Golden Age Secret Files & Origins by John Ostrander, Cliff Chiang, et al.

Back in the late 1990s and early 2000s, DC did a lot of "Secret Files & Origins" one-shots, which would have a couple short stories about a character or theme, coupled with some profile pages or other in-universe background. There were two JSA ones, as well as one JLA/JSA one, the stories from which are all collected in the JSA by Geoff Johns collections. But aside from a five-page story included in The Justice Society Returns!, this one has gone uncollected, so I picked it up on its own.

There is some JSA focus here (the aforementioned story and a profile page), but much of the issue focuses on the Crimson Avenger. "The Crimson" was, I think, DC's second superhero in publication order, following Superman, which meant that following the Crisis on Infinite Earths, he was the first one.* The story "The Dawn of the Golden Age," written by John Ostrander and drawn by Cliff Chiang, focuses on this legacy; reporter Clark Kent tries to figure out what motivated Lee Travis to put on a costume and fight crime. What the story does is kind of clever; it reinstates Superman as the first superhero by having Travis be inspired by a vision of the future where he sees Superman! It's a nice story, supplemented by some strong art from an early Cliff Chiang, who I always like. Ostrander, as always, is good at character voices and continuity, which is exactly what this story needs. There's also a text story in the form of a faux newspaper interview of Travis by Jonathan Law (the Tarantula from All-Star Squadron) and a profile page. Back when I read the Thomases' The Crimson Avenger: The Dark Cross Conspiracy, I said you could make a good trade out of that, Secret Origins #5, and DC Comics Presents #38. Well, now clearly you would chuck in this stuff to wrap it all up; it would make a good follow-up to the DCCP story.

script by John Ostrander, art by Cliff Chiang

"The Dawn of the Golden Age" is a full twenty-page story; the rest of the volume is filled out with shorter ones. I already discussed "Scenes From The Class Struggle at J.S.A. Mansion" when I read it in Justice Society Returns!; the other two are a kind of funny story about Dr. Occult trying to get Zatara the Magician to be become a crimefighter and a frankly baffling one about young Dr. Sivana.

Decent stuff overall; as a fan of the post–Golden Age Crimson Avenger, I'm glad I tracked it down.

* Sometimes, anyway. Sandman Mystery Theatre pushed the Sandman's debut back so that it preceded the Crimson's, for example... but the story here ignores that and has Sandy explicitly say Wes was inspired by the case of the Crimson Avenger and the Phantom of the Fair. That said, Sandy wasn't around yet when that happened, so what does he know?

 

Golden Age Secret Files & Origins was originally published in one issue (Feb. 2001). The comic stories were written by John Ostrander, Tom Peyer, Peter Gross, and Jason Hernandez-Rosenblatt; pencilled by Cliff Chiang, Peter Grau, Peter Gross, and Jamal Igle; inked by Cliff Chiang, Claude St. Aubin, Peter Gross, and Rod Ramos; colored by Tom McCraw; and lettered by John Costanza and Richard Starkings. The text story and profile pages were written by Scott Beatty, and the profile pages were illustrated by Peter Grau & Christian Alamy, Mike Collins & Bob McLeod, Mark Propst, and Michael Lark. The issue was edited by Tony Bedard.

 

This post is thirty-third in a series about the Justice Society and Earth-Two. The next installment covers JSA by Geoff Johns, Book Three. Previous installments are listed below:

1. All Star Comics: Only Legends Live Forever (1976-79)
2. The Huntress: Origins (1977-82)
3. All-Star Squadron (1981-87)
4. Infinity, Inc.: The Generations Saga, Volume One (1983-84)
5. Infinity, Inc.: The Generations Saga, Volume Two (1984-85)
6. Showcase Presents... Power Girl (1978)
7. America vs. the Justice Society (1985)
8. Jonni Thunder, a.k.a. Thunderbolt (1985)
9. Crisis on Multiple Earths, Volume 7 (1983-85)
10. Infinity, Inc. #11-53 (1985-88) [reading order]
11. Last Days of the Justice Society of America (1986-88)
12. All-Star Comics 80-Page Giant (1999)
13. Steel, the Indestructible Man (1978)
14. Superman vs. Wonder Woman: An Untold Epic of World War Two (1977)
• Wonder Woman: Earth-Two (1977-78)
15. Secret Origins of the Golden Age (1986-89)
16. The Young All-Stars (1987-89)
17. Gladiator (1930) ["Man-God!" (1976)]
    
18. The Crimson Avenger: The Dark Cross Conspiracy (1981-88)
19. The Immortal Doctor Fate (1940-82)
20. Justice Society of America: The Demise of Justice (1951-91)
21. Armageddon: Inferno (1992)
22. Justice Society of America vol. 2 (1992-93)
23. The Adventures of Alan Scott--Green Lantern (1992-93)
24. Damage (1994-96)
25. The Justice Society Returns! (1999-2001)
26. Chase (1998-2002)
27. Stargirl by Geoff Johns (1999-2003)
28. The Sandman Presents: The Furies (2002)
29. JSA by Geoff Johns, Book One (1999-2000)
30. Wonder Woman: The 18th Letter: A Love Story (2000)
31. Two Thousand (2000)
32. JSA by Geoff Johns, Book Two (1999-2003)