Story: "Secret Origins" (24 Pages)

Credits:

Grant Morrison (plot, script)
Chas Truog (pencils)
Doug Hazlewood (inks)
John Costanza (letters)
Tatjana Wood (colors)
Art Young (assistant edits)
Karen Berger (edits)

Feature Character:

Animal Man (also in flashback to Strange Adventures Vol. 1 #180)

Guest Star:

Vixen

Supporting Characters:

Yellow Aliens (next in issue #22)
Roger Denning (in flashback to Strange Adventures Vol. 1 #180) Ellen Baker (in flashbacks to Strange Adventures Vol. 1 #180 and issue #11)
Ellen's father (in flashback to the time of Strange Adventures Vol. 1 #180)

Villains:

Hamed Ali – He Who Never Dies (dies)
Tabu II (dies shortly after this story, as revealed in issue #44)
Hamed Ali's army (all die)

Synopsis:

By using bacteria powers, Animal Man breaks himself and Vixen out from the clutches of Hamed Ali. Then he encounters the Yellow Aliens in their lair, and they explain that they are agents of the Higher Powers (i.e. the comic creators). Then they finally re-write his origin successfully. Hamed Ali and Tabu enter the aliens' lair but are defeated. Tabu is knocked out by Vixen while a bragging Hamed Ali is litterally erased from the comic page by one of the Yellow Aliens. Before leaving, the Aliens warn Buddy that terrible times are coming.