The Secret OriginS of... CLAYFACE II

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 Secret OriginS of... CLAYFACE II

A creation of Batman creators Bob Kane and Bill Finger, the original Clayface (Basil Karlo) first appeared in Detective Comics #40, cover dated June 1940, in what we now call the "Golden Age" of comics.

Clayface II (Matt Hagen) was introduced in Detective Comics #298, cover dated December 1961.  

Clayface III (Preston Payne) was introduced in Detective Comics #478, cover dated August 1978.

Clayface II died at the end of the so-called crisis on infinite Earths in the final issue of Crisis on Infinite Earths, #12, cover dated March 1986.  

Clayface IV was introduced in The Outsiders #21, cover dated July 1987.

The secret origins of all four Clayfaces were told in Secret Origins #44, cover dated September 1989.  At the height of 1980s Bat-mania, this issue served as a prologue to "The Mud Pack" storyline which would be told in Detective Comics #604 (also cover dated September 1989) and continue through issue #607.  The Clayface II origin was titled "The Tragic Though Amusing History of Clayface II."  It was written by Dan Raspler with art by BEM 89 (Bernie Mireault) and Denis Rodier and edited by Mark Waid.  The cover of the issue (seen here) was created by Kevin Nowlin.  

It appears that the origin of Clayface II published was not the only one commissioned for the Secret Origins book.  Secret Files & Origins: Batman Villains 2005 has another origin of Clayface II.  The note on the Contents page from editor Bob Schreck reads "Special thanks to Mark Waid for starting the ball rolling on this strange tale.  Many years ago when Mark was an editor at DC, he commissioned this wacky tale for Secret Origins.  Written and pencilled... it mysteriously vanished from DC's offices (pre-9/11 security, what can I say!).  Flash forward to a couple years ago: I start work at DC and call Mike [Mignola] to see if he'll do some Batman covers for me.  He says he will, but only if I find his missing, now fabled, Clayface pages.  Twenty-four hours and two extremely uncomfortable phone calls later, I call Mike back and tell him the good news.  (Of course, I'm still waiting for my Batman covers.)"

Kevin Nowlin (who appears to have been slated to ink and color the tale in the 1980s and did eventually ink the project before it finally saw print) states, DC went with the Dan Raspler version because they felt it was "undiginified for Batman and Robin to be referred to as a 'couple of costumed pansies' and other humorous bits that were less than reverential" (Kevin Nowlan Blogspot, Aug. 17, 2009). 

You can see a lot of white space in the first panel of the first page (seen here on the right) where creator credits and a Batman logo would have gone had this been included in the Secret Origins issue.  The Secret Files story is one page shorter than the Secret Origins story.  Was there a final page to tie the origin in with the rest of the issue?  We may never know...   





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