Secret Origins #21

Secret Origins #21 (Dec 1987)
title: "The Secret Origin of Black Condor:

The Man Who Can Fly Like A Bird"
writer: Roy Thomas
pencils & inks: Murphy Anderson
letterer: Jean Simek
colorist: Carl Gafford

editor: Greg Weisman
cover: Jose-Luis Garcia Lopez

Order of Appearance: Black Condor is the only Freedom Fighter to appear in this story

Supporting Character(s): Father Pierre, Black Condor's parents Anne and Richard Grey

Opponents: Yakki raiders led by Gali Khan, unscrupulous businessman Jaspar Crow

Overall Summary: 
Black Condor grows up in the mountains of the Himalayas with the mutant power of flight! Eventually he defeats the men responsible for the murder of his parents and his teacher, and he heads to the US....where he becomes a US Senator!?!   

Plot Summary:
Major Richard Grey is leading an expedition across the bleak steppes of Outer Mongolia in a caravan that includes his wife, Anne, and infant son, Richard Junior. As a meteor lands in the nearby hills, Gali Kan and his raiders attack the caravan, killing them all except the infant. 

The next morning, the baby is seen by a flying condor, who rescues him and takes her to her nest. She raises him with her other two babies. 

He grows up at the nest near where the meteorite landed, constantly bathing in its radiation. He continually attempts to fly like his brothers, until at last he manages to soar. 

One day, he flies to the lowlands, where he battles giant eagles. He is defeated by them and falls to the ground. He is found by a hermit monk named Father Pierre. Pierre teaches the young man everything he can. A year passes. One day, while the young Black Condor is out flying, Father Pierre is killed by Gali Khan's raiders. Black Condor swears to use his power of flight to help people. 

Months follow, and Black Condor becomes a local legend among the mountain people: "the man who flies." Then one day, Gali attacks the mountain village, only to be met by Black Condor and his condor friends. Leading the villagers, Black Condor defeats the raiders and kills Gali Kan. 

Black Condor decides to move to his home-country, and takes a ship to New York City. He then meets US Senator Thomas Wright after he is thrown from a moving car. Both are shocked to see that Senator Wright looks just like him! Wright dies from his injuries, but before he expires he begs the stranger to take his place in Congress. Black Condor agrees, and vows to continue to fight Evil, both as a senator and as Black Condor. 

Review: 

First of all, can we address the major geographical mistake in the room: namely, condors are from Northern and Central AMERICA. Condors DON'T LIVE IN MONGOLIA. 

This story is like saying Aquaman grew up in the Sahara Desert. What the hell? 

Now, I did a bit of research and vultures and eagles DO live in/near/around the Himalayas. So maybe  instead of the Black Condor this guy could have been called Golden Eagle or Black Vulture (after the Himalayan Vulture). 

Sure, you could say that this is me being somewhat pedantic, but dammit, there's a difference between vultures and condors and eagles and hawks, just like there's a difference between tigers and lions and leopards and lynxes. 

So...let's just imagine that everywhere in this story that the narration calls out "the Himalayas" let's all pretend it actually says, "the Andes." Okay? Good. Moving on....

The second huge problem with this story is that we are told that our boy BC learns to fly by....growing up with condors. 

Hmmm.....

I am PRETTY sure that isn't how that would go. Likewise, Mowgli growing up with wolves didn't allow him to run as fast as them, or smell as well as them, or rip deer apart with his teeth like them. 

This is the first time I recall reading Roy's text comments where he himself says the original story was somewhat....stupid. See below: 

So in order to make more sense of the events, Roy inserts a meteor, and mysterious space radiation, and suddenly whiz bang, our boy can fly. 

Well, moving on....what about the character's motivation? Surely he has some great origin in the manner of Batman or Superman, right? 

It says that his parents are killed by Mongolian raiders. Then he finds companionship with a hermit monk teacher named Father Pierre, who is also killed by the same band of raiders. And so then when his adopted village is attacked by these raiders, Black Condor steps up and destroys them, actually going so far as to killing the leader! 

Then, in similar motivation to Batman, Black Condor decides to swear eternal protection to his adopted village leave town and head to his home country for new adventures. (Never mind that it's never explained how he knows that he's an American in the first place, or has any "papers" that would allow him to get through Ellis Island....!).

And so we have four pages of his parents being murdered, five pages of his learning how to fly, six pages of him defeating the raiders, and ONE page for him to meet Tom Wright and to establish his new identity in the United States. 

Talk about lousy pacing of a story!! 

As a comparison, here is the Origin of Black Condor as told in the pages of Freedom Fighters #13, as told by Bob Rozakis, Dick Ayers, and Jack Abel. See what these gentlemen can do in 2 pages instead of 18....! 

Arguably, it's a better story! 

The art is again by the great Murphy Anderson, but even he can't save this story. Dozens of panels with no backgrounds, pages where too many things happen followed by pages where NOTHING happens (see pages 5, 6, and 7). And then there's page 18, which is a huge picture of...the New York Harbor?!? Followed by page 19 where Black Condor meets Tom Wright, tries to save him, takes his place, and makes a deathbed vow (in the wrong chronological order, it seems to me....!)

THIS is Exhibit A for The Opinion That Roy Thomas Needed An Editor.  

 

For another, equally absurd review of this story, please check out my friend Ryan Daly's blog Secret Origins. He and his guest Diabolu Frank talk about this story in a very entertaining way! 

Check it out! Secret Origins Podcast #21: Black Condor

Best Moment

When first you don't succeed, try try again. 

You can fly! You can fly! You can fly!! 

Worst Moment

What a waste of a page. 

Roy and Murphy could have really used it on the next page. 

Freedom of Information

• This story is based on the story "Black Condor" that appeared in Crack Comics #1 by Lou Fine. 
• Roy inserted a meteor into this story; the original had our boy learning to fly through sheer force of will. 
• Condors are native to south-west United States, Central America, and South America. They do not live in Asia.  

The Freedom Fighters

assembled by Len Wein