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The Golden Age Archives
The Golden Age Doctor Fate Archives, Vol. 1
Who is Doctor Fate?
Student of ancient mysteries that were partially destroyed when Caesar burned Alexandria's library, delver in the unknown science of the occult and the weird, alchemist and physicist extraordinary- Doctor Fate has learned the ultimate secret of the universe- the true conversion of energy into matter and matter into energy!
From the 1940s -- the legendary Golden Age of Comics -- come this title featuring the complete, mystic adventures of of Doctor Fate!
Student of ancient mysteries that were partially destroyed when Caesar burned Alexandria's library, delver in the unknown science of the occult and the weird, alchemist and physicist extraordinary- Doctor Fate has learned the ultimate secret of the universe- the true conversion of energy into matter and matter into energy!
From the 1940s -- the legendary Golden Age of Comics -- come this title featuring the complete, mystic adventures of of Doctor Fate!
When Kent Nelson's father, an archaeologist, was killed while on expedition in Egypt, young Kent was taken in by the ancient wizard Nabu. The wizard trained Kent in the mystic arts, preparing him to protect the world from mystic threats as the golden-helmeted hero Doctor Fate.
388 pages, Hardcover
Published June 6, 2007
5 people are currently reading
137 people want to read
About the author
Gardner Francis Fox
1,192 books90 followersGardner Francis Cooper Fox was an American writer known best for creating numerous comic book characters for DC Comics. Comic book historians estimate that he wrote more than 4,000 comics stories, including 1,500 for DC Comics.
Fox is known as the co-creator of DC Comics heroes the Flash, Hawkman, Doctor Fate and the original Sandman, and was the writer who first teamed those and other heroes as the Justice Society of America. Fox introduced the concept of the Multiverse to DC Comics in the 1961 story "Flash of Two Worlds!"
Pseudonyms: Gardner F. Fox, Jefferson Cooper, Bart Sommers, Paul Dean, Ray Gardner, Lynna Cooper, Rod Gray, Larry Dean, Robert Starr, Don Blake, Ed Blake, Warner Blake, Michael Blake, Tex Blane, Willis Blane, Ed Carlisle, Edgar Weston, Tex Slade, Eddie Duane, Simon Majors, James Kendricks, Troy Conway, Kevin Matthews, Glen Chase
Fox is known as the co-creator of DC Comics heroes the Flash, Hawkman, Doctor Fate and the original Sandman, and was the writer who first teamed those and other heroes as the Justice Society of America. Fox introduced the concept of the Multiverse to DC Comics in the 1961 story "Flash of Two Worlds!"
Pseudonyms: Gardner F. Fox, Jefferson Cooper, Bart Sommers, Paul Dean, Ray Gardner, Lynna Cooper, Rod Gray, Larry Dean, Robert Starr, Don Blake, Ed Blake, Warner Blake, Michael Blake, Tex Blane, Willis Blane, Ed Carlisle, Edgar Weston, Tex Slade, Eddie Duane, Simon Majors, James Kendricks, Troy Conway, Kevin Matthews, Glen Chase
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
August 7, 2014
Well, The Golden Age Doctor Fate Archives is one of those books that show the highs and lows of a character. This hardcover reprints ALL of the good Doctor’s solo adventures from More Fun Comics. And there are some very good stories here; but there are a lot of really mediocre ones, too, as well as a couple that are just complete crap. Which is about par for the course for any comic book feature from the forties right up until the present.
The majority of the artwork is done by Howard Sherman, who starts out illustrating Gardner Fox’s near-Lovecraftian stories with an eerie quality that’s only matched by Bernard Bailey’s work on the Spectre. However, they lost a lot when Fate started wearing that odd half-helmet. He went from a master of the mystic arts to your standard superhero in tights. John Chester Kozlek and Stan Aschmeier did the art on the last six-to-eight stories.
The later stories have Dr. Fate becoming a real doctor, losing his cape, and being able to be stopped by any bad guy with a tie and the opportunity to strangle him with it; Fate’s only real weakness was his lungs, and boy, were they weak! He got sprayed in the face with water once and almost died! Super-strong, invulnerable to bullets and fire, access to a clairvoyant orb, and can fly (when he remembers he can), but a wet handkerchief can put an end to him. It wasn’t a good day for the character that would become Earth Two’s greatest sorcerer.
And his villains were something else entirely. He did have Mr. Who, who many Doctor Fate fans might remember from the reprint in DC’s Wanted: The World’s Most Dangerous Villains series in the seventies, or the character’s appearance in the latter years of All-Star Squadron. I have to admit that the character made a lot more appearances than I thought he did, but he was pretty boring as they go; Mr. Who could change his size and, in at least one adventure, his Solution Z allowed his body to adapt to anything he needed (i.e., when he needed to escape, his body became thin enough to slide through the crack in a door). Fate’s two other…well, I hate to use the term “nemeses” here, since it’s so embarrassing…were the Frog and the Clock. The Frog was a gangster with a head that looked a tad like a frog’s. The Clock had a roundish head, a flat face, and a thin mustache that pointed down and to the sides so his face read about 8:20. Somehow, both of these cretins managed to get at least a temporary edge over a super-strong mystical hero.
Doctor Fate’s girlfriend, Inza, was a co-star in about three-quarters of his stories. She’d either tag along because “it was safer” or Fate would trundle her along for no reason. She led him into a good percentage of his cases, so she was apparently nice to have around for that bit. Gardner Fox (or the letterer) could not remember her name though; she’s called Inza, Inza Cramer, Inza Kramer, Inza Carmer and even Inza Saunders over the course of the series.
All in all, it’s a fun read. You naturally have got to be an old school comic book fan to really enjoy it, and you’ve got to be keen on golden age comics as well. If you grew up in the seventies, reading the voluminous reprints that DC (and Marvel) put out from that era, I think you’ll enjoy this Archive Edition a lot. Just don't expect modern-quality artwork in any of the stories. It was a different time, with different standards.
The majority of the artwork is done by Howard Sherman, who starts out illustrating Gardner Fox’s near-Lovecraftian stories with an eerie quality that’s only matched by Bernard Bailey’s work on the Spectre. However, they lost a lot when Fate started wearing that odd half-helmet. He went from a master of the mystic arts to your standard superhero in tights. John Chester Kozlek and Stan Aschmeier did the art on the last six-to-eight stories.
The later stories have Dr. Fate becoming a real doctor, losing his cape, and being able to be stopped by any bad guy with a tie and the opportunity to strangle him with it; Fate’s only real weakness was his lungs, and boy, were they weak! He got sprayed in the face with water once and almost died! Super-strong, invulnerable to bullets and fire, access to a clairvoyant orb, and can fly (when he remembers he can), but a wet handkerchief can put an end to him. It wasn’t a good day for the character that would become Earth Two’s greatest sorcerer.
And his villains were something else entirely. He did have Mr. Who, who many Doctor Fate fans might remember from the reprint in DC’s Wanted: The World’s Most Dangerous Villains series in the seventies, or the character’s appearance in the latter years of All-Star Squadron. I have to admit that the character made a lot more appearances than I thought he did, but he was pretty boring as they go; Mr. Who could change his size and, in at least one adventure, his Solution Z allowed his body to adapt to anything he needed (i.e., when he needed to escape, his body became thin enough to slide through the crack in a door). Fate’s two other…well, I hate to use the term “nemeses” here, since it’s so embarrassing…were the Frog and the Clock. The Frog was a gangster with a head that looked a tad like a frog’s. The Clock had a roundish head, a flat face, and a thin mustache that pointed down and to the sides so his face read about 8:20. Somehow, both of these cretins managed to get at least a temporary edge over a super-strong mystical hero.
Doctor Fate’s girlfriend, Inza, was a co-star in about three-quarters of his stories. She’d either tag along because “it was safer” or Fate would trundle her along for no reason. She led him into a good percentage of his cases, so she was apparently nice to have around for that bit. Gardner Fox (or the letterer) could not remember her name though; she’s called Inza, Inza Cramer, Inza Kramer, Inza Carmer and even Inza Saunders over the course of the series.
All in all, it’s a fun read. You naturally have got to be an old school comic book fan to really enjoy it, and you’ve got to be keen on golden age comics as well. If you grew up in the seventies, reading the voluminous reprints that DC (and Marvel) put out from that era, I think you’ll enjoy this Archive Edition a lot. Just don't expect modern-quality artwork in any of the stories. It was a different time, with different standards.
February 22, 2022
The 1st 15 months of Gardner Fox's & Howard Sherman's run on Fate is one of the greatest & most underappreciated Golden Age comics run. I first heard that from Darwyn Cooke, a particular fan of Sherman's style, & was skeptical & delighted to be proved wrong. The stories, though inconsistent, frequently surprise with their relative occult sophistication: the 2nd tale faithfully recreates Ishtar's descent into the underworld, Lovecraftian touches abound, & a macabre tale from '41 anticipates the classic '42 film *Cat People*, yet Fox also recoils to the sf he's better known for, albeit disquietingly--a genocidal Fate streaks through space & sea, hurling a rogue planet into Sol, destroying a Fish-Man city, murdering a probably made-up Mayan god of evil that's a racist caricature, wrecking vengeance on all these piratical inhumans for attacking the earth. After this maniac & aggressive 15 months, Fate settles down. A secret identity & origin story make him boring, enemies shift from mad scientists & maniacal sorcerers to gangsters & his cosmic powers downshift accordingly, exigencies of WWII make him wholesome, &, worst of all, the Helmet of Fate loses its bottom half, making him ridiculous.
August 21, 2016
Fun read! The logic was a little.... off at points, but it only made the stories funnier, and not stupid. I didn't like Doctor Fate's half-helmet designed, but it's not really serious.
November 5, 2025
dr. fate has an interesting start to his comic career. namely, i think the writers forgot what powers they wanted him to have during this run, important characters get forgotten (at one point inza is no longer his assistant but his "fiancée" and then she immediately stops appearing)
February 9, 2017
I just couldn't get into it. He's a mystic/super-advanced science hero who generally speaking beats the villain with a right cross. It got old fast.
March 4, 2014
A tricky one to review. The first year of stories, when Doctor Fate wore his awesomely cool helmet and battled assorted sorcerers and mad scientists, is terrific. After that he spent three years showing no magic powers beyond being bulletproof and battling routine mobsters (with the rare exception of super-scientist Mr. Who). So it's like a four for the first year and a two or a one for the rest.
February 1, 2012
Goodreads and my shitty internet connection ate my review so I will try and rewrite it at a later date.
February 14, 2016
Snore. Starts promisingly with quirky art and strange-ish stories, but becomes a slog to get through when Dr. Fate goes from battling supernatural menaces to boring gangsters every issue.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews