At last, the SECRET ORIGINS of the Worlds 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.
And the Robin (Dick Grayson) origin is also excellent. Writer Kyle Higgins and artist Doug Mahnke retell the Grayson tragedy at the circus followed by the introduction of Robin. This was my favorite scene. Here Dick sees Robins and decides they will be the basis of his costume. It is a nice reflection of Bruce's own decision to become a bat. But instead of brooding inside when a bat flies in, Dick is outside, in the sun, hearing birds sing. Very nice. (I also liked that his flying Grayson's costume looks similar to his Nightwing one). Anyways, great issue overall. Kara's transformation looks like a marathon, not a sprint. But still, progress is progress. Read Full Review
Overall, Secret Origins #1 is a good read. DC's creative staff of Secret Origins #1 pack a lot of information into a small package but not so much that it is overwhelming. In fact, much of the various stories' greatest points about the characters are written between the lines. But this is not the end. Check back with us here at the Big Glasgow Comic Page each week for the next installment. And don't forget to like and follow us on Twitter/ Facebook for regular updates and news on comics, news, reviews, commentary and all things generally nerd-worthy. Read Full Review
In Secret Origins #1, readers will experience a triplet of short-stories from three differing creative teams on some of DC's most iconic figures " none more harrowing than the Man of Steel himself. Harrowing, I say, because over the years " and there has been a lot of them " we have revisited the dude's origin countless times. You figured Geoff Johns and Gary Frank's Secret Origins would be enough. And while some may feel this is the same cookie cutter, Pak's stroll through young Superman Lane is just as compelling. Read Full Review
I liked Secret Origins #1. The stories may be well worn, but they are also well written and have great art. The "secret" part of the title is misleading as there is really nothing new, let alone secret, in these stories. I still will recommend it to anyone who loves classic comic book stories because that's what these are. Read Full Review
A book like Secret Origins should always be made available. Not only are they an amazingly helpful primer to new readers or those who lost track of constantly evolving stories, but done at this level of quality makes them a nice sampling of different talents. Read Full Review
Overall, Secret Origins has high potential. I'm looking forward for the issue that features characters who don't have origin stories during Zero Month. Also, the issue can serve as a chance to redo some of the bad origins told before. I have a weak spot for origin stories, so I'm going to keep this series on my pull-list for a while. Hopefully the future issues won't disappoint, and we get to see some great origins being told. Read Full Review
Weeks, Mahnke, and Siqueira all manage to deliver on art duties. The layouts are clear, and their styles all fit perfectly for each character's origin. In the end, while some of this material is old news, each story adds enjoyable emotional elements to the various origins. Read Full Review
Siqeuiras art is the only of the three displayed in this comic that makes an honest attempt to set itself apart from what seems like the DC House Style. Its still pretty standard, but it screams of individuality that is being repressed for the sake of cooperation. Of course, thats an assumption because what do I know about the inner workings of major comics publishers, but Id be remiss not to share my thoughts. Read Full Review
There's absolutely nothing secret about these origins. There isn't anything here that readers of the #0 issues haven't seen before. However, even though there's nothing all that new to be found, these old stories are still good and they are definitely told well. The Supergirl origin was the weakest of the bunch, but her origin is inherently weak anyway since it's basically a complete knock-off of Superman's own origin and lacks the simplicity and poetry that the greatest superhero origins possess. I sincerely hope that this series tackles origins we actually haven't heard before (or at least not as often) in future issues because even though it's a well-crafted book and a must-buy for the uninitiated, there's not much incentive for hardcore fans to drop five bucks on this. Read Full Review
Secret Origins #1 is by no means a perfect beginning to this new anthology of New 52 origin stories, but the series does show promise. Read Full Review
Overall there isn't a whole lot new or "secret" here to make these stories must reads. There are a couple of little additions to the origins that add some flavor, but nothing that changes the characters in any significant way. If you're not as familiar with some of DC's biggest characters, then this book may be a nice entry into that world. For those that are familiar with the characters already, except for some great art there's really nothing that makes this book a "must read". Read Full Review
Only one story needed to be told out of the three, but it's still an entertaining issue. Read Full Review
It's a decent start for a solid concept but, ultimately, Secret Origins is going to have to provide some juicier secrets or more interesting origins to hold our attention. Read Full Review
What we have here are three very well drawn stories with good to great dialogue throughout. What we don't have is a single surprise or secret. The title is misleading and while that's not such a big deal if the writing is great, there's nothing new here for anyone who has any knowledge of these characters. Read Full Review
With the upcoming slate of Secret Origins focus characters including Batman, Aquaman, Starfire, Green Lantern, Batwoman, Tim Drake, Harley Quinn, Green Arrow, and Damian Wayne, I wonder how long DC anticipates running this series. With very few remaining A-list characters Wonder Woman, Flash, Hawkman, Batgirl, Swamp Thing, Lex Luthor, Catwoman, Constantine, and (maybe) Lobo I have to wonder. I always hate reviewing books on the merit of what they arent, versus what they intrinsically are, but at the end of the day, Im not sure theres enough story being provided in this format to keep my interest. Read Full Review
Series like this are always a hard sell. I'm not sure why they are trying this when DC seems to be canceling titles left and right. I suppose because with the mess they've made of their history, they are trying to clear some things up. Read Full Review
Chances are if you're reading this review, you're not for whom "Secret Origins" is targeting. You already know all of this. But if you know someone else who's interested in superheroes? Well, they might be just who this book is for. If I didn't know better, I would have thought this was DC's Free Comic Book Day issue for 2014. That's not a bad thing at all. Read Full Review
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. Read Full Review
Honestly, if you're already familiar with these characters, you can easily skip this entirely. Read Full Review
On the plus side the art is fantastic. There is nothing “secret” about any of these origins; it’s very well-worn territory. That said I really enjoyed the Superman story by Pak. Robin and Supergirl not so much.
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