I want to immediately put it out there, that the concept behind the Secret Origins issues are fantastic! Anyone wanting a speedy origin story for a DC character, it is now at your fingertips with terrific story telling and artwork to match.
Issue three begins with Hal Jordan’s origin, which most readers have heard or seen in one way or another. Venditti does no different, with giving you the classic story line we all know and love. Hal’s father passes, and we touch briefly on how it effected his entire family, and where Hal personally went from that tragedy. We are shown how he becomes a Green Lantern, and shown familiar faces with Abin Sur and even Sinestro. Venditti gives Hal a quote that ends the story beautifully, ” My life is a tale of two crashes. The first took everything from me. The second gave me more than I could imagine.”.
Moving on to the second listed hero for this issue, and having a similar story line, Batwoman. Kate Kane, as she grows up without her mother but has a supportive loving father at her heels. Readers get to witness her struggle of leaving the Army because of her homosexuality, and finding a new way to give justice where needed. We see a hint of Batman trying to give her reason of staying out of the vigilante business, but obviously to no avail. Her father steps in to help her accomplish these fighting goals and dreams and Haun ends on a nice note for Kate.
Our last hero of the issue is Red Robin. We dive immediately into the some what obsessed boy that is trying to figure out Batman’s identity, and the humor of Batman/Bruce Wayne doing things on his end to keep Tim Drake out of the loop. Tim desperately wants to show Batman that he can fight crime, and takes the step of transferring a bad groups money over to a charity. That tactic worked on a different level of getting Batman’s attention though, and ends up putting Tim’s parents into protective custody. Batman does take in Tim, however, and we even glimpse a hint of what happened with Jason Todd, the previous Robin. The story quickly progresses and ends with Red Robin joining the Teen Titans.
Venditti, Haun, and Lobdell, handled these origin stories with what seemed to be, such confidence and ease. The reading was simple and gave the correct information. I believe any DC reader would have a terrific time with these issues. Let’s not forget the other main reason to page turn. Coccolo, McCarthy, and Kirkham’s artwork. It fit every characteristic that I look for in comics. The characters were drawn realistically to their backgrounds and varied in all the right places. Scenes with explosions and action where not confusing nor did they make you feel like you were loosing something while taking it all in. I give my two thumbs up for this issue, and I’ll borrow the thumbs to the guy next to me too. Well done.
P.S.- For all you Dick Grayson fans out there, this issue ends with a sneak preview to Grayson #1.
