SECRET ORIGINS #16

Cover shows moderate wrinkling and creasing, most visible in the yellow costume areas of Hourman and along the lower portion of the cover, along with some surface texture disturbance suggesting minor handling stress. Corners appear reasonably sharp with only slight wear, and no major tears, chips, or color breaks are evident. The book is in a protective sleeve which obscures fine surface detail; interior and back cover were not assessed.

Secret Origins was DC's post-Crisis on Infinite Earths anthology title, launched in 1986 to reintroduce and reconcile the origins of its characters for a new continuity. Issue #16, cover-dated July 1987, turns to the Golden Age Starman, Ted Knight, the cosmic-rod-wielding hero of the 1940s All-American Comics stable. The retelling fits within writer Roy Thomas's broader project of chronicling the Justice Society era, work he had been doing concurrently in All-Star Squadron, and the issue serves as a tidy, self-contained primer on Starman's creation of his gravity rod and his brief but influential wartime career.

As an anthology issue built around a legacy character with a modest but dedicated following, the book has always occupied a niche corner of the Copper Age secondary market. It was never a driver of speculator interest in the late 1980s and has not developed any afterlife as a key issue; there is no first appearance, death, or landmark creative milestone attached to it. Demand comes almost entirely from Justice Society and Starman completists, along with Secret Origins run collectors, rather than from broader superhero-key buyers.

Copies circulate readily in the back-issue market and typically trade at or just above cover price in raw form, reflecting ample surviving supply from a title that saw healthy but unremarkable print runs. High-grade slabs are scarce not because of demand but because few collectors bothered to submit a book like this for grading, so a pristine 9.8 example carries a modest premium driven by condition rarity rather than character or story significance. This is a reader's and completist's book: attractive for someone assembling a full Secret Origins run or a Starman/JSA-themed collection, but not a title that draws attention on its own.