I like a good old-fashioned magical and mysterious origin story in which an ordinary citizen is suddenly exposed to a new, mystical world (like the Original Green Lantern’s).

What was that lady who got super-powers in The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay? Luna Moth or something? I thought her origin was neat.

I don't really think I have a specific type; more that I'm drawn to ones that are well fleshed out or tell a good story.

Alien child sent to Earth to save it from his home planet's doom, found by kindly couple, raised as their own son and instilled with solid values and a desire to use his gifts to help others.

Tragic child, parents murdered before his eyes becomes plunged into years of training and studying to become good enough to seek justice for the decay and corruption of his city.

Warrior princess, raised as the only child to a race of immortals, defies her mother's wishes and secretly enters a tournament to determine a champion to send to a troubled world.

A police scientist is working his lab and is blown back by a lightning strike into chemicals, the combination of which gives him speed beyond imagination.

A test pilot is bequeathed an alien weapons and asked to take over as the protector of a sector of space, joining an intergalactic peace-keeping corps.

A teenager is gifted strange powers and uses them selfishly, leading to tragedy and spends the rest of his life trying to atone for that mistake.

A sickly young man desperate to fight the bullies of the world volunteers for an experiment that turns him into a physical marvel, to match the selfless desire in his heart.

A tech genius uses his skills to create a device to keep himself alive and weaponizes it to escape from evil men. He then continues using it to help others.

A team of explorers, some family, rocket off into space to see what is there and are forever changed.

The good ones can be summed up in a sentence or two, yet can be told again and again, updating for new generations and still resonate.

Very true!

That’s probably the main gripe I had about the DC heroes, post-Crisis, when partial undoing of the reboot made origins nigh impossible to understand to new readers (Supergirl and Hawkman come to mind).

I indeed also find it cool if the origin happens to involve an alien going to another planet, and how much could potentially be done to interestingly expand upon that, with heroes like:

Magician from Mars:



Solarman:



Sub-Zero:

It used to seem weird to me that Spider-Man debuted in a title such as Amazing Fantasy.  I guess it's not so strange considering the fact that at the time, Marvel didn't have anywhere else to try him out, but it's recently occurred to me that by introducing him in a series known for its twist endings, Spider-Man actually benefited from the association.  Those Tales to Astonish, Amazing Fantasy, Tales of Suspense, etc. titles were known for their shocking last page/panel revelations and by placing Spider-Man's origin in such a location, that whole "oh no, the criminal I let get away - he's my Uncle's killer!" twist was pretty much mandatory in a way it might not have been had Spider-Man first appeared in, say, Amazing Spider-Man #1 or Fantastic Four #6 or whatever.

Depending on the type of story one wants to tell, I also greatly enjoy characters without an origin.

Conan: a yokel who wanted to leave his boring hometown and see the big cities.

Turok: a hunter who got lost in an interesting place. 

Sgt. Fury and Sgt. Rock: ordinary Joes who went to war.

Corto Maltese: a wanderlust-addicted fellow with lots of colourful friends.


I find that such characters lose a lot of their appeal when someone decides to make them more “special” by tacking on some extra baggage that makes them less realistic.

Words of wisdom!