue Beetle's classic rogue gallery

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Secret Origins #2 © DC Comics

ComicPagesOfTheWeekend: Batman Origins

Before "Year One" reimaginations, before modern "Secret Origins", before the goofy Silver Age or the gritty Bronze Age turned things either too silly or too serious...this  was the original Golden Age origin story!!

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Superman by Bob Kane © DC Comics