Doctor Fate # 11-20 (DC Comics) (1988) [COMICS]

 Continuing my review of DC's late-1980s Doctor Fate series (first post is here).  What we'll see in these issues is DeMatteis starting to wrap up his tenure on the book and getting it in position for a new direction (whew!).

In Issue # 11, we get a name villain in Darkseid!  The evil gets his hands dirty by coming to earth, beating up Nabu/Kent, and sending Eric/Fate to Apokolips!  (I'm sure the big bad has some evil plan in mind, but I can't recall what it is)  But Linda/Fate arrives on Apokolips to rescue Eric/Fate, and although it's not a great issue, there's a good cliffhanger at least.

Issue # 12 reveals that Linda is the strong half of the Linda+Eric team.  As Doctor Fate solo, she blasts Darkseid and his parademons and merges with Eric into the combo-Fate.  They make Darkseid retreat with "love".  Yes, really!  But it's not a happy ending, as it's revealed that the "fever" Eric has been suffering since his journey to India is really an effect of Nabu rapidly aging his body, and Eric dies!  Admittedly, I wasn't expecting that.  As an aside, Fate's powers continue to be a bland mix of flight and energy blasts.  Dr Strange could give Fate lessons on how to have some flavour.

Issue # 13 takes place after Eric's funeral, but we find out that Linda is so angry at what happened, she didn't even attend.  She blames Nabu for having aged Eric's body in the first place.  She becomes Fate alone and journeys to the spirit world to bring Eric back to the land of the living, but he doesn't want to return!  However, their souls will apparently be bound together forever.  Yay?  The writing just isn't up to the job for a storyline like this, and the mediocre/bad art doesn't help.

Where's Doctor Fate?  That's the question in Issue # 14, as Wotan (evil wizard guy) interrogates Joachim Hesse (from the beginning of the series) about Fate's whereabouts.  We get a brief origin of Wotan: he wants to absorb Nabu's power and become the God!  He kidnaps Nabu, and Petey (the "comic relief" of the series) goes to the JLI for help.  Now that I can get behind!

Issue # 15 has Blue Beetle on the cover, so it can't be all bad.  And the banter is genuinely funny, as the JLI and Linda/Fate assemble to take down Wotan.  We actually get a mix of heroes from the JLI and the JLE, and it's a fun issue--probably my favorite of the series so far (even if it gets super SBNR-preachy at some points).

Issue # 16 is a classic inventory story (you can tell because there's a different artist for the framing sequence than for the main story, and the main story is set at some point in the past).  Linda recalls a time when she and Eric were Fate together and fought a demon even though they were bickering.  It's a gag-worthy tale about how a monster is actually an abused woman's corrupted guardian angel.  I don't know why people rave about this series as a hidden gem--it's really just not very good.

My gorge is writing as I write about Issue # 17.  Somewhere in the afterlife, a mustachioed fellow (who looks like Sonny Bono!) named "The Guide" shows Eric past lives he's lived.  Eric almost gets to afterlife oblivion, but decides to turn back and returns to life in the body of a middle-aged dude (with a wife and kid) who just died in a car crash.  There's a lot more "all religions are one" pap.  

Issue # 18 is better.  Linda realises that Eric is alive, but he's in a new body with a new family and doesn't entirely remember being anyone else.  A solid issue.

Issue # 19 has a good cover and tagline ("Suddenly . . . A Stranger!") for a guest appearance by the Phantom Stranger.  The interior artwork is also good.  The story involves an Arkham Asylum inmate who becomes a sort of reverse-Fate ("Chaos Warrior") and sets all the other inmates free.  Linda tries to find Eric, but can't, and loses the power of Doctor Fate.  The Phantom Stranger appears to Eric (in his new body, "Gene") and says will help facilitate his rebirth.  Meanwhile, Nabu/Kent takes Linda and Petey to Fate's tower in Salem.  

Issue # 20 has Nabu/Kent, Linda, and Petey finding the mystical helmet of Fate in the tower--and it seems that the (original) Kent and Inza's souls are inside it!  Elsewhere, the Phantom Stranger spouts some "world soul" goop and wakes Eric up, and there's something about a how a new, enlightened spiritual humanity will arise to set things right (apparently a reference to New Guardians, and look how that turned out!).  

Next time we talk about Doctor Fate, we'll quickly be in new creative hands and into some genuinely interesting storytelling.  Persevere!