Secret Origins (1986) 1

Secret Origins (1986) 1

Apr 1986

The Secret Origin of the Golden-Age Superman

by Roy Thomas, Wayne Boring, Jerry Ordway, Gene D’Angelo, David C. Weiss

Jor-L and Lara sent their son Kal-L, while he is still a baby, in a rocket ship to Earth. He arrives safely and is adopted by John and Mary Kent, who saw his spaceship land. They name him Clark and teach him to use his powers responsibly.

Clark moves from Smallville after he has grown up and his adoptive have died. He gets a job with the Daily Star. There he works for George Taylor, the newspaper’s editor, and alongside reporter Lois Lane. It is also there that he launches his crime fighting career.

Thoughts

Parts of the story, according to my research, are retellings of The Coming of Superman (a 12-page story) from Action Comics 1 (Jun 1938) and Clark Kent Gets a Job (a 4-page story) from Superman 1 (Summer 1939). The story from Action Comics 1 was also reprinted in Superman 1.

There is a cameo by a newspaper boy who looks just like Billy Batson.

Wayne Boring drew Superman comic books and comic strips during the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. He was the primary penciler of Superman in the 1950s. This comic book was his last comic book work, according to my research. He died in early 1987.

Roy Thomas is credited as writer/editor on this story and I think it shows. Maybe I am being too harsh. I don’t approve of the choice to just redraw two golden age stories and add in a little more on to the beginning and end of the story. It all feels very rushed. It is also very wordy as if the writer did not trust the artists to tell the story visually.

I was a little surprised to see Jor-L and Lara flying while they are on Krypton. I thought Krypton had a red sun. I don’t know whose call it was to have them flying. They don’t display any other superpowers. They were not in either of the stories mentioned above. It is possible that they were shown flying in a Golden Age story?

Jor-L and Lara first appeared in the Superman comic strip in 1939. Their first appearance in a comic book was in Superman 53 (Aug 1948). Jor-L was mentioned, but not by name, in Action Comics 1.

Superman and Lois Lane got married in the early 1950s, according to the end of the story. That event was depicted in Action Comics 484 (Jun 1978).

I’m not crazy about this issue. I must have read it before. I bought it when it first came out. Essential reading it is not but I wanted to read this story again. I might have felt differently if I had any memories of my previous reading experience.

Extras

Immediately following the story is a previously unprinted page from 1940 which showcases several images of Superman. Some of the work on this page was probably not drawn by Joe Shuster but by assistants. There are notes on the page to indicate who the other artists were.

The Secret Origin of Secret Origins

by Roy Thomas

This text piece is all about the use of the term Secret Origins in DC Comics, how this series came to be, and the plans for this series.

The Men Behind Superman

by Roy Thomas

This text piece is about Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, and Wayne Boring. There is a self-drawn image of Wayne Boring with Mr. Mxyztplk whom Wayne Boring helped to create.

The two text pieces and the accompanying image of Wayne Boring mentioned above, plus previews of the covers of the next two issues take up 2 pages.