Doctor Fate

Doctor Fate
File:AllStars3.jpg Kent Nelson and Hector Hall from the promotional art for JSA: All-Stars #3 (September 2003) cover, by John Cassaday and Mark Lewis.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics Vertigo
First appearance	(Kent, Inza) More Fun Comics #55 (May 1940) (Strauss) Doctor Fate #1 (July 1987) (Hall) (as Doctor Fate) JSA #3 (Kent V) Countdown to Mystery #1
Created by	(Kent, Inza) Gardner Fox Howard Sherman (Strauss) Keith Giffen J. M. DeMatteis (Kent V.) Steve Gerber Justiniano and Walden Wong
In-story information
Alter ego	- Kent Nelson - Eric & Linda Strauss - Inza Kramer Nelson - Jared Stevens - Hector Hall - Kent V. Nelson
Team affiliations	(Kent) All-Star Squadron Justice Society of America (Kent, Strauss) Justice League
Notable aliases	(Kent, Strauss, Inza) Nabu
Abilities	Manipulation of the magics of Order

'Dr. Fate (vol. 1) Doctor Fate (vol. 2 & 3)
Publication information
Publisher	All DC Comics
Schedule	All Monthly
Format	All Standard U.S., 4 color. Vol. 1 & 3: Limited series Vol. 2: When published, ongoing.
Publication date	Vol. 1: July 1987 - October 1987 Vol. 2: Winter 1988 - June 1992 1989 (Annual) Vol. 3: October 2003 - February 2004
No. of issues	Vol. 1: 4 Vol. 2: 41, +1 (Annual) Vol. 3: 5
Main character(s)	Vol. 1 & 2: Kent Nelson Vol. 2: Eric Strauss Linda Strauss Inza Kramer Nelson Vol. 3: Hector Hall

Doctor Fate is a succession of DC Comics sorcerers who also generally function as superheroes. The original version was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Howard Sherman, and first appeared in More Fun Comics #55 (May 1940).

This was Kent Nelson, the best known and longest used Doctor Fate. He was the son of an archaeologist who died discovering the tomb of the mystical being Nabu. The orphaned boy was trained by the ancient entity in the arts of magic.

This character was also used by DC in its Golden Age all-star group, the Justice Society of America, and was an essential part of the group during its revival that began in the 1960s.

After the Crisis on Infinite Earths, DC introduced several new versions of Doctor Fate. These included: Eric and Linda Strauss, a man and woman who could merge to form Doctor Fate; Inza Nelson, Kent Nelson’s reincarnated wife; a mercenary named Jared Stevens who used Nelson’s weapons but called himself simply Fate; a resurrected Hector Hall, the son of Justice Society of America members Hawkman and Hawkgirl, and Kent V. Nelson, grand-nephew of the original, who begins his journey as Doctor Fate in Las Vegas (also home to the writer), with no awareness of his family's connection to mysticism.

The revivals prior to Kent V. Nelson were relatively short-lived. Doctor Fate's appearances in other media and comics set outside the continuity of the DC Universe (for instance, in the DC animated universe) tend to be of the original Golden Age Kent Nelson incarnation.

Publication history

More Fun Comics #55 (May 1940) introduced the first Doctor Fate. After a year with little or no background, in More Fun Comics #67 (May 1941), his alter ego Kent Nelson and origins were introduced. At this point, the character was presented as the son of an archaeologist who had discovered the tomb of an Egyptian wizard named Nabu. Visually, the character was unusual in that he wore a full face helm in his earliest appearances.

When the Justice Society of America was being designed for All Star Comics #3, Doctor Fate was one of the characters National Comics used for the joint venture with All-American Publications. He made his last appearance in the book in issue #21 (Summer 1944), virtually simultaneously with the end of his own strip in More Fun Comics #98 (July-August 1944).

In More Fun Comics #72 (Sept 1941), Doctor Fate's appearance was modified, exchanging the full helmet for a half-helmet so his lower face was exposed. The focus of the stories also shifted away from magic to more standard superhero action. By the end of the following year, the character had been changed into a medical doctor with even fewer mystic elements. The character's popularity waned faster than many of his contemporaries', and he disappeared from the scene before the end of World War II.

Doctor Fate was revived along with many other Justice Society members in the 1960s through the annual team-ups with the Justice League of America. These stories established that the two teams resided on parallel worlds. Unlike many of his JSA teammates, Doctor Fate did not have an analogue or counterpart among the JLA.

Aside from the annual team up in Justice League of America, DC featured the original Doctor Fate in other stories through the 1960s and 1970s. These included: a two-issue run with Hourman in Showcase #55-56, wherein it was revealed Kent Nelson and Inza Cramer had married since the end of the Golden Age; a story in The Brave and the Bold; appearances with Superman in World's Finest Comics and DC Comics Presents; and a solo story in 1st Issue Special #9 (Dec. 1975), written by Martin Pasko and drawn by Walt Simonson. With his story, Pasko added the concept that the spirit of Nabu resided in the helmet and took control of Nelson whenever the helmet was donned. In the early 1980s, Roy Thomas incorporated this into his All-Star Squadron series, set in late 1941, as an explanation of the changes in the character's helmet and powers. (In a caption box on the final panel of Squadron #28's main story (December 1983), Thomas indicated an explanation of how and why Nelson returned to the full helmet and possession by Nabu when the JSA reactivated in the 1960s was forthcoming, but it was never published.) This led to DC featuring Kent and Inza, combining into one Doctor Fate, in a series of back-up stories beginning in The Flash #305 (Feb. 1982) and running through #313 (Sept. 1982). Cary Bates wrote the initial one, with Pasko taking over as writer in issue #306, aided by Steve Gerber from #310 to #313. DC later collected these stories, the one from 1st Issue Special #9, a 1978 retelling of the origin by Paul Levitz, Mike Nasser & Joe Staton, and a previously unreprinted tale from the original 1940s run (specifically, the second, from More Fun #56), in a three-issue limited series titled The Immortal Dr. Fate.

Following 1985's Crisis on Infinite Earths, Doctor Fate briefly joined the Justice League and was the star of a self-titled, four-issue limited series by J. M. DeMatteis and Keith Giffen. In this story Kent Nelson finally dies of old age and the mantle of Doctor Fate is passed to a pair of humans, Eric and Linda Strauss, who merge into one being to become Doctor Fate, similar to Kent and Inza. Based on the success of the limited series, DC continued the story in a separate ongoing series, also titled Doctor Fate, by DeMatteis and Shawn McManus.

After two years, William Messner-Loebs became the writer, and the series and character shifted such that Nelson's wife Inza inherited the Doctor Fate mantle and starred in a year's worth of stories in which she tried to change the world for the better using her powers.

When Messner-Loebs' run ended, DC retired the classic character, replacing Doctor Fate with "Fate." The new character, Jared Stevens, was introduced in a self-titled sreies launced in the wake of Zero Hour in 1994. He was a mercenary whose weapons were the transformed helm and amulet of Doctor Fate. Both Fate and its follow up, The Book of Fate were cancelled after relatively short runs.

In 1999, during the revival of the Justice Society in JSA, DC allowed the character to be reworked. The initial story arc mirrored the transition from Doctor Fate to Fate, the old character, Stevens, was killed and the mantel, along with the original name and a restored helm and amulet, was passed to a new character. In this case the character was a reincarnated Hector Hall, son of the Golden Age Hawkman and Hawkgirl. In addition to appearing in JSA, DC published a self-titled, five-issue limited series featuring Hall in 2003 and positioned him as a prominent magical character in various company wide event stories.

The character was again set up for change during the Day of Vengeance limited series, part of the lead in to the 2005 company wide event story, Infinite Crisis. This included both Hall and Nabu being killed and the sole remaining artifact of Doctor Fate, the helmet, being sent to find a new wearer.

In early 2007, DC published a bi-weekly run of one-shot comics featuring the helmet passing through the hands of various magical characters. These included the Shadowpact's Detective Chimp; Ibis the Invincible; Sargon the Sorcerer; Zauriel; and Black Alice. The one-shots were intended to be followed by a new Doctor Fate title in February 2007, written by Steve Gerber and illustrated by Paul Gulacy, featuring Kent V. Nelson, Kent Nelson's grandnephew, as the helm's new wearer. However, the series was delayed due to extended production and creative difficulties. Steve Gerber, through an interview with Newsarama, revealed that the story intended for the first arc of his Doctor Fate title was being reworked to serve as one of the two stories for Countdown to Mystery, a dual-feature eight issue series with Eclipso as the second story. The first issue of Countdown to Mystery was released in September 2007.

Fictional biographies

Kent Nelson/Nabu

Kent Nelson, the son of American archaeologist Sven Nelson, accompanied his father on an expedition to the Valley of Ur (not Egypt as is often, mistakenly reported) in the year 1920. When his father opened the tomb of the wizard Nabu, a poison gas was released which ultimately resulted in the death of Sven Nelson. Nabu took pity on the orphaned Kent. The wizard raised him and taught him the skills of a wizard, then bestowed upon him a mystical helm and amulet.

(Nabu is named after a god from Babylonian mythology. The Nabu of the DC Universe may originally have been meant to be this god.)

File:Drfate-mf67.jpg

Kent Nelson as Doctor Fate in More Fun Comics #67 (May 1941).
Art by Howard Sherman.

By 1940, Nelson returned to the United States and resided in an invisible tower in Salem, Massachusetts. From this sanctum he embarked on a career fighting crime and supernatural evil as the hero, Doctor Fate. During the early part of this career he met, romanced, and eventually married a red-headed woman named Inza (this character's surname varied in the early part of the run, but the creative team eventually settled on Cramer).

In late 1940, Doctor Fate was among the founding members of the Justice Society of America. He remained active with the group through the middle of the decade, resigning in 1945. At this time he withdrew entirely from public activities, either retiring or turning his attention elsewhere. When the team came out of retirement to work with the Justice League in the 1960s, he returned as well, rejoining his old teammates.

In 1942, he had changed the helmet he used, replacing it with a half-helmet that left his lower face exposed. Partially this was due to Nabu's personality, which resided in the full helmet and took full control of Nelson's body when he wore the helm. The change, while stripping him of most of his magical power, left Nelson in full control of his actions and still more than a normal human. Shortly thereafter, when a supervillain stole the Helm of Nabu, Nelson lost all access to the Helm as both it and the thief were cast into an alternate dimension. At some point between his withdrawal from the JSA and his return in the 1960s, he was able to retrieve the Helm as he returned to wearing it and relying on Nabu's presence.

Even with the return of the JSA, Doctor Fate's activities were less than public. These included assisting fellow JSA member Hourman against Solomon Grundy and the Psycho-Pirate, and teaming up on various occasions with Superman and Batman.

When the JSA re-established itself early in the modern age of heroes, Doctor Fate was among the returning members. Though he had become increasingly erratic and withdrew from humanity, he was still committed to protecting Earth against supernatural menaces. During this time Nelson also went through a period where, in order to become Doctor Fate, he had to fuse with his wife Inza.

Kent later became the sole wearer of the Helm and joined the re-constituted Justice League. His magics to keep him and his wife young soon failed. This resulted in the pair aging and passing away in a short span of time.

Eric and Linda Strauss

File:Drfateinzanelson.jpg

Justice League of America #31 (Oct 1989): Linda Strauss as Doctor Fate. Cover Art by Adam Hughes.

With the passing of Kent Nelson, Nabu began the search for a new host. This search took him to Eric and Linda Strauss. He bound them so that they had to merge to become Doctor Fate, but they otherwise led separate lives. He then animated Kent Nelson's corpse to join them as an adviser and instructor. Since the tower Nelson used as a sanctum had apparently been destroyed, the pair operated out of Linda's apartment. Over time they were joined by a small, kind demon they dubbed Petey and a lawyer named Jack C. Small. Petey and Jack provided moral support and managed to assist in some of the battles.

During a battle on Apokolips, Eric was killed, leaving Linda the responsibilities of Doctor Fate. Soon, the Lords of Chaos succeeded in assaulting Linda and killing her. The souls of Eric and Linda were placed in the bodies of Wendy and Eugene DiBellia.

Inza Nelson

Inza and Kent Nelson's souls, which had been inhabiting Doctor Fate's amulet, were resurrected in new young bodies. However, they found that now only Inza was able to become Doctor Fate. She spent her time striving to improve the lot of humanity, but Kent chided her about her "reckless" use of magic.

She strove to use her new powers proactively, unlike Kent, who waited for trouble to manifest before using his powers. Her inexperience initially worked against her, but she grew more competent with experience. Her growing confidence led to increasing recklessness. Kent and Inza eventually separated over her use of the power.

The Nelsons learned that a Lord of Chaos has taken residence in the Helm of Nabu and had been providing Inza with magic derived from Chaos instead of Order. This Lord of Chaos was also the reason that they could no longer merge and become Doctor Fate. Kent eventually returned to his wife's side and helped her defeat this Lord of Chaos. Inza then learned that she derived her new powers from the people of Earth, rather than Chaos or Order.

After defeating the Lord of Chaos, the Nelsons began merging as the male Doctor Fate again. The Nelsons retained the ability to become independent Doctor Fates if the situation called for it. In these cases Kent's form would resemble that of his days of using the half-helm.

In their last actions as Doctor Fate, the Nelsons, along with the rest of the JSA, faced the supervillain Extant during Parallax's attempt to change the history of the universe. Extant, with seeming ease, caused most of the JSAers to rapidly approach their proper physical ages. He also separated the Nelsons from the raiments of Doctor Fate, the Helm, Amulet, and cloak. The greatly aged and depowered Nelsons were returned to Salem and a forced retirement.

Jared Stevens

Main article: Fate (comics)

Fate #1 (Nov. 1994) featuring Jared Stevens, cover art by Anthony Williams and Andy Lanning.

After the return of the Nelsons to Earth, Jared Stevens discovered the raiments of Doctor Fate. He altered them into a knife, a set of throwing darts, and an armband. He called himself simple "Fate". His sole encounter with the Nelsons resulted in the death of the couple and the return of their souls to the amulet.

His apparent end came at the hands of Mordru as part of the dark wizard's attempt to inherit the mantel and artifacts of Doctor Fate.

Hector Hall

Main article: Hector Hall

Panel from JSA featuring Hector Hall as Doctor Fate. Art by Stephen Sadowski.

Nabu, aware of Mordru's ambitions, had planned ahead to insure that his Helm and the mantle of Doctor Fate would pass to a reincarnated Hector Hall. This plan coincided with the rebirth of the Justice Society, which acted to protect the newly reborn Hector.

The nature of the body into which Hector was born defined a change in purpose for Doctor Fate. The child is the son of Hank Hall and Dawn Granger, agents of both Chaos and Order once known as Hawk and Dove. This makes the child an agent of balance instead of an agent of one side or the other.

Later the Spectre, attempting to expunge evil by extinguishing magic, confronted Hector. This resulted in his and his wife's banishment to "Hell," a snowy mountain landscape, where he would be forced to spend eternity. The two later joined their son in the Dreaming, seemingly giving up the mortal world forever.

Nabu

Nabu confronts Mordru without the use of a host body in a panel from JSA #80. Art by Don Kramer.

Unaware of the reasons behind the disappearance of Hector Hall, his teammates in the Justice Society traveled to the Tower of Fate, hoping to use his services to travel to the Fifth Dimension and find Jakeem Thunder. At the Tower they found the raiments of Fate, but not Hector. Sand used the raiments to prepare a spell and speak to Nabu. However, Mordru returned before the spell was complete and caused it to malfunction. After a battle with Mordru, the Justice Society offered Nabu membership, but he sensed that a crisis was coming and that his presence would be required elsewhere, and disappeared.

During the waning hours of the Ninth Age of Magic, Nabu called together the remaining great magicians to deal with the Spectre and the destruction of the Rock of Eternity. Nabu personally confronted and goaded the Spectre, whose anger grew so great that he fatally wounded Nabu. This caused the Presence (also referred to as the Higher Power) to take notice and send the Spectre to his new host. As a result of Nabu's impending death, the Ninth Age of Magic ended and the birth of the Tenth Age began.

Before his death, Nabu gave the Helmet to Detective Chimp to pass on to the Doctor Fate of the new Age, telling him that the Helmet will still have certain abilities, even though Nabu will no longer be contained within it. After Detective Chimp found that the Helmet would not fit him, he asked Captain Marvel to throw the helmet down to Earth and let it land where it will, letting Fate pick its next Doctor.

52

Main article: 52 (comic book)

Felix Faust disguised himself as the Helmet of Fate and Nabu within it. He attempted to trick Ralph Dibny into trading his soul for Faust's freedom from Neron by telling Dibny how to resurrect his dead wife, Sue. In his masquerade, Faust killed Tim Trench and fooled the Shadowpact. Dibny discovered Faust, and bound Faust and Neron to the Tower of Fate, resulting in his own death.

The Helmet of Fate

File:DrFateVol4No1.jpg

Promotional art for Doctor Fate #1, by Paul Gulacy.

The helmet resurfaced a year after Infinite Crisis, crossing paths with various heroes. In these appearances it resembled the half-helm that Kent Nelson used during the 1940s. These appearances were depicted in a series of one-shots collectively titled The Helmet of Fate.

It first returned again to the possession of Detective Chimp, who found he could now wear the altered helmet. After acting as Doctor Fate for a short time, he decided he did not have the temperament to wear the helmet and sent it on its way (The Helmet of Fate: Detective Chimp #1).

As it traveled from place to place, the helm was interrupted by the spirit of Sargon the Sorcerer, who diverted it in an effort to protect his grandson, David. David bestowed something of himself into the helmet before returning it to its journey (The Helmet of Fate: Sargon the Sorcerer #1).

Black Alice was the next recipient, who unsuccessfully tried to make the helm obey her. When the helmet started to indiscriminately punish everyone who wronged her, including her loved ones, she realised the helmet would fulfill her desires, but destroy her life in the process. Black Alice then relinquished it (The Helmet of Fate: Black Alice #1).

Next, the helm came into the possession of Ibis the Invincible, and attracted the attention of the dark god Set. Set defeated Ibis, forcing the hero to retreat into hibernation as a mummy to heal. Ibis' last act was to choose his replacement. The new Ibis confronts Set, retrieved the helmet and then sent it on (The Helmet of Fate: Ibis the Invincible #1).

The helmet crossed paths with the angel Zauriel (The Helmet of Fate: Zauriel #1), who also passed it along after removing it from a tyrant of another solar system.

Ultimately, the helmet falls to Doctor Kent V. Nelson, grandnephew of the original Kent Nelson, who will then become the new Doctor Fate. This was to be depicted in a new Doctor Fate miniseries, but Steve Gerber's health problems led to scheduling delays. The material planned for the miniseries will now be included in a new split format miniseries titled Countdown to Mystery; each issue will contain an installment of the new Doctor Fate story backed with an episode of a story arc featuring Eclipso.

Countdown to Mystery: "More Pain Comics"

Doctor Kent V. Nelson, divorced and out of work, is beat up by a former patient for a Bumfights knockoff and is thrown in a dumpster, his pay stolen. The Helmet of Fate has fallen into the dumpster, and Nelson uses it to cover his wounds, as it has started to rain. The helmet reveals its entire history to him, and despite his attempts to pawn it, the helmet returns to him. Nelson learns spells gradually and uses the helmet for gambling. He meets a woman named Maddy, who runs an occult bookstore, where he goes into an intense inter-dimensional meditation exploring the pains of his psyche. He drags her along into his vision. After this incident, Kent uses the magic in the real world to fly, but sinking into self-pity and depression after forgetting both his daughter's birthday and the magic word for flying, he nearly drowns until he is saved by an intrepid young comic writer named Inza. The potential reunion between reincarnated lovers is tragically cut short when Inza is completely liquefied while Nelson is taking a shower - the doing of Negal, a demon Kent thwarted in the beginning of his adventure. After the death of Inza, Kent V. Nelson seems all but certain to retreat further into alcoholism.

Other versions of Doctor Fate

File:Doctorchaosdcu0.jpg

Doctor Chaos, Art by Kurt Schaffenberger

Doctor Chaos (Earth-One)

In New Adventures of Superboy #25 (Jan. 1982), Professor Lewis Lang and his assistant Burt Belker discover a helmet identical to the one used by Nabu in the Valley of Ur which contained a Lord of Chaos. The Lord of Chaos possesses Burt to become Doctor Chaos, whose agenda differs from the one of Earth-Two's Doctor Fate. Doctor Chaos's costume mirrors Doctor Fate's, with an inverted color scheme. Superboy confronts him and is able to remove the helmet from Belker and jettison it into space.

There was no record of the helmet ever returning to Earth. The merging of alternate universes during the Crisis on Infinite Earths removed Superboy's adventures from DC Universe continuity, although Infinite Crisis restored some of them. Therefore, canonical status of this story is simply unknown.

Fate (Kingdom Come)

The limited series Kingdom Come featured a version of Nabu, similar to his later appearance before his death, who was able to channel his consciousness through the Helm and Cloak without the need for a host body. This version of Fate sided with Batman's group during the series, and was amongst the survivors at the end of the story.

Future (Books of Magic)

In the fourth Book of the Books of Magic limited series by Neil Gaiman, Mister E shows a future version of Doctor Fate to Timothy Hunter. This one is a corrupt version of the Helmet which looks like a human skull. It would ultimately kill any of its worshipers that wears it. This one no longer cares about the war between Order and Chaos and believes that there is no meaning in life; just flesh and death. Mister E says he wanted to kill Doctor Fate and destroy the helm long ago, but the Justice League prevented him. (Note: In the first book, Hunter and the Phantom Stranger observe Kent Nelson, though Nelson was not aware of their presence.)

52

The final issue of 52 reveals a new Multiverse, originally consisting of 52 identical realities. Among the parallel realities shown is one designated "Earth-2". As a result of Mister Mind "eating" aspects of this reality, it takes on visual aspects similar to the pre-Crisis Earth-2, including Doctor Fate, among other Justice Society of America characters. The names of the characters and the team are not mentioned in the panel in which they appear, but the Doctor Fate is visually similar to the Nelson, Strauss, and Hall versions.

Based on comments by Grant Morrison, this alternate universe is not the pre-Crisis Earth-2.

Powers and abilities

Doctor Fate possesses a variety of mystical powers. In general, even without wearing the Helmet of Nabu, the host can fly, is highly resistant to injury, has minor telekinesis, and has greater-than-human strength.

At his most potent, Doctor Fate is an accomplished sorcerer, able to match most other wizards in the DC Universe. He has been credited in DC's Who's Who as being one of the top twelve most powerful heroes in the DC Universe.

Doctor Fate has been observed throwing bolts of mystical energy, teleporting across the universe, crafting solid objects out of energy, and transforming objects into other kinds of matter. Prior to the Crisis, he could travel between alternate Earths at will, one of a very few DC characters with this capability. The full limits of his magical skills are unknown, and have varied greatly from one appearance to the next depending on the needs of the story. For example, in Swamp Thing #50 (July 1986), he slays the demon Abnegazar of the Demons Three with very little effort. Conversely in Justice League of America #148 (Nov. 1977), the Demons Three control him and set him against his fellow heroes.

At perhaps the peak of his abilities, he was able to take control of Etrigan the Demon, Darkseid, Highfather and Orion and harness their powers to take on the Anti-Life entity. In this instance, he was powerful enough to destroy a reality in order to halt the advance of the entity using a "Mystic Firebreak". As powerful as he is, he has been shown to be on the losing side of drawn out battles with the Spectre, as shown in the recent Day of Vengeance series.

Helm of Nabu

The helmet that Doctor Fate wears is the focus of the Doctor Fate identity. It originally housed Nabu's spirit and allowed him to possess the current host, it later only allowed him to advise the host instead. The helmet is what provides the link to Nabu and by not wearing it, as Kent Nelson did at one time, Doctor Fate loses much of its power and knowledge.

Putting on the helmet usually results in its wearer being clad in the other raiments of Doctor Fate, unless the one with the actual claim to the helmet wants to prevent it. On several occasions, villains seeking the power of Doctor Fate have stolen the helmet, in which case the result has typically been that the wearer goes insane when they try to put on the helmet.

Amulet of Anubis

The circular device that adorns the livery collar worn around Doctor Fate's chest and shoulders is the Amulet of Anubis, which gives anyone who wears it vast magical abilities. It holds many similarities to the Amulet of Agamotto of Marvel Comics character Doctor Strange, with both Amulets being capable of revealing and recognizing magical characters. The amulet has also been shown to house the souls of many who have worn the vestments of Fate. In JSA, the amulet contained the image of a farmhouse with the souls of Kent and Inza Nelson, Eric and Linda Strauss, Jared Stevens and Kid Eternity inhabiting it. This dimension was used more than once as a refuge for the JSA to regroup in battle or access the advice of previous Doctor Fates. Mordru was imprisoned in this dimension for some time.

Awards

Both the character and the comics of the same name have received recognition, including:

• 1963 Alley Award for Strip Favored for Revival
• 1965 Alley Award for Best Revived Hero

Other media

Doctor Fate has guest appeared in animated form on Superman: The Animated Series, Justice League, and became a member of the Justice League in Justice League Unlimited. The Doctor Fate in those series is the Kent Nelson version. In Superman: The Animated Series George Del Hoyo provided his voice. In his return appearances in the Justice League series, Oded Fehr provides his voice.

In his Superman appearance, "The Hand of Fate", Superman seeks Fate's help when a supernatural threat named Karkull, whom Fate has defeated previously, seizes the Daily Planet. Fate, depicted as middle-aged, refuses to get involved because he is tired of the eternal struggle between "good" and "evil". Superman's insistence on returning to fight on his own, despite his success being unlikely, inspires Fate to join the "good fight" again.

This fatigue with mortal concerns has continued in his animated incarnations, as seen in his next appearance, an episode of Justice League entitled "The Terror Beyond". He and Aquaman help Solomon Grundy escape from the authorities so they can enact an age-old spell to save this dimension from an invasion by the Old Ones, creatures based on the writings of H. P. Lovecraft. They are stopped by the League and end up fighting the Old Ones in their own dimension.

Only after this episode does it seem that Fate maintains any continual relationship with fellow superheroes (miscommunication being the reason for the struggles between him and the League in "Terror"), including joining the expanded League in Unlimited. However, he is still not much of a team player, maintaining his own little mini-League of outsiders within the League. This team is a disguised version of Marvel Comics' Defenders, including Aquaman for Sub-Mariner, Hawkgirl for Nighthawk, Solomon Grundy for the Hulk and Amazo for the Silver Surfer. Fate is a stand-in for Doctor Strange.

Action Figures

File:Dr Fate Mattel Figure.jpg

Justice League Unlimited action figure by Mattel.

To date, four versions of Doctor Fate have been made available in action figure form. The first Doctor Fate toy was released in 1985 under the second wave of Kenner's Super Powers Collection. The Super Powers Collection version also included a mini-comic book. In the book, Doctor Fate was forced to fight Superman and the Martian Manhunter who had fallen under control of Darkseid and were sent by him to collect Doctor Fate's artifacts.

DC Direct released the second in 2000 as part of the Mystics, Mages and Magicians collection.

The third was released with the Justice League Unlimited series several times as a single figure and as part of three-pack collections. Also, Minimates has released a two-pack featuring Doctor Fate and Power Girl.

DC Direct released the fourth version in December 2007 with its second wave of DC: The New Frontier action figures.

All versions were the Kent Nelson form of Doctor Fate.

DC Direct announced at the 2004 San Diego Comic-Con International that it would release a full-size replica helmet and amulet in 2005. It was besieged by manufacturing problems and delays and was never released. In September 2006, the DC website wrote that DC Direct "hope(s) to have this great replica ready in 2007".

References

• [1] Comic Book Awards Almanac
• The Grand Comics Database Project - Links to the various volumes of Doctor Fate.