Random Happenstance

For no reason I can think of, I thought this was the last issue of this series...wait, I remember what I was thinking of! And we blogged that one already, and this one's right here, so...from 1978, DC Special Series #10, Secret Origins of Super-Heroes; featuring "This Immortal Destiny!" Written by Paul Levitz, pencils by Joe Staton, inks by Michael Netzer; "This Light A-Borning" Written by Gerry Conway, pencils by Don Newton, inks by Frank Chiaramonte; and "The Canary Is a Bird of Prey" Written by Gerry Conway, pencils by Mike Vosburg, inks by Terry Austin.

I feel like this framing device has been used before, or again, possibly even in another retelling of Doctor Fate's origin: a diary entry from Kent Nelson's long-suffering wife, Inza. Who loved her husband, no problems there; she just wearied of sharing him with Nabu: whenever he put on the helmet, Kent would be gone, leaving Dr. Fate in his place. In Kent's defense, it seems like he was only becoming Fate when needed to defend reality or whatnot; not just to get away or anything. I'm hard-pressed to think of a less rewarding alter-ego; I can't recall if Kent even remembers much of his time as Fate. And his origin includes the death of his father, getting aged up after his training, and Inza is basically a prisoner, since she can't magic her way through the walls of the tower they live in?

I don't know if readers were clamoring for the secret origin of Lightray, he was pretty far down the depth chart. But, after he saves some kids, a child asks what most probably thought, weren't you born with powers? Nope, as a child on New Genesis, while exploring with Metron and Orion, he came across a secret Apokolips base, and got zapped with a ton of radiation. Metron had kind of got them into that one, and wracked with guilt that young "Sollis" might die, he struggled for weeks to save him. He succeeded, with Sollis awakening with new powers, and Highfather suggests he select a new name for himself, to reflect his new status. I could see Lightray and Orion being childhood friends, after the latter first came to New Genesis, but Metron as a kid is just weird. Like he sprung from the Source as an older guy with weird eyebrows.

Lastly, the not-super-secret, but pre-Crisis origin of Black Canary, after Ollie asks her if she "ever regretted not living what most people consider a 'normal woman's' life?" While an agressively stupid and sexist question, Dinah does have to wonder, is she her own woman, or her daddy's. He trained her to be a supercop, while also being somewhat conflicted at the thought of risking her. As a young woman, she was basically on the job already, doing ridealongs with her dad and his new partner, Larry Lance; but dad would have a heart attack, possibly caused by Dinah not getting accepted to the police academy. (There only being so many spots open for dames back then; this was described as "the days before women's liberation.") She tells Larry she'll take the insurance money and open a flower shop, but was already planning a new career, in the growing field of "costumed mystery men!" First as a Robin Hood-type robbing from criminals, then joining the Justice Society; Dinah would eventually marry Larry (who also quit the force, fed up with cops) but he would later get killed trying to save her from the age of Aquarius or something. (I wonder if she goes into a crying rage every time she hears that song. I certainly do.) Grief-ridden, she would emigrate from Earth-2 to Earth-1 and join the Justice League; and while she missed those she had lost, she loved her new life. Crap, I think I've read her pre-Crisis origin stuff--and there's more, and it gets nuts--too much, since I've lost track how much, if any of this, carries into post-Crisis or modern continuity.