I don’t know if DC decided to give origin stories to some of their superhero partners or if this was a coincidence, but Green Arrow and Speedy are given an origin story in More Fun Comics #89 (January 1943): Roy Harper is orphaned and marooned on a mesa while Oliver Queen chases after an archaeologic […]
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Well it’s 1943 – and the World War II rages on. In Star Spangled Comics #18 (January 1943), the Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy are given an unlikely origin story: two strangers decide, at the same time, independently, to take up costumed adventuring, on the same case, and choose different parts of the flag as their […]
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Detective Comics #66 (June 1942) saw the introduction of another great macabre Batman villain: Two-Face! This origin story features everything: Handsome public defender, angry criminal court scene, acid splash and then a psychotic break into a supervillain with a fascination for the number 2. The only difference from the modern day version is that he […]
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In All-Star Comics #8 (October 1941), the third of DC’s “Trinity” finally arrives: Wonder Woman! Tucked behind a Justice Society of America story (in which Hourman and Green Lantern have been replaced by Starman and Dr. Mid-Nite), Dr. William Moulton Marston, aka Charles Moulton gives us the definitive Wonder Woman origin story. This story has […]
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The second major hero to be introduce in More Fun Comics #73 (September 1941) was Aquaman, created by Mort Weisinger and Paul Norris. This first story featured a different origin than in later years, in which Aquaman’s father was a scientist who discovered the underwater ruins of Atlantis, then helped his son learn to live […]
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Joe Simon and Jack Kirby have their first hit with Captain America #1 (December 1940). Captain America is the first character to star in his own comic book, not as a try-out feature in another book, and comes complete with a fully-fleshed out (and interesting) origin, a sidekick and an iconic villain (the Red Skull) […]
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The original Golden Age character, The Atom was introduced in All-American Comics #19 (August 1940). In his first adventure, Al Pratt was a short, meek college student who was tired of being bullied, gosh-darn it. He had Joe Morgan, a retired boxer, train him to the peak of physical perfection. In this first appearance, we […]
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The original Golden Age Green Lantern debuts in All-American Comics #16 (May 1940) and was created by Martin Nodell. Green Lantern is Alan Scott, a railroad engineer who discovers a mystical green lantern, fashions a ring out of it, creates a bizarre costume, and gets moving in the fashionable superhero business!
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Detective Comics #40 (May 1940) introduced another Batman rogue: the original Clayface, whose alter-ego is Basil Karlo, a movie actor that goes crazy.
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In Detective Comics #33 (October 1939), the Batman is finally given an origin story – and wow, what a powerful page and half that is! Apparently Bill Finger wrote this part of the story (the rest being written by Gardner Fox) and the words combined with the iconic imagery of Bob Kane continue the dark […]
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