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Secret Origins (1986-1990) book cover 1
Secret Origins (1986-1990) book cover 2
Secret Origins (1986-1990) book cover 3
Secret Origins (1986-1990)
Series · 5 books · 1988-2017

Books in series

Showcase Presents book cover
#2

Showcase Presents

Blue Beetle, Vol. 1

1988

This value-priced title collects the entire 24-issue run of BLUE BEETLE from the 1980s, including the Beetle's battles against DC Universe villains Chronos and Dr. Alchemy. Includes appearances by The Question and the Teen Titans. Collects BLUE BEETLE #1-24.
Last Days of the Justice Society of America book cover
#7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 16, 18, 20, 24

Last Days of the Justice Society of America

2017

Green Lantern, the Flash, Starman, the Atom, Doctor Fate, Power Girl and the rest of the JSA were once the celebrated champions of Earth-2. But then came the Crisis, a cataclysm so great that it reached across realities, destroying all parallel worlds and leaving only one Earth. The Universe was saved, but the Justice Society was left in a world that is already filled with other heroes. But just as the team is on the cusp of disbanding, they receive a dire message from the Spectre, sending them on perhaps their greatest mission ever... The universe is in jeopardy, and to save it the JSA must journey back in time to the heart of Hitler's Germany. If they fail, all they fought for in the Crisis could be lost once more. LAST DAYS OF THE JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA reprints the title story from Roy Thomas (CONAN: THE BARBARIAN) and David Ross (AVENGERS WEST COAST) for the first time, as well as the SECRET ORIGINS of the Golden Age Justice Society—featuring artists Michael Bair (HAWKMAN), Mike Clark (ALL-STAR SQUADRON) and more! After the devastation to their home dimension following the cataclysmic events of CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS, the world’s first super team faces their gravest challenge to date. As Ragnorak reigns down from the sky, the surviving members of the JSA must make the greatest sacrifice—one that would affect the DC Universe for decades to come. Collects THE LAST DAYS OF THE JUSTICE SOCIETY SPECIAL #1, plus stories from SECRET ORIGINS #7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 16, 18, 20, 24, 25 and 31.
Secret Origins of the World's Greatest Superheroes book cover
#32, 35, 36, a2

Secret Origins of the World's Greatest Superheroes

1991

Batman! Superman! Flash! Green Lantern! Martian Manhunter! The Justice League of America! The Secret Origins of the World's Greatest Super-Heroes - who they are and how they came to be - including an all-new, never-before-published origin of the Batman.
Animal Man, Vol. 2 book cover
#39

Animal Man, Vol. 2

Origin of the Species

2002

Written by Grant Morrison; Art by Chas Truog, Tom Grummett, Doug Hazlewood, Steve Montano, and Mark McKenna; Cover by Brian Bolland The second collection of Grant Morrison's groundbreaking run on ANIMAL MAN reprints issues #10-17, plus the 19-page story from SECRET ORIGINS #39, this volume shows Animal Man moving more and more deeply into the cause of animal rights. But something else is going on beyond his burgeoning radicalism. Strange visions of aliens, people disappearing into strange pencil-like drawings, and hints of a terrible Crisis lurk around the edges of reality. For more information, see the feature article.
Animal Man Omnibus book cover
#39

Animal Man Omnibus

1989

From Grant Morrison, Eisner Award winning writer of ALL-STAR SUPERMAN and bestselling author of Supergods: What Masked Vigilantes, Miraculous Mutants, and a Sun God from Smallville Can Teach Us About Being Human, this new hardcover collects Morrison's entire groundbreaking run on ANIMAL MAN altogether for the first time . Buddy Baker is more than just a second-rate super hero—He's also a devoted family man and animal rights activist. Now, as he tries to jump-start his crimefighting career, he experiences visions of aliens, people transforming into strange pencil-like drawings, and hints of a terrible crisis lurking around the edges of reality. And as his odyssey of self-discovery gives way to spiritual enlightenment as well as the depths of despair, Buddy meets his maker: a writer named Grant Morrison. Collects ANIMAL MAN #1-26 and SECRET ORIGINS #39.

Authors

John Byrne
John Byrne
Author · 90 books

Librarian note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name John Lindley Byrne is a British-born Canadian-American author and artist of comic books. Since the mid-1970s, Byrne has worked on nearly every major American superhero. Byrne's better-known work has been on Marvel Comics' X-Men and Fantastic Four and the 1986 relaunch of DC Comics’ Superman franchise. Coming into the comics profession exclusively as a penciler, Byrne began co-plotting the X-Men comics during his tenure on them, and launched his writing career in earnest with Fantastic Four (where he also started inking his own pencils). During the 1990s he produced a number of creator-owned works, including Next Men and Danger Unlimited. He also wrote the first issues of Mike Mignola's Hellboy series and produced a number of Star Trek comics for IDW Publishing.

Len Wein
Author · 44 books

Len Wein was an American comic book writer and editor best known for co-creating DC Comics' Swamp Thing and Marvel Comics' Wolverine, and for helping revive the Marvel superhero team the X-Men (including the co-creation of Nightcrawler, Storm, and Colossus). Additionally, he was the editor for writer Alan Moore and illustrator Dave Gibbons' influential DC miniseries Watchmen. Wein was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2008.

Keith Giffen
Keith Giffen
Author · 72 books

Keith Ian Giffen was an American comic book illustrator and writer. He is possibly best-known for his long runs illustrating, and later writing the Legion of Super-Heroes title in the 1980s and 1990s. He also created the alien mercenary character Lobo (with Roger Slifer), and the irreverent "want-to-be" hero, Ambush Bug. Giffen is known for having an unorthodox writing style, often using characters in ways not seen before. His dialogue is usually characterized by a biting wit that is seen as much less zany than dialogue provided by longtime collaborators DeMatteis and Robert Loren Fleming. That approach has brought him both criticism and admiration, as perhaps best illustrated by the mixed (although commercially successful) response to his work in DC Comics' Justice League International (1987-1992). He also plotted and was breakdown artist for an Aquaman limited series and one-shot special in 1989 with writer Robert Loren Fleming and artist Curt Swan for DC Comics. Giffen's first published work was "The Sword and The Star", a black-and-white series featured in Marvel Preview, with writer Bill Mantlo. He has worked on titles (owned by several different companies) including Woodgod, All Star Comics, Doctor Fate, Drax the Destroyer, Heckler, Nick Fury's Howling Commandos, Reign of the Zodiac, Suicide Squad, Trencher (to be re-released in a collected edition by Boom! Studios)., T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, and Vext. He was also responsible for the English adaptation of the Battle Royale and Ikki Tousen manga, as well as creating "I Luv Halloween" for Tokyopop. He also worked for Dark Horse from 1994-95 on their Comics Greatest World/Dark Horse Heroes line, as the writer of two short lived series, Division 13 and co-author, with Lovern Kindzierski, of Agents of Law. For Valiant Comics, Giffen wrote XO-Manowar, Magnus, Robot Fighter, Punx and the final issue of Solar, Man of the Atom. He took a break from the comic industry for several years, working on storyboards for television and film, including shows such as The Real Ghostbusters and Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy. He is also the lead writer for Marvel Comics' Annihilation event, having written the one-shot prologue, the lead-in stories in Thanos and Drax, the Silver Surfer as well as the main six issues mini-series. He also wrote the Star-Lord mini-series for the follow-up story Annihilation: Conquest. He currently writes Doom Patrol for DC, and is also completing an abandoned Grant Morrison plot in The Authority: the Lost Year for Wildstorm.

Robert Loren Fleming
Robert Loren Fleming
Author · 4 books
Robert L. Fleming is an American comic book writer. He is best known as the co-creator of Thriller with Trevor Von Eeden and for his collaborations with Keith Giffen.
Roy Thomas
Roy Thomas
Author · 81 books

Roy Thomas was the FIRST Editor-in-Chief at Marvel—After Stan Lee stepped down from the position. Roy is a longtime comic book writer and editor. Thomas has written comics for Archie, Charlton, DC, Heroic Publishing, Marvel, and Topps over the years. Thomas currently edits the fanzine Alter Ego for Twomorrow's Publishing. He was Editor for Marvel comics from 1972-1974. He wrote for several titles at Marvel, such as Avengers, Thor, Invaders, Fantastic Four, X-Men, and notably Conan the Barbarian. Thomas is also known for his championing of Golden Age comic-book heroes—particularly the 1940s superhero team the Justice Society of America—and for lengthy writing stints on Marvel's X-Men and Avengers, and DC Comics' All-Star Squadron, among other titles. Also a legendary creator. Creations include Wolverine, Carol Danvers, Ghost Rider, Vision, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, Valkyrie, Morbius, Doc Samson, and Ultron. Roy has also worked for Archie, Charlton, and DC among others over the years.

Joey Cavalieri
Joey Cavalieri
Author · 4 books
Joey Cavalieri is credited in 1670 issues of DC Comics.
Mark Verheiden
Mark Verheiden
Author · 8 books
Mark Verheiden is an American television, movie, and comic book writer. He was a co-executive producer for the television series Falling Skies for DreamWorks Television and the TNT Network.
Grant Morrison
Grant Morrison
Author · 168 books

Grant Morrison has been working with DC Comics for twenty five years, after beginning his American comics career with acclaimed runs on ANIMAL MAN and DOOM PATROL. Since then he has written such best-selling series as JLA, BATMAN and New X-Men, as well as such creator-owned works as THE INVISIBLES, SEAGUY, THE FILTH, WE3 and JOE THE BARBARIAN. In addition to expanding the DC Universe through titles ranging from the Eisner Award-winning SEVEN SOLDIERS and ALL-STAR SUPERMAN to the reality-shattering epic of FINAL CRISIS, he has also reinvented the worlds of the Dark Knight Detective in BATMAN AND ROBIN and BATMAN, INCORPORATED and the Man of Steel in The New 52 ACTION COMICS. In his secret identity, Morrison is a "counterculture" spokesperson, a musician, an award-winning playwright and a chaos magician. He is also the author of the New York Times bestseller Supergods, a groundbreaking psycho-historic mapping of the superhero as a cultural organism. He divides his time between his homes in Los Angeles and Scotland.

Dennis O'Neil
Dennis O'Neil
Author · 69 books

Dennis "Denny" O'Neil was a comic book writer and editor best known for his work for Marvel Comics and DC Comics from the 1960s through the 1990s, and Group Editor for the Batman family of titles until his retirement. His best-known works include Green Lantern/Green Arrow and Batman with Neal Adams, The Shadow with Michael Kaluta and The Question with Denys Cowan. As an editor, he is principally known for editing the various Batman titles. From 2013 unti his death, he sat on the board of directors of the charity The Hero Initiative and served on its Disbursement Committee.

Peter David
Peter David
Author · 243 books

aka David Peters Peter Allen David (often abbreviated PAD) is an American writer, best known for his work in comic books and Star Trek novels. David often jokingly describes his occupation as "Writer of Stuff". David is noted for his prolific writing, characterized by its mingling of real world issues with humor and references to popular culture. He also uses metafiction frequently, usually to humorous effect, as in his work on the comic book Young Justice.

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Secret Origins (1986-1990)