Secret Origins

Secret Origins
Brian Bolland's cover to the 1989 Secret Origins collection.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
Schedule	Monthly
Format	Ongoing series
Genre	Superhero
Publication date	One-shot Summer 1961 Vol. 1 February–March 1973 - October–November 1974 Vol. 2 April 1986–August 1990 Vol. 3 June 2014–May 2015
Number of issues	One-shot: 1 Vol. 1: 7 Vol. 2: 50 plus 3 annuals and 1 special Vol. 3: 11
Editor(s)	Roy Thomas Mark Waid
Collected editions
Secret Origins

Secret Origins is the title of several comic book series published by DC Comics which featured the origin stories of the publisher's various characters.

Secret Origins was first published as a one-shot in 1961 and contained only reprinted material. The title became an ongoing reprint series in February–March 1973 which ran for seven issues and ended in October–November 1974. The title was used on various compilations of origin stories including Limited Collectors' Edition #C-39 (October–November 1975) and #C-45 (June–July 1976) as well as DC Special Series #10 (1978) and #19 (Fall 1979). Its most well-known incarnation was a 50-issue series that ran from April 1986 to August 1990 plus three annuals and a special. Typically, an issue would clarify the post-Crisis origins of a number of characters, usually two as most of the issues were double-sized, i.e. 48 pages. Roy Thomas was the initial writer/editorial consultant on the series; later issues were overseen by Mark Waid. Three more specials followed in 1998–1999. In 2004, it returned to the all-reprint format with a "Weird Secret Origins" special featuring Doctor Fate, the Spectre, Animal Man, Enchantress, Metamorpho, Congorilla, El Diablo, and Bizarro World.

A new monthly incarnation focusing on characters in The New 52, launched in April 2014 with a June 2014 cover date. The first issue featured the origins of Superman, Supergirl and the Dick Grayson version of Robin. This series was cancelled as of issue #11 (May 2015) on sale in March 2015.