Secret Origins of the Super DC Heroes #[nn]
Published in 1976 by Crown/Harmony Books, this oversize hardcover (with a simultaneous Warner Books softcover edition) was DC's direct answer to Simon & Schuster's enormously successful 'Origins of Marvel Comics' line, gathering eighteen Golden Age and Silver Age origin stories across ten hero chapters under one roof at a time when most readers had no practical way to access those decades-old source comics. Beyond the reprints themselves, Dennis O'Neil's introductory essays broke meaningful ground by crediting Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster by name for Superman — at a moment when DC had officially suppressed that byline — and by naming Bill Finger before Bob Kane as Batman's co-creator, an acknowledgment DC would quietly retreat from for decades afterward. The book also bridged the company's multiverse by pairing each character's Golden Age origin with its Silver Age counterpart, making the Earth-1/Earth-2 structure tangible and accessible to a mass audience for the first time.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
The volume grew out of Crown Publishers' earlier successful single-character reprint collections of vintage Superman and Batman material, but its true catalyst was the commercial juggernaut of Stan Lee's Marvel Origins books, which Carmine Infantino — then DC's Publisher — wanted to replicate for DC's roster. Infantino was ousted as Publisher before the book actually shipped in mid-1976, meaning the introduction he wrote appeared under the byline of a man no longer in the role. Dennis O'Neil wrote the behind-the-scenes historical text for each chapter, and the book was dedicated to veteran editor and creator Sheldon Mayer; the cover was newly commissioned from Neal Adams. The Captain Marvel chapter presented a unique bibliographic curiosity: the story technically reprinted is traced back through the Fawcett ashcan editions — Thrill Comics #1 and Flash Comics #1 — with all references to the original name 'Captain Thunder' editorially changed to 'Captain Marvel' throughout, mirroring what DC had done in its earlier Famous 1st Edition facsimile.
Trivia · 9 facts
- Published in 1976 by Harmony Books / Crown Publishers as a hardcover (ISBN 0-517-52489-9) and simultaneously in a softcover edition by Warner Books; runs approximately 238–240 full-color pages at 8.5" × 11".
- Edited and narrated by Dennis O'Neil, with a publisher's introduction by Carmine Infantino and a cover by Neal Adams depicting the assembled Bronze Age DC roster.
- Contains eighteen reprinted origin stories across ten hero chapters: Superman (Action Comics #1 + Amazing World of Superman 1973 edition), Batman (Detective Comics #33 pages + Batman #47), Wonder Woman (Wonder Woman #1 + Wonder Woman #206), Flash (Flash Comics #1 + Showcase #4), Green Lantern (All-American Comics #16 + Showcase #22), Green Arrow (More Fun Comics #89 + Adventure Comics #256), Hawkman (Flash Comics #1 Golden Age story + Brave and the Bold #34), The Atom (All-American Comics #19 + Showcase #34), Captain Marvel (Whiz Comics #2), and Plastic Man (Police Comics #1).
- O'Neil's Superman introduction credited Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster by name at a time when DC had officially suppressed their byline from the books; the Batman introduction named Bill Finger ahead of Bob Kane — an extraordinary acknowledgment for 1976 that DC would not consistently honor for many years.
- The Wonder Woman section reprinted Wonder Woman #206 (1973, Cary Bates / Don Heck / Vince Colletta), one of the very few collected appearances of that story and the one that most fully developed the character of Nubia — Diana's long-lost sister, raised by Ares as a weapon against the Amazons.
- The Captain Marvel chapter contains an editorial quirk documented by the Grand Comics Database: the source material traces through the Fawcett ashcan editions (Thrill Comics #1 / Flash Comics #1), and all occurrences of the original name 'Captain Thunder' were changed to 'Captain Marvel' for this reprint.
- The Batman reprint contains a bibliographic misattribution noted by the GCD: the book credits the story to Detective Comics #33, but the actual source was the version printed in Batman #1, which substituted the splash panel from Detective Comics #34.
- The book is dedicated to Sheldon Mayer, the Golden Age DC editor widely credited with shepherding Superman, Wonder Woman, and other foundational characters into print — a significant editorial tribute in a volume aimed at honoring that creative heritage.
- The Silver Age Green Arrow origin reprinted is Adventure Comics #256, whose interior art was drawn by Jack Kirby — one of several major Golden/Silver Age artists (alongside Curt Swan, Gil Kane, Jack Cole, Joe Kubert, and Harry G. Peter) whose work appears in the collection.
Cast · 40 characters
Full credits
Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
▸ Reveal full plot — may contain spoilers
While investigating criminal activity at a transport company, Batman recognizes the owner, Joe Chill, as the man who killed Thomas and Martha Wayne years before. Batman tries to find evidence of Chill's illegal operations, but when he fails, he decides to reveal his identity to Chill and tells him that will be watching him and will catch him eventually. In a panic, Chill flees to his gang, but when they find out Chill is responsible for Batman's existence they shoot him, and only after do they realize that they should have asked Chill for Batman's real name.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).