Short Box: Doctor Fate, Vol. 1 TP
Doctor Fate, Vol. 1 TP
#1TP
| Release: | May 20, 2025 |
Creators
| Writer | J.M. DeMatteis |
| Artist | Shawn McManus | Keith Giffen |
| Cover Artist | Keith Giffen | Kent Williams |
| Cover Penciller | Keith Giffen | Kent Williams |
| Cover Inker | Dave Hunt |
When I was a kid, I liked Dr. Fate from the first time I saw him. Which I believe was in a DC Blue Ribbon Digest featuring the Flash and some of his friends, but I can’t say for certain.
I just thought his odd mix of styles looked cool, what with the girdle, the collared cape, and the helmet. And speaking of the helmet, I also thought it was cool that when he put the helmet on, he became a completely different person, his body being possessed by the spirit of the ancient Lord of Order Nabu, who inhabited the helmet of Fate.
And as a kid, I got to see plenty of Dr. Fate, as he appeared often in All-Star Squadron and had a backup feature in The Flash (which was pretty much the only reason I picked up The Flash regularly, as I didn’t really enjoy the main story).
The double helping of Fate was interesting, in that All-Star Squadron took place in the 1940s, whereas the backup feature took place in the present day, and it was like getting two different versions of the same character. The one in the 1940s eschewed wearing the helmet of Fate because, while it left him less powerful, it allowed Kent Nelson, the man under the helmet, to maintain control.
The modern incarnation, by contrast, has made peace with the loss of control and willingly surrendered control to Nabu.
Later in the ’80s, I was pleased to see him show up as a member of the Justice League, but I was confused when one day he showed up for a mission but was no longer a he.
I knew of his then-current ongoing series though house ads, but as it was direct sales only, I was never able to pick up an issue, so I wasn’t familiar with the new status quo of the character, though I wanted to be.
The idea that you should be careful what you wish for is a common one – and one that’s gotten a lot of attention recently thanks to a surprise hit movie – and now that I’ve made my way through this trade paperback that collects the complete run of that series (and the mini-series that preceded it), I’m finding myself cursing the monkey’s paw. At least a little.
As is often the case with comics I missed that went on to become beloved classics, I suspect that I might have enjoyed this at the time it was new, but decades later it just did not click for me.
The art from McManus is great, but I didn’t vibe with the overarching theme of the series, and I found the humor – the book was very similar in tone and style to the bwa-ha-ha humor of the Justice League books that DeMatteis was also working on at the time – was a type that had long ago worn out its welcome with me.
As for that status quo, in the mini-series, Kent Nelson died, a man and woman named Eric and Linda discovered that they had the ability to merge and form a new Dr. Fate, and Nabu’s spirit moved into and revived Kent’s body to serve as a mentor and foil for Eric and Linda. Eric and Linda could also independently transform into Dr. Fate, though they’d only be half as powerful by themselves, and while they appeared male when they merged to form him, Dr. Fate took on a feminine form when Linda transformed on her own.
Oh, and Linda was Eric’s stepmother.
And she was in love with him, despite the fact that he was only ten.
But it was okay because he had “an old soul.”
Yeah.
In fairness, Linda never got physical with Eric, not even after he was magically aged up to adulthood.
Still.
The “old soul” thing proved to be literally true, as both Eric and Linda had been reincarnated countless times throughout history, and were connected in some way in each life, having been all things to each other throughout those lives.
Still.
All of that ties into the overarching theme of the series which was a kind of confused treatise on religion that had some sort of universalist message and featured a silent guru/avatar/guide/God who I feel was probably supposed to look like someone else but looked to me like Frank Zappa.
There were ideas to explore, and an attempt was made, but I didn’t feel like it gelled, and it did not put a smile on my face that looked like the great cosmic smile that the story told us was behind all things.
I was also frustrated by the fact another childhood favorite – Andrew Bennett AKA I…Vampire – appeared, which should have made me happy, but I really didn’t like his characterization, even though he was being written by his co-creator, who had written all of the stories he’d appeared in which I’d loved years earlier.
Also, there was a demon named Petey. Who was Yiddish. Because of course he was.
Stranger fates awaited Fate after this series ended, and I’ve read very little of what followed.
After my disappointment with this, I suspect that’s just as well.
Born and raised in the sparsely populated Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Jon Maki developed an enduring love for comics at an early age.
