Young Justice is perhaps one of DC's most overlooked and underrated teams, with the particular generation of heroes being eternally scorned by circumstances. Constant reboots and other developments with the characters has seen them lose their former prominence, but that may finally be changing. Dark Crisis is bringing the team back together, including its own Trinity of Robin, Impulse and Superboy. However, there's one Young Justice member whose whereabouts are still a secret.
Greta Hayes, a.k.a. Secret, was once an important part of Young Justice, but when their original run ended, so did her relevance. Strangely enough, reboots and retcons have failed to bring her back, and that seems to be the case with DC Rebirth, as well. Here's a look back at Secret, and why she's failed to come back in any major way.
Who Was Young Justice's Secret?
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Todd Dezago and Todd Nuack created Secret, who debuted in the eponymous comic Young Justice: The Secret #1 (by Todd Dezago, Todd Nuack, Lary Stucker, Jason Wright, Digital Chameleon, and Ken Lopez). There, Young Justice saved her from the Department of Extranormal Operations, who had been holding her in containment. Simply called the "mist girl," her powers made her into an ethereal ghost that could fly and possess others. Before attaining this form, she was a girl named Greta who had been killed by her brother as part of a ritual sacrifice. This left her stuck in her current state of affairs, which she grew to resent.
She added to the women of the Young Justice, which included Arrowette, Empress and the post-Crisis Wonder Girl. The quiet, shy girl of the group, she would however come to blows with Stephanie Brown due to her crush on Robin. Her own insecurities and the circumstances of her life caused her to begin sinking further into despair. Hal Jordan, who had become The Spectre, tried to help the girl, but to no avail. None other than Darkseid would manipulate the girl, eventually stripping her powers and rendering her a normal girl. This was actually what she had always wanted, and it was this which remained her status quo.
Why Hasn't DC Brought Back Secret?
To some extent, Secret becoming less relevant in the post-Crisis continuity made sense. After all, she had lost her powers, so she really didn't fit in with Young Justice or the revival of the Teen Titans. Following several reboots, however, she's still nowhere to be found. This included the recent Young Justice reunion in Dark Crisis. Both Empress and Secret have yet to be mentioned, and it likely stems from being original heroes and not legacy sidekicks. Since the old Young Justice book was their only ever point of relevance, shouldn't a reunion be the first place that they're brought back?
Another reason as to why Secret is irrelevant is that the team eventually upgraded to the Teen Titans, where they were joined by Raven. Raven's powers aren't the same as Secret, but her supernatural nature means that she'd get more prominence on the team. The events of Dark Crisis: Young Justice mention Conner and Bart dying, so some version of their pre-Flashpoint history is still in continuity. If that's the case, then Secret should be a powerless mortal, having lost her powers. Since the event is a Crisis, this could all end up being erased, with Secret showing up toward the story's end, powers and all, to help her former friends.
Her sole appearance outside the comics has been the Young Justice cartoon, though this is only a loose adaptation of the comic book. Thus, she's both accurate to the original comics and quite different, being a ghost who can only communicate by saying the word "secret." She had an ultimately minor role there, again owing to her utter irrelevance in the source material. That may soon change if Dark Crisis brings her back, but for now, it seems that Greta Hayes will remain a mere secret in the pantheon of DC heroes.