Makers Of Our Fate

As I posted previously, images of Frank Quitely's Superman are currently ubiquitous in Glasgow, due to the exhibition at the Art Galleries. Aside from Batman and Wonder Woman, few other Golden Age superheroes from Marvel's Distinguished Competition have quite the iconic status of the Man of Steel. I'd argue that people don't think tend to think of Batman as a Golden Age character in the first place.

Discovering the heroes of "Earth-Two" in the very early Seventies was a seminal moment for me as a very young comics reader. Among the Justice Society members who became wider fan favourites through the rest of the decades, we might number Black Canary, Wildcat and Dr. Fate.

Fate, a remote and implacable figure, featured in most of the summer Crises in Justice League of America and by the Eighties had graduated from back-up strip to continuing series- although he was part of that self-aware, "dramedy" movement of the late Eighties.

The character - and his alter ego, archaeologist and sometime surgeon, Kent Nelson- have been revived several times in the last two decades. For the first time in 2013, however, Khalid Ben-Hassin was introduced as the New 52. Dr. Fate. But he was quickly superseded by the DCYou initiative; beginning in the late summer of 2015, a new series recounted the abstract and quirky journey of Khalid Nassour, a young Egyptian-American medical student.

In Paul Levitz and Sonny Liew's series, the mysterious, god-like Fate of the 70s and 80s was now a relatable underdog. The lanky, hoodie-wearing Khalid was something of a reversal of the Iron Fist character, whose Netflix series drew criticism for its "White Saviour" elements. This version of Dr, Fate was a first generation American coming to grips with his mystical powers- the kind of character Equinox never got to be in Justice League United.

The occult threats in the series were drawn from Egyptian history and mythology, rather than the Lovecraftian mythos of the Golden Age. The god Anubis, living mummies and a witty take on the Romans as portrayed in the legendary Asterix the Gaul all appeared to challenge Khalid. On many levels, it felt akin to Ms. Marvel, with its young Muslim protagonist, its Brooklyn setting, a plethora of references to social media and its political awareness. Unfortunately, it didn't have Kamala Khan's longevity.

The final two issues formed a psychedelic coda to the series. Drawn by Brendan McCarthy, I found them reminiscent of the Rogan Josh strip from the early 90s. But given that the series really felt like it ended with issue 16, I wonder if they were repurposed from an annual, perhaps?

A hero like Khalid is especially important in the light of last week's deplorable X-Men Gold controversy but since DC's Rebirth, he appears to have been replaced in the DCU by" Mighty Whitey" Kent. Towards the end of the run, Khalid was being mentored by Nelson which, while understandable in terms of the character's arc, robbed the new Fate of his uniqueness.

Time will tell if Khalid has been written out of DC continuity; I certainly hope not.

Next time, we'll look at the premiere super heroines of the DC Universe and how they are responding
to the expectations of modern audiences.

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