Secret Origins (Volume 2) #48 is an issue of the series Secret Origins (Volume 2) with a cover date of April, 1990.
Synopsis for "The Secret Origin of Ambush Bug: We Thought Him Up!"
The National Bureau of Origins has been assigned to learn the secret origin of Ambush Bug and sends some of their agents out to learn of the Bug's true origins, threatening Cheeks' safety to ensure co-operation. Ambush Bug tries to feed them the typical costume-from-outer-space-bitten-by-a-radioactive-spider origin from previous Ambush Bug stories, but they don't buy it.
In order to try and get Cheeks back, Ambush Bug tries to appeal to Lord Order and finds himself turned into a burned pile of flesh and bones. What follows are a series of completely false origin stories: How Ambush Bug saved his classroom from dinosaurs, to a futuristic city origin, to a origin similar to that of Batman -- the whole time Ambush Bug is nothing more than a pile of burnt flesh and bones. His soul arriving in heaven, Ambush Bug learns that Cheeks is not there and is summarily booted out.
Without a true origin story, Ambush Bug attempts to be put in a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles rip-off, however this fails as well and Ambush Bug is put back in his jail cell. As it turns out the head of the N.B.O. is Cheeks himself.
Appearing in "The Secret Origin of Ambush Bug: We Thought Him Up!"
Featured Characters:
- Ambush Bug (Origin)
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- Big Fat Freakin' Frogs (Single appearance)
- A Lord of Order
- Vril Dox II
- National Bureau of Origins (N.B.O.)
- Checkmate (Mentioned only)
- Keith Giffen (Mentioned only)
- Suicide Squad (Mentioned only)
Locations:
- Amazon Island (Mentioned only)
- Belle Reve
- Heaven
- Kansas (Mentioned only)
- Minneapolis (Mentioned only)
- N.B.O. Headquarters
- The Roscoe P. Sweeney Memorial Home for Forgotten Cartoon Characters
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for "Stanley and His Monster"
The Beast With No Name is banished by Lucifer to Earth for being "contaminated by goodness," where he befriends the young Stanley Dover and is allowed to live in his house by his parents (who assume the monster Stanley describes in an imaginary pet.)
Appearing in "Stanley and His Monster"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Stanley's Monster (Origin)
- Mitch Dover
- Sheila Dover
Antagonists:
- Triumvirate of Hell
- Lucifer Morningstar
- Azazel
- Beelzebub (mistakenly referred to as Belial)
Other Characters:
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for "The Birth of Rex the Wonder Dog"
Appearing in "The Birth of Rex the Wonder Dog"
Featured Characters:
- Rex, the Wonder Dog (Origin)
Supporting Characters:
- Danny Dennis
- Lt. Dennis (Danny's father)
Antagonists:
- German spy (Dies)
Other Characters:
- Dr. Anabolus (Dies)
- United States Army
- Adolf Hitler (Mentioned only)
- Charles Atlas (Mentioned only)
Locations:
- World War II
- Libertyville
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for "The Trigger Twins"
Appearing in "The Trigger Twins"
Featured Characters:
- Trigger Twins (Origin)
Supporting Characters:
- Linda (Wayne's wife)
- The Trigger Twins' mother and father
Antagonists:
- Confederate States Army
- Groton Gang
- Big Bill Groton (Dies)
- Abe Latham (Dies)
- Dink Latham (Dies)
- Gunner Niles (Dies)
- Mexican Luke Dagle (Dies)
- Mose Greiss (Dies)
- O'Brien (Dies)
- Pegs the Swede (Dies)
- Stinky Porker (Dies)
- Torp Jensen (Dies)
Other Characters:
- Egon Treigar (The grandfather of the Trigger Twins) (Mentioned only)
- United States Army
Locations:
- 19th Century
- American Old West
- Rocky City
- American Old West
Items:
Vehicles:
Notes
- Batman and Robin from the 1966 TV series appear on the cover, but on no internal page. There is a warning of this on the cover.
- "The Secret Origin of Ambush Bug: We thought Him Up!" was reprinted in Showcase Presents: Ambush Bug.
Trivia
- Mark Waid had been the editor of Secret Origins, but the origin of Ambush Bug that he approved so incensed DC's legal department that Waid was fired from DC. Michael Eury replaced him as editor, and had Giffen and Fleming rewrite the story.[1]
See Also
Links and References
- ↑ Back Issue magazine, # 98 (August 2017), p. 18.