We’ve had #1s to establish the new continuity of the New 52. We’ve had #0s to establish the new history of the New 52. Now, we have “Secret Origins” #1, a new ongoing from DC to establish the new origins of the New 52. But is it too little too late?
Written by Greg Pak, Kyle Higgins & Tony Berdard
Illustrated by Lee Weeks, Doug Mahnke & Paulo Siqueira
At last, the SECRET ORIGINS of the World’s Greatest Heroes in The New 52 can be revealed! This new series gets off to an awesome start with the origins of The Last Son of Krypton and Kara Zor-El, Supergirl, plus the first Robin, Dick Grayson.
Ever since it was announced, I’ve struggled with the idea of “Secret Origins” being a thing that exists. I’m usually one to to think that a book shouldn’t have to provide a reason for existence other than a good story. However, when thinking that the New 52 has been around for going on three years now, I just didn’t understand why this book was happening and now and not sooner, especially seeing as many of DC’s more well known character’s origins have been covered in their own title. I mean, hell, that’s what ‘Zero Year’ is all about, right?
Now, I wish I could say that “Secret Origins” surprised me by putting new spins on the origins of these characters that just needed to be told. However, despite the issue being put together with enough care to feel like one of DC’s better outputs, the problem is that this material just feels like a retread of stories we know back to front. The question comes down to this: who is this issue for? Is it for the people looking to get into DC comics and explore the New 52? If that was the case, then this is about three years too late and should have been part of the original 52 titles or ever released within the first year of the New 52. If not for them, then is this for the people who have been reading titles in the New 52? Well, then they’d already either know the material presented in here enough to feel like it’s wasting their time or it’s a glorified preview book for characters they haven’t run into or found an interest for yet.
Okay, so maybe the series doesn’t quite know what it wants to be, but what about the actual origin stories themselves? How do they hold up? Well, the first story presented in the issue is the origin of Superman written by Greg Pak and illustrated by Lee Weeks. This is the most unfortunate story of the three as, despite the talent on display (Greg Pak is currently killing it on both “Action Comics” and “Batman/Superman” and Lee Weeks reconstructed Daredevil’s origin in his excellent “Daredevil: Dark Nights” story) there’s just not enough here to feel like it’s anything but a retread of the same Superman origin we’ve seen time and again. The problem comes from the fact that Pak and Weeks feel neutered by the material they have to work with, having to portray the starkly grim and dreary origin of New 52 Superman. There are moments where they are able to break through that feeling and create a great moment here or there, like the Lara and baby Kal-El sharing a private moment together or the callback to the story in “Action Comics” #0, but there’s a straining feeling like these two could have done some much more if they were allowed to just have fun with the Superman origin and present it in a way we’ve never seen before.
The middle story is arguably the one that feels the most necessary to explore and almost gives this book a reason to exist. Because we’ve only ever seen Dick Grayson as “Nightwing” (save for a few flashback issue here and there), this story gives Kyle Higgins and Doug Mahnke a chance to go back and flesh out a new origin for how Dick became Robin. However, much like the problem with the Superman origin, the problem here is that they play it a little too safe. From “Batman: Dark Victory” to the ‘Robin’s Reckoning’ two-parter in Batman: The Animated Series to, hell, Batman Forever, this story plays through the same beats as practically every other Robin origin story that it would feel original to only those who’ve never heard of Robin. It’s told well and Higgins really presents a compelling reason for why Dick chose Robin of all names and Mahnke really captures the hopeful nature of the character despite ceiling of grimness the New 52 presents, but there’s just nothing here to distinguish it from other origin stories Dick Grayon’s had in the past.
Continued belowFinally, Supergirl’s origin story told by Tony Bedard and Paulo Siquiera is perhaps the only one who has some fun with the idea. However, that involves dropping the idea of it being an origin story halfway through and then just telling a new Supergirl story. It’s probably the smartest move any of the three stories as it covers Kara’s origins, which is also the only origin story that feels distinctly different from previous origins of the character, in half the space given and then just tells a different story, showing the reader who Supergirl is in the present and giving them a reason to read into her own series beyond this story. Bedard and Siquiera definitely get props for originality and closing the issue by saying screw it to the rules.
Yet, overall, this issue still just feels like it should have came out this time two years ago. While the stories are well told, even if it feels like the creators are constrained from actually being creative with the stories they have to tell, there’s just nothing here to make them feel necessary. If this was a last ditch attempt by DC to save face and bring new readers to their titles then perhaps putting out a book retelling stories that have not only already been told in titles they’ve published in the New 52, but in comics and movies going back to the 70s, wasn’t the best idea. It was a nice effort, though.
Final Verdict: 4.6 – I have a hard time justifying why anyone would need to buy this, especially at $4.99.
