The Secret Origin of... LIBERTY BELLE

Though there were other comics series with similar names before and after, the longest-running Secret Origins comic book was published by DC Comics from April 1986 to August 1990.  It included 50 regular issues, three annuals, and one special edition.  This series of blog posts focuses on the stories that would have, should have, or otherwise follow the spirit of that series.      

The initial format of Secret Origins was to devote the odd-numbered issues to heroes from the Golden Age and the even-numbered issues to more recent heroes.  Beginning with Secret Origins #6 (cover dated September 1986), each issue featured one Golden Age origin and one "Modern" origin."  A number of the final issues of All-Star Squadron, which was slated to be retooled as The Young All-Stars, also featured origins of the Golden Age heroes. Among them was the origin of All-Star Squadron member Liberty Belle.  The premise within the on-going storyline of the series was that the Squadron members were telling their stories to the Tarantula for a book he would write once World War II concluded.  

The Secret Origin of... LIBERTY BELLE

"The Origin of Liberty Belle" from All-Star Squadron #61 (September 1986) by Roy Thomas, Mike Harris, and Tony DeZuniga

Synopsis from The All-Star Companion Vol. 2:  Liberty Belle reveals her origin to Tarantula: Libby Lawrence is the daughter of Major James Lawrence, attached to the US embassy in Warsaw.  After first fleeing a Blitzkrieged Poland in 1939, the swimming medalist Libby Lawrence escapes from the Nazi war machine by swimming the English Channel during the 1940 evacuation of Dunkirk, France.  This feat earns Libby her own newspaper column and radio news show.  Discovering a strange connection to the Liberty Bell, she adopts a costumed identity to tackle a Nazi spy ring.  Concluding her narrative, she and Johnny Quick leave on their belated honeymoon.   

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