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Post by urrutiap on Aug 24, 2017 17:48:47 GMT -5
Just wondering if anyone has ever read DC's Secret Origins series from way back in the 1980s. What issues are your favorites from issue 1 to 50?
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Post by Rob Allen on Aug 24, 2017 17:53:56 GMT -5
I missed the 80s series, but I enjoyed the 70s one. Are they very different?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2017 18:10:34 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2017 18:10:54 GMT -5
the series could be hit or miss. MY favorites include: Secret Origins #10 offering 4 possible origins for the Phantom Stranger is one of my favorite comics of all time. #14 has the origin of the Suicide Squad and serves as a prequel to John Ostrander's Suicide Squad (he wrote the origin issue) and it is included in the first volume of the collected edition of Ostranfer's SS. #15 offers a Deadman origins with art by Kevin Maguire that ties into the Garcia-Lopez drawn Deadman mini that came out around the same time and a Spectre orgin with art by Michael T. Gilbert (of Mr. Monster fame). #32 offers the post Crisis origin of the Justice League of America, but the highlight is the art by Eric Shanower. #35 has a Poison Ivy origina by Gaiman and Buckingham that tied into Gaiman's Black Orchid mini. #38 has a Green Arrow origin penned by Mike Grell, tying into his Green Arrow run. -M
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Post by Cei-U! on Aug 24, 2017 19:23:02 GMT -5
I reviewed all the issues featuring Golden Age characters for Volume 4 of The All-Star Companion. I'm particularly fond of the Superman issue by Thomas, Boring and Ordway, and the various Quality hero bios illoed by Murphy Anderson. It was while researching that section, by the way, that I first learned that "blue beetle" was 1930s-era slang for a police squad car, giving that character's name a more profound meaning than simply a variant on Green Hornet. A secret origin, indeed!
Cei-U! I summon the golden oldies!
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Post by berkley on Aug 24, 2017 22:11:37 GMT -5
I haven't read any of them yet, but looking at the comics.org listings a few issues look interesting:
The Crimson Avenger: looks like a complete Shadow knock-off but I can see Gene Colan's style working well with that kind of character and setting.
The Creeper: I don't think I've ever read a Creeper comic drawn by anyone other than Steve Ditko but I usually like Keith Giffen's 70s & 80s artwork and it might be a good fit.
Doctor Fate: I don't know the creative team on this one but I've always been curious about the character as a potential DC counterpart to one of my favourite Marvel heroes, Dr. Strange.
The Champions of the Unknown: again, not familiar with the creators but I've always liked the concept behind this team
The Phantom Stranger: this issue I do have - bought it a few years back on the advice of this board, in fact.
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Post by hondobrode on Aug 24, 2017 22:26:08 GMT -5
I've got the complete series and love it; course I'm a big DC diehard, so... Favorites not mentioned yet from that wonderful 80's run in no particular order Deadman by Andy Helfer, Kevin MaGuire and Dick Giordano Spectre by Roy Thomas and Michael T. Gilbert Cover by Ed Hannigan & Dick Giordano Adam Strange by Gerry Conway, Carmine Infantino and Tony DeZuniga Doctor Occult by Roy Thomas, E. Nelson Bridwell, Howard Simpson and Bob Lewis Cover by Kevin Nowlan Uncle Sam by Len Wein and Murphy Anderson Guardian by Roy Thomas, Arvell Jones and Greg Theakston Cover by Murphy Anderson & Jack Kirby the Legion of Super-Heroes by Paul Levitz, Rick Stasi and Dick Giordano the Atom (Al Pratt) by Roy Thomas, Mike Clark and Bob Downs Cover by Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson Riddler by Neil Gaiman, Mike Hoffman and Kevin Nowlan Two-Face by Mark Verheiden, Pat Broderick and Dick Giordano Penguin by Alan Grant and Sam Kieth Cover by Brian Bolland These are five prime examples of what made DC great in the 80's. A great mix of historical but fresh as well. I love that Silver and even Golden Age artists had some work here, many times including some of the last work of Wayne Boring, Gil Kane, George Tuska, Gene Colan, Jim Aparo, Joe Orlando, Carmine Infantino, Murphy Anderson, Curt Swan, Gray Morrow, Sheldon Mayer, Don Heck, and Irv Novick.
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Post by berkley on Aug 24, 2017 23:27:33 GMT -5
Dr. Occult, - that's another one I'd like to check out. I know even less about him than I do Dr. Fate but I always find those supernatural characters interesting.
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Post by codystarbuck on Aug 25, 2017 0:16:36 GMT -5
Some of it. I did two episodes of Ryan Daley's Secret Origins Podcast, about the series: Uncle Sam and the Manhunters. The issues could be hit and miss; but, there were some good ones. The Warlord non-origin story was pretty much a waste. It seriously needed Grell and an actual Warlord origin, not a tangent story, involving someone else.
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Post by urrutiap on Aug 25, 2017 1:22:23 GMT -5
The Secret Origins issue of Superman I think I read it before in a black and white paperback I checked out from the library year's ago when I was in elementary school or middle school. Can't remember the year that the paperback was released. It had some question trivia in it too
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Post by tingramretro on Aug 25, 2017 4:57:05 GMT -5
I missed the 80s series, but I enjoyed the 70s one. Are they very different? Wasn't the 70s series a reprint book? The 80s version was all new retellings of the origins. Great book.
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Post by Prince Hal on Aug 25, 2017 5:28:16 GMT -5
I missed the 80s series, but I enjoyed the 70s one. Are they very different? Wasn't the 70s series a reprint book? The 80s version was all new retellings of the origins. Great book. Yes, it was. And it re-used the classic Ira Schnapp logo from the classic 1961 "Special Giant Issue."
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Post by Icctrombone on Aug 25, 2017 6:07:44 GMT -5
I think I read that the 80's Secret Origin series was Roy Thomas' love letter to the erased multiple earths post Crisis. I just completed the 50 issues series but have only read maybe half of them. I do like that the creative teams that they put together on the various stories that fit the characters.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 25, 2017 6:52:36 GMT -5
Great series. I loved it.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 25, 2017 8:51:04 GMT -5
I can't remember the issue numbers, but I still have the issues that featured Nightwing and Johnny Thunder, Miss America and Black Lightning, and the annual featuring the Teen Titans. Also have the tpb that reprinted several of the origin stories. It was a series I read inconsistently. If a character that interested me was it, I picked it up.
What I really enjoyed was the DC Blue Ribbon digests that showcased the secret origins!
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