Thursday, May 8, 2008

Hocus! And, Indeed, Pocus!

Dr. Fate- Dr. Strange

But of course!

I’ll limit my comments here just to note that the powers that were/be at DC found it necessary to replace the original Fate, Kent Nelson, with a variety of successors. This is part of a tendency at the company to have older characters cede their names and roles to younger, hipper iterations that, y’know, the kids can relate to. Never mind that magicians can easily avoid such things as aging…

Commonalities:
The two are the sorcerers supreme of their respective diaspora — magic being a discipline that has more or less been shown to do anything that creators need to do at a particular time. And Nelson was shown to have, likes Strange, medical training at least once, which is the only time that I'm aware of him having much going on besides practicing magic…

Differences:
Only that the “Fate” persona was often synonymous with his master Nabu and thus was separate from that of Nelson, whereas Strange comes by his portentous bearing on his own.

Alternate histories:

DF: An arrogant physician named Kent Nelson sees his medical abilities deteriorate, and resolves to seek out the ancient wizard Nabu in his abode in the Mesopotamian region Ur. Nelson intends to have the sorcerer cure his ills, but eventually recognizes his arrogance and consents to become Nabu’s disciple. He emerges fully trained as Dr. Fate, the most powerful mage on Earth, and returns to the west, where he opposes supernatural menaces and soon encounters a woman named Inza, who becomes his disciple and lover. Fate is the premiere mystical consultant to the superhuman community; he works closely with the Martian Manhunter, Aquaman and another individual to be named later.

DS: A young Stephen Strange accompanies his father into a tomb in the Himalayas, where the two encounter the legendary wizard the Ancient One; Strange’s father dies, and Stephen is raised and trained in the mystic arts by his new mentor. By the dawning of World War II, Dr. Strange’s training as the most powerful sorcerer on Earth is complete, and he returns to the West, where he combats supernatural menaces and opposes the Axis Powers alongside the Liberty Legion. He marries his longtime companion Clea and retreats from view until recent years when he serves with a re-formed Liberty Legion and with the Avengers. Strange dies, but the spirit of the Ancient One chooses others to take his place.

1 comment:

Nazz Nomad said...

Dr. Strange can be found on the cover of Pink Floyd's Saucerful Of Secrets lp http://www.docstrange.com/dsssmuseum/pinkfloydac.asp