Seventy-five Years In 90 Minutes
Secret Origins features Ryan Reynolds as the narrator with plenty of interview snippets from DC icons and other artists and writers in the industry such Neil Gaiman, Geoff Johns, Dwayne McDuffie, and Grant Morrison. The feature begins in the best possible place: the beginning, the early 1930s. Fun Magazine #1 was the first real comic book that compiled a variety of shorter comics and cartoons into a single book. Meanwhile in Ohio, Jerry Siegel Joe Shuster were at work making what would become the first
superhero: Superman. If you can believe it, publishers turned down the idea of Superman, preferring instead to stick with western and police detective themes. Detective Comics decided, some four years later after first being presented with this heroic character, to publish a new line of comics under the name Action Comics. Superman — and the idea of superheroes — was born.
The success was instant, and ushered in the Golden Age of DC. Soon after Superman, Bob Kane created The Bat-Man, again to much success and consumer following. Old Bats would become as big as Superman for a time. Pearl Harbor would shake up the comic industry, as numerous other superheroes fell to the way side and only the strongest of characters were able to survive the changing readership that set in after the war. Comics about gruesome horror became very popular, but many parents and psychologists took issue with this and the result was the Comics Code Authority. The self regulating body helped spark superheroes back into the forefront of comics. The Flash and several others were recreated and their reception much improved. Old favorites like Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman regained popularity.
The documentary continues with the Bronze Age and then the current Modern Age with big events such as the Superman film and then Tim Burton’s Batman and the death and resurrection of Superman. Some time is spent on discussing how DC comics has persevered thanks to the talent writers and artists and the wonder of superheroes.
The DVD
This is straight-forward DVD release as you might expect. From the packaging to the presentation to the lack of extra features, this is a very plain release. That shouldn’t be too surprising, but given its brevity (just 1.5 hours) and the fact that you probably won’t watch this more than once, it doesn’t give you a whole lot of reason to make that initial investment, especially at the going price of $19 or $20 online. Still, for that comic book fan in your life, it could make a nice gift this holiday.
With that, lets get to the summary..