The Secret Origin of... NEPTUNE PERKINS

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 Origin of... NEPTUNE PERKINS

Neptune Perkins, a relatively obscure character, first appeared in a Hawkman story in Flash Comics #66 (cover dated August 1945).  Perkins would return in another Hawkman story in Flash Comics #81 (cover dated March 1947).  He would not return again until All-Star Squadron #33 (cover dated May 1984).  

Jean-Marc Lofficier, in All-Star Companion, Volume 3, tells how the story of the Earth Two Aquaman for the Secret Origins anthology became the secret origin of Neptune Perkins told in issues #16-#19 of The Young All-Stars: "One of Roy's and my collaborations that fell by the wayside as a direct result of [the] Crisis [on Infinite Earths maxi-series] was a treatment for the Secret Origins title of the Earth-Two Aquaman.  With Roy's approval and support, I had plotted a detailed origin that explained how hapless sailor Arthur Gordon Pym (from Edgar Allan Poe's eponymous Narrative of...) had stumbled in the Antarctic upon the remains of a Lost City of the Dzyan (an Elder Race from Madame Blavatsky's influential century-old book The Secret Doctrine).  Mastering their science based on Vril (a form of energy based on popular Victorian author Edward Bulwer-Lytton's 1871 novel The Coming Race.)  Pym had built the Nautilus and had become the science pirate known as Captain Nemo . . . and had even sunk the Titanic!  Eventually Pym's grandson, for reasons to complex to recount here had become Aquaman."    

So what would have been one issue or half of a double issue of Secret Origins was expanded to become a four-part mini-series within a series.  What follows are summaries of those four issues, again from All-Star Companion, Volume 3.  

The Young All-Stars #16 (Sept. 1988)  

"The Dzyan Inheritance, Book One: Leviathan!"  

A secret Nazi occult organization called The Black Order seizes Leviathan, the artificial island sanctuary of Arthur Gordon Pym, to gain the secret of Vril, its mysterious power source.  The war party is led by Col. Streicher and Dr. Thule.  Kalla, Pym's quasi-human mate, escapes and seeks out Neptune Perkins at the Perisphere.  She tells The Young All-Stars and Wildcat of the many adventures of "Argor" (Pym) since his 1827 encounter with her race, the Dzyan.  After revealing that Nep is Pym's grandson, she begs them to save Pym and keep Vril out of Axis hands.   

The Young All-Stars #17 (Oct. 1988)  

"The Dzyan Inheritance, Book Two: Neptune!"  

Learning that it was The Black Order that murdered his parents, Neptune Perkins vows vengeance.  Kalla guides him to her arctic home.  The pair infiltrate Leviathan and find Arthur Gordon Pym a prisoner.  Kalla reveals she is collaborating with the Order because Pym has begun to age, a process she believes Nep's blood will reverse.  Her purpose served, the Nazis shoot her.   

The Young All-Stars #18 (Nov. 1988)  "The Dzyan Inheritance, Book Three: Thule!"  

The Black Order's science advisor, Dr. Thule, tortures Neptune Perkins to force Arthur Gordon Pym to surrender the secrets of Vril.  Thule drains Pym's Vril energy and is transformed into a superhuman.  The Young All-Stars invade Leviathan.  They plow through the Nazis, but are no match for Thule and the Dzyan.  Kalla, presumed dead and tossed overboard, makes her way to an iceberg and encounters Frankenstein's Monster.       

The Young All-Stars #19 (Dec. 1988)  "The Dzyan Inheritance, Book Four: Vril!"  

Dr. Thule leads the Dzyan on a raid of an American military base.  The Black Order prepares to ship the captive heroes to Berlin.  Kalla, sent away by the Frankenstein Monster, frees the kids before dying.  The Monster, curious to see a world at war, stalks off to return to "the haunts of men" and fulfill the evil he once vowed to do to mankind.  The All-Stars battle Thule without result until Arthur Gordon Pym sacrifices himself to destroy the Nazi colossus.  The Dzyan, freed of Thule's coersion, abandon Earth.    

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