Secret Files and Origins (abbreviated SF&O) is a series of one-shot comic book

Comic book

A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...

s and mini-series

Limited series

A limited series is a comic book series with a set number of installments. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is determined before production and it differs from a one shot in that it is composed of multiple issues....

 produced by DC Comics

DC Comics

DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...

 during the late 1990s and 2000s.

Publication history

The books are a combination of origin stories (similar to the earlier Secret Origins

Secret Origins

Secret Origins is the title of three American comic book series published by DC Comics.The title began in 1961 and for one issue, all reprints. The title Secret Origins of Super Heroes went onto a second series, also reprints, which ran for seven issues from 1973-1974...

series produced by DC), profile pages (like DC's Who's Who

Who's Who in the DC Universe

Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe is the umbrella title for a number of comic book series which DC Comics published to catalogue the wide variety of fictional characters in their imaginary universe, the DC Universe.-History:Who's Who was the creation of Len Wein, Marv...

 series from the 1980s), and short stories which sometimes serve as prologues to upcoming DC Comics storylines; early issues also featured timelines of significant events in the characters' histories. Some of these one-shots are released to coincide with a new series (such as the first JSA

Justice Society of America

The Justice Society of America, or JSA, is a DC Comics superhero group, the first team of superheroes in comic book history. Conceived by editor Sheldon Mayer and writer Gardner Fox, the JSA first appeared in All Star Comics #3 ....

issue), or with a special event (such as the Infinite Crisis

Infinite Crisis

Infinite Crisis is a 2005 - 2006 comic book storyline published by DC Comics, consisting of an eponymous, seven-issue comic book limited series written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Phil Jimenez, George Pérez, Ivan Reis, and Jerry Ordway, and a number of tie-in books...

issue). Originally the books featured sequential numbering, but from 2003-2006 this was dropped in favor of putting the year of publication in the title (so for example, Aquaman

Aquaman

Aquaman is a fictional superhero who appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger, the character debuted in More Fun Comics #73 . Initially a backup feature in DC's anthology titles, Aquaman later starred in several volumes of a solo title...

 Secret Files and Origins 2003 is the equivalent of Aquaman Secret Files and Origins #2); sequential numbering returned with the release of Green Lantern

Green Lantern

The Green Lantern is the shared primary alias of several fictional characters, superheroes appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. The first Green Lantern was created by writer Bill Finger and artist Martin Nodell in All-American Comics #16 .Each Green Lantern possesses a power ring and...

/Sinestro Corps

Sinestro Corps

The Sinestro Corps is a group of fictional characters, a villainous analogue to the Green Lantern Corps in the DC Universe. It is led by the supervillain Thaal Sinestro.-Before the Corps:...

: Secret Files and Origins #1 in 2007.