Comic Title: Secret Origins #42
Publisher: DC
Cover Date: July 1989
On Sale Date: May 23, 1989 Shipping Date May 25, 1989
Source: Amazing Heroes, #165

Shipping Date May 23, 1989
Source: Previews, #3

Shipping Date May 25, 1989
Source: Advance Comics, #5

Copyright Date May 23, 1989
Source: Library of Congress, Copyright Office 1989

Cover Price: $1.50
Page Count: 48
Editor: Mark Waid

Title: "The Secret Origin of Grim Ghost"
Pages: 19

Writer: Roy Thomas
Artist: Michael Bair
Letterer: Jean Simek (Izzo)
Letterer: Janice Chiang
Colorist: Helen Vesik

Feature Character(s)

• Grim Ghost (Keith Everet; Earl of Strethmere; first post-Crisis appearance; last appearance in Secret Origins #42; no further appearances)

Supporting Character(s)

• Deborah Wallace (the descendant of the original Deborah Wallace; no further appearances)

Villain(s)

• Rory, Andy, and Jock (irish highwaymen; all die in this story; no further appearances)
• Katy Reardon (an irish tavern wench; no further appearances)
• Three Nazi spies (Heinrich and Wilhelm named; no further appearances)

Other Character(s)

• The original Deborah Wallace (the fiance of Keith Everet; no further appearances)
• Charles Collins (Deborah's friend; dies in this story; no further appearances)
• The spirits of Keith Everet's ancestors (no further appearances)

Flashback Appearance(s)

• Grim Ghost (in the year 1700; next appearance in Secret Origins #42)

Comments:
This story is a post-Crisis retelling of Sensation Comics #1. The Earth-2 counterpart of the post-Crisis Grim Ghost was known as the Gay Ghost.

The story takes place during two separate time period: the year 1700 and 1941.

Synopsis:
Keith Everet, the Earl of Strethmere, is murdered by Irish highwaymen on the way to visit his betrothed Deborah Wallace in the year 1700. The spirits of Everet's ancestors offer him a deal which will allow him to return to Earth and his beloved Deborah, provided that he fight for the cause of justice. Everet agrees and is sent back to Earth, but almost a century has passed in his absence. With his Castle Connaught, now abandoned, Everet takes up residence as a Grim Ghost inhabiting a painting.

Time passes and war comes to England. In 1941, the Americans Charles Collins and Deborah Wallace, the descendant of the original, visit Castle Connaught for which ownership has been passed down for generations. Charles is in love with Deborah, but she sees him only as a friend. When the pair arrive at the castle, they encounter Nazi spies who are using the castle to hide from the British. Collins is killed defending Deborah.

The Grim Ghost sees the descendant of his former love and comes to her aid. He takes possession of Collins's body and uses it to defeat the Nazis. Deborah senses that Charles has changed, but the Grim Ghost does not reveal his true nature. Instead, he takes the painting with him and Deborah as they cross the ocean back to America.