Doctor Fate, Vol. 1: The Blood Price

Doctor Fate (2015)

by Paul Levitz

Legendary scribe PAUL LEVITZ (LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES, JSA) and acclaimed illustrator SONNY LIEW (MY FAITH IN FRANKIE) introduce the DC Universe to an entirely new incarnation of Doctor Fate!

In modern-day Brooklyn, Anubis, the Egyptian god of the dead, has called up a great flood in order to cleanse the world. If left unchecked, his magic has the power to wash all of humanity away.

To turn the rising tide and save mankind, Nabu the Wise, the mystical helmet of Fate, must choose a new champion from among Earth’s greatest heroes-instead, he settles on Khalid “Kent” Nassour, Egyptian-American first-year med student.

Unfortunately for the inexperienced and overwhelmed Khalid, instructions for his new abilities can’t be found in any of his textbooks. Unless he can learn to harness the ancient power of Nabu, Anubis will claim everything the new Doctor Fate holds dear, including his family, his girlfriend and the world as he knows it.
Yes, the Doctor is in…way over his head.

Collects issues #1-7 and DC SNEAK PEEK: DOCTOR FATE #1.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Superheroes, Fiction, Fantasy, Sequential Art

174 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 29, 2016

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 1 out of 5]

I feel like DC said, hey, that Ms. Marvel book is getting a lot of buzz. What character do we have that we can make Middle Eastern? Dr. Fate, He's based on Egyptian mythology, perfect. Oh, but then take all the fun out of the book and make it super uninteresting. For most of the book Anubis is trying to flood New York while Khalid stumbles around not really knowing what's going on. I felt the same way as a reader. "Why is it taking so long for the plot to move forward or to get any answers AT ALL about what is going on?" The subplots were all pointless and went nowhere. I was not a fan of Sony Liew's art on this book either. The panels were so static and his art just doesn't really fit a superhero book.

[Stewart Tame · Rating 3 out of 5]

A classic DC character gets a makeover for the modern era.

Khalid Nassour is a first year med student living in Brooklyn. He wants nothing more than to pass his classes, see his girlfriend, and make his parents proud. The last thing that his life needs are added complications. But when Anubis calls up a flood to cleanse the world, the helmet of Fate chooses Khalid to be the new champion …

There are so many things this book gets right. I like the Egyptian angle, both in the plot and the general background. Mystic heroes are relatively common, so anything that gives the Dr. Fate stories their own flavor is much appreciated. Sonny Liew does a great job on the art. His work reminds me of Ted McKeever at times. And, having grown up on the Legion of Superheroes, I will always have a fondness for Paul Levitz’ writing.

That said, this book suffers the usual problem of mystic hero books: it's difficult to make the stories interesting without also being confusing. Powers that work by magic are difficult to define. Accomplishing things with a wave of the hand is not exciting, but coming up with reasons why the hero can’t just fix everything with said wave gets complicated. Cryptic hints can be useful for drawing things out, but they get annoying pretty quickly if the writer isn't careful.

Khalid spends a little too much time in denial (there's that Egyptian theme again! [rim shot]) for my tastes. I mean, the book is called Dr. Fate. We know he's going to accept the helmet in the end. Let's just get on with it already. Token reluctance is fine, but there's no need to drag it out.

I like the ideas here, and the characters are sound. It just needs a little bit of … something. As things stand, it's pretty average fare.

[Bookwraiths · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't write a full review of this book, because I had nothing good to say about it. I suppose it is okay. Others might like the art and the story direction, but none of it really worked for me personally. Which is a shame, because the idea of a new Fate with Egyptian lineage was cool.

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting new adaptation of this classic character. Good read. Recommended

[David Palazzolo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to admit I approached this latest incarnation of Dr Fate with some trepidation. The character has been rebooted a number of times in the last decade and none have seemed to survive for more than two or three years at a time. Much like Marvel's Dr Strange, no one seems to know how to handle the character anymore. Having said that, Paul Levitz and Sonny Liew deliver what promises to be an engaging new series and an almost entirely new take on our hero. Gone (and possibly never were) are archeologists Kent and Inza Nelson and enter Khalid Nassour, medical student. The Egyptian gods once more walk the earth and only Nassour, newly armed with the death mask of Thoth aka the helmet of Fate, a set of powers he doesn't quite understand and a cryptic spirit guide named Nabu, stands in the way of utter chaos. Hopefully this incarnation will hang around a bit longer than its predecessors.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

Can't believe it took 7 individual issues to tell that fluffy, empty story. It was barely enough story to fill a single comic book, let alone the 7 collected here.

I'm a huge fan of Doctor Fate. He's been one of my favorite DC super-heroes since I first began reading comics. I've lost count how many times DC has attempted to reboot Fate. Seems like every few years they try to shove a new face under the mask. Never seems to stick though.

Always liked Kent Nelson and girlfriend/wife Inza so I'm disappointed he doesn't appear here. Sacrificed to to Alter of Diversity. Even though Dr. Fate's mostly a background character who never takes his mask off. *rolls eyes* Diversify and cover it up! Bloody brilliant that.

There's a redefining of Fate's powers as being elemental only? Huh. What was that? Fire, wind, water, earth. Those elements. Fate is an Egyptian Pharaoh? You don't say.

Cartoony art that didn't appeal to me.

[Adan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun and interesting, but I was expecting a little bit more.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Khalid Nassour, Egyptian-American medical student, discovers the Helmet Of Fate just in time to face off against Anubis, the God Of Death, who wants to drown the world. What's a (one day) doctor to do?

I'm always a fan of legacy characters. This reads like an attempt to pull off Ms. Marvel at DC, not just because of the different ethnic background for a character that's always been white, but because it gets a lot of the same things right as Kamala Khan's introduction.

Khalid's likeable. He's a fish out of water in every aspect of his life, not really sure where he belongs, and pulled between his heritage, what he wants, and his new superheroic adventures. His supporting cast are all ecclectic and interesting; I especially like his parents, who are both good representation in their own right without being caricatures or stick figures. I wasn't as big a fan of his pushy friend, but his girlfriend's okay, if a bit oblivious.

The problem comes in the fact that while the set-up's good, it doesn't stick the middle, or the landing. After an impactful sneak peek and first issue or two, Khalid spends the rest of the story fumbling around with no direction. He has no one to turn to for help with magic, so he eventually manages to win by just...believing in himself, I guess, which would be fine if not for the fact that there's no indication that the magic should work that way.

Meanwhile, Anubis' plot takes seven issues to enact when he just wants to murder everyone and it really shouldn't take that long, and there's a semi-relevant plot in the middle where Khalid goes blind, but it's solved literally in a few pages of the next issue and has no bearing on the rest of the story at all.

On the art side, Sonny Liew's pencils capture Khalid's world really well. He never skips on the backgrounds or the details, and he really gets to let loose once the action goes to the metaphysical planes. It's not a style that I think would work on more traditional superheroes, but for a magic based character, it works.

Some good intentions and a great set-up, plus a decent artist, minus any type of plot progression until the last minute, makes this a so-so debut when it really had the potential to be more. It's not actively bad, but it's definitely disappointing.

[Henry Blackwood · Rating 1 out of 5]

This wasn’t that bad. I really thé art, I thought it was great. But I’m not too fussed about the ancient Egyptian theme. It could have been cool but I really didn’t know what was going on most of the time. And the worst part about that is that I didn’t want to know what was going on in the end.

To me, this isn’t worth it. It’s mildly interesting.

[Paweł · Rating 1 out of 5]

>Rozmawiaj z egipskimi bogami starożytności
>Otrzymaj od nich starożytny magiczny artefakt, dzięki któremu ratujesz swoich bliskich
>Bądź świadkiem jak Anubis waży twoje serce w zaświatach
>Nadal Muzułmanin

Słabe origin story nowego doktorka przeznaczenie. Student, syn imigranta, mało elokwentny i mało asertywny dostaje powołanie do walki o świat przez bogów swojego przodka. Na początku nie może w to uwierzyć, ale z czasem stawia czoła złoczyńcy, którym z niewiadomych przyczyn jest Anubis.

[Rocky Sunico · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't want to sound like I immediately dismissed this title as a DC take on a Ms. Marvel story, but I can't deny there are some parallels. There's a distinct effort to tell a minority story from the perspective of a younger character who gets thrust into the superhero life. But it's also still a Doctor Fate comic, so they had to work with the main precepts of the character.

Khalid Nassour is a medical student who is eventually entrusted with the Helmet of Fate by Bastet because Anubis is trying to flood the city among other things.

The book fully embraces Fate's connection with Egyptian lore and the various Egyptian gods and related myths play a big role in this first volume. There's a lot to consider and Khalid is very much in over his head and it seems Bastet or even the spirit of Nabu aren't quite in a position to provide extensive instruction. So we have Khalid trying to learn how to handle his new powers (should he choose to keep the helm) while juggling his regular life. It's a familiar formula but it works well enough in this case.

[Thomas Maluck · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first six issues are more or less saved by Sonny Liew's art and Lee Loughridge's colors. There are at least a couple of moments in the story where Khalid seems posed to jump into action, but page-jumps to an entirely different scene acting like the world wasn't resting on his shoulders two seconds ago - no thought bubble exposition, no nothing. Which is a shame, because a fresh start for the Helmet of Fate and charms of Khalid's family (including Egyptian parents) should add up to DC's equivalent of Ms. Marvel. And yet I can feel the corners cut in this story that otherwise has a lot of cool concepts going for it. A fun experiment, but one that I hope gets its act straight as it continues.

[Etienne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Khalid Nassour could be an outstanding successor to the mantle of Doctor Fate, but Levitz's take on the helm's origins---and his mishandling of Egyptian mythology---make for a disappointing read. The helm is no longer Nabu's, but Thoth's: the hallmark incantations are gone. Anubis is miscast as the villain, and his plot to flood the world is as nonsensical as it is ineffective: we are often told that a crisis is happening, but somehow the appropriate feeling of dread cannot be conjured.

The protagonist spends most of the book soliloquizing about his inadequacy, and if he learns anything from his various encounters with the supernatural, it is not at all apparent.

I hope Rebirth gives Khalid something more interesting to do, but I am not optimistic.

[Nabil Hussain · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good story but artwork is unimpressive.

This graphic novel features an original and entertaining story but the artwork was not good. I can't see why this artist was chosen. The artwork did not enhance the story rather the opposite. The artwork could have been so much better and conventional as well. It wasn't typical of super hero comics and was a bit of a letdown, really. The story and scripting was the only redeeming factor.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The art was really eye-catching and interesting. And I also really liked the modern take on the character. Nice to see they've done away with the horrible spousal abuse from the old series...

[John Yelverton · Rating 1 out of 5]

Doctor Fate is one of the oldest and most interesting characters in the DC Universe. That is why, this is one giant, stinking pile of garbage.

[Niklas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed this take on an old favorite character. They need to get him out of the hoodie though.

[Krzysztof Grabowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jedyny mój kontakt z "Doktorkiem" nastąpił, gdy czytałem serię Earth 2 w ramach New 52 oraz oglądałem bodajże serial Young Justice, więc nie miałem żadnych większych oczekiwań co do tytułu, ani naleciałości w pamięci po całym dorobku postaci w świecie DC, dlatego też lektura pierwszego tomu sprawiła mi sporą przyjemność. Khalid Nassour ma zaskakująco wiele wspólnego z inną postacią, jaką pokochałem. Ms. Marvel, czy jak wolicie Kamala Khan jest super charakterem, i Khalid tak jak wspomniana bohaterka są tym pierwszym pokoleniem imigrantów, jakie wychowało się od małego na amerykańskiej ziemi.

I tak jak w Ms. Marvel naprawdę fajnie przemycane są kawałki religii muzułmańskiej, tak Khalid naznaczony jest swoją egipską spuścizną, bowiem w pewnych momentach jest nawet nadmienione, iż w jego żyłach płynie krew faraonów. W ogóle nawiązań do mitologii egipskiej jest tu tona, bo na dzień dobry widzimy Anubisa, który pragnie zatopić świat w kolejnym mitologicznym potopie, a który oczyści planetę z ludzkiej niegodziwości. Naprzeciw niemu staje kocia bogini Bastet, która to ofiaruje Khalidowi charakterystyczny hełm Totha, jaki obdarzy młodego studenta mocami przeznaczenia. Jakie to było dobre.

Całość jest napisana sprawnie, choć nie obyło się bez zgrzytów, które odejmują od całości jeden punkt, ponieważ za mocno w początkowej partii skupiano się na problemie Anubisa, ciągnąć toczka w toczkę jeden wątek. Wprowadziło to niepotrzebną nudę i powolne tempo, a co nieco wynagradza finałowy zeszyt tomu, ale zabrakło mi w nim epickości godnej miejsca, w jakim finał się odbywa. Niemniej końcówka była dla mnie świetna, garściami czerpiąca z pozagrobowej sfery wiary starożytnych Egipcjan, gdzie na specjalnej wadze sprawdzano, czy serce gagadka jest lżejsze lub cięższe od pióra bóstwa. Gdy było lżejsze, człowieka czekał swoisty raj, a gdy było cięższe, obarczone piętnem grzechu, to serce było pożerane (chyba przez Sobka, bóstwo z głową krokodyla, ale nie jestem pewien - na pewno to sprawdzę, bo Doktorowi Przeznaczeniu udało się coś jeszcze - wszczepił mi łaknienie wiedzy na temat wierzeń Egipcjan). Ja takie nawiązania historyczne łykam jak pelikan, więc sposób w jaki Levitz przemyca to do tytułu, podoba mi się na równi z Ms. Marvel.

Khalid będzie musiał stawić czoła Anubisowi i jednocześnie wspomagać rodzinę, bo w pewnym momencie coś złego przytrafi się ojcu chłopaka, co tylko podkręci wagę omawianych wydarzeń. Trochę brakowało mi rozwoju relacji bohatera z dziewczyną, która była potraktowana po macoszemu (podobnie jak koleżanka od protestów), jak i wątek jednej z wykładowczyń na jego zajęciach. Zostały odpowiednio zarysowane jakby na takie odhaczenie z listy niezbędnych komponentów i liczę na ciekawy rozwój tych osób dalej. Polubiłem bohatera, aczkolwiek sądzę, że da się wycisnąć z tego więcej. I na to czekam.

'The Blood Price' nie byłoby tak dobre, gdyby nie warstwa wizualna. Ta jest mocno specyficzna i unikalna, a to zasługa Sonny'iego Liewa. Postacie mają swój charakterystyczny sznyt, nieco karykaturalna, bo czasami twarze wyglądają dziwnie, a bóstwa przerażająco. Dzięki takiemu zabiegowi magia jaka towarzyszy Doktorowi jest pociągająca, jak i niepokojąca. Za świetne uważam zabawy z kolorami, zwłaszcza gdy w pewnych momentach rysownicy raczą nas obrazami rodem z hieroglifów. Coś absolutnie świetnego. To nie jest pozycja bez wad, bo w bardziej zasługuje na 3.5, ale doceniam inwencję i pomysł na 'odrestaurowanie' starej postaci.

[Daryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought issue #1 of this comic during a time when I was buying a lot of #1s to check out. I liked it enough to put the trade on my to-read list. I liked the Earth-2 JSA version of Dr. Fate more than other reboots. This one's a bit better than some. Saying it's "okay" is probably the best I can do. Khalid Nassour is a Brooklyn med student, the son of an Egyptian immigrant, which of course all ties back to Dr. Fate's origins with Nabu, the ancient Egyptian sorcerer. The story here, the first seven issues of the comic, kind of drags on without ever giving the reader a real sense of impending doom or danger (the city is about to be flooded, but everyone just hangs around). Khalid's an interesting enough protagonist, and I liked the lack of costume (whenever he dons the helmet of Fate, the amulet symbol appears on the chest of whatever shirt/hoodie Khalid is wearing, but that's it). The art (by Sonny Liew) is not really to my liking - too cartoony and sketchy for my tastes - and the story never really seems to click. There's not really anything "bad" about this TPB, just nothing that really makes it stand out.

[Silas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let me preface this review by saying that I have little to no experience with Doctor Fate as a character, other than knowing that he wears that helmet and uses magic in some way. I gather from other reviews that this is a reboot, with a new person wearing the helmet, and that might upset people, but coming into it without prior knowledge, this is pretty good. I did find the art a bit off-putting at times, though I gather that the superdeformed nature was supposed to reflect magical things happening. I also found it a bit hard to believe how much the main character could not accept what was happening to him. I know that this is a New 52 book, so superheroes are kind of new (within the last five years), but surely he must have heard that there are some, and maybe it might be happening to him. Other than that, it's an interesting Egyptian-themed adventure that I enjoyed.

[Shawn Morrissey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Writing a review for a comic book must take equally into account the writing and the drawing. And it’s true: a well written story with bad art can still be a great comic experience, but the opposite is not true.

Liew’s art here is charming, excellent in parts, but it isn’t enough to salvage Levitz’s haphazard writing. Even though Liew’s panel work is good, the story’s pacing is off, spending several panels, for example, to tell us that Khalid can summon the Helm of Thoth, but take up only a couple panels on action meant to highlight Khalid’s character development.

Repetitive, slow, and a slog to get through — the writing is a mess; not Levitz’s best work. One star if the story itself was considered, but I give it three because Liew’s pencils and panels are not only good, he had very little in terms of script quality to work with.

[Sean · Rating 2 out of 5]

This new take on Doctor Fate is interesting and similar to Ms. Marvel but doesn't have the heart. Watching Khalid deal with the changes he's going through with magic while still trying to help his family was fun but the Egyptian Gods that were the antagonists (I think) were less so. The action played out very strangely and I wished there was much more narration involved in the battles and who the players were. The art by Sonny Liew was vibrant and new but I wished the plot was as well. Overall, a slow start for a potentially great new hero.

[Jericho Eames · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is pretty interesting, DC's take on Doctor Strange I guess? I like that Doctor Fate has his roots from Egyptian mythology but I just don't like that Khalid is so ignorant about his powers? Okay maybe ignorant isn't a good word, more like unable to accept his powers and responsibilities? And what's with him and Shayla? I'm so confused like is he trying to get in her pants are they dating? I mean what's going on?

[Roy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting new take on one of the golden age heroes, in the spirit of the new Ms. Marvel. And why wouldn't the helmet of Nabu select an American of Egyptian descent 'with the blood of the pharohs'. A small point, but I liked that, to be more natural with patients, Khalid is adopting the name of "Kent" -- connecting this version of Dr. Fate to the golden age Dr. Kent Nelson. An interesting start, and I look forward to seeing where Levitz takes this.

[Samuele Martinelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked the story, disliked the artwork

The story was ok, nothing too good, nothing too bad, was quite enjoyable.
But the artwork, ooooh I disliked it so bad. It looks like the pictures of one of my old French books from middle school. I generally love DC’s artworks styles, but this one, omg, not for me at all. It gave me childish vibes (maybe the target for this was a much lower age?). I have to praise the amazing covers artworks, those were amazing!

[Scott Waldie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's hard to pull off a 'Chosen One' story, and this new Doctor Fate didn't do well enough a job of it to enter the must-read category, but I'm a huge fan of this character and various of his evolutions so I was along for the ride anyway, and the whimsical art style here was pretty fun. I especially liked how Anubis was portrayed through this arc.

[ISMOTU · Rating 5 out of 5]

Doctor Fate has long been a favourite character of mine probably due to the cool helmet. Over the years the good Doctor has gone through many incarnations but this one by comics legend Paul Levitz and contemporary artist extraordinaire Sonny Liew is the best version in years. At first I was skeptical about the non-costume but the story and art blew me away. Great fun.

[Sherry Bolton-Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this iteration of Doctor Fate! The origin story was very plausible and riveting. I am hopeful that Khalid will not become Kent, and that he's able to maintain his sanity. I devoured it in a couple of hours, and am eager to jump into volume 2. I am very much enjoying the plausible inclusivity of modern day comics. Keep it up!

[Colin Parfitt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Something new - just not very good.

I like that DC is trying something new with the Fate character, but in the intro to the character we learn that New York floods and Khalid find Fate’s helmet. It takes 6 issues to tell the same story in the main comic.

Something more interesting really should have happened.

[Neive Baker · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not for me

I absolutely love Egypt, and comics, and dc. I though I'd absolutely love this. Sadly I didn't. I enjoyed the incorporation of Egypt but the story just didn't do it for me, neither did the artwork. Its sad because the potential this actually has is crazy. Honestly a little sad that I didn't like it