Writer – Roy Thomas, Dann Thomas
Penciler – Todd McFarlane, Mike Clark
Inker – Vince Coletta
Colours – Gene D’Angelo
Letterer – David Cody Weiss

After a few crazy adventures, Roy Thomas and the title takes a breather to showcase the origin of Dr. Fate. What is probably more interesting than anything else is that Fate’s origin started when he was a little boy. There were no powers thrust upon him during maturity nor did he have an accident to give him any, instead his father was killed, in part by Nabu, and he was then taught and raised by Nabu to become the man he is today. Many stories have their beginnings rooted in tragedy and Dr. Fate was one of those that just happened to be so and it is intriguing to see for though he was angry at Nabu for the death of his father, and rightfully so, he still took up the mantle of Nabu to become one of the greatest sorcerers and heroes to have ever lived. During this origin tale we also see Fate take on Wotan, a powerful magic user in his own right and it sees Fate’s mettle tested to the limit. Thomas and new penciller Todd McFarlane do a great job on the book and it is nice to see another origin tale grace its pages, specifically one about a character whose beginnings are not as well-known as others. The previous tale is briefly mentioned in passing as Liberty Belle is taking a little time off with Johnny Quick as the events of the last few issues were a little traumatic for our heroine. So while there was little of the team featured in the issue, the excellent Doctor Fate origin more than made up for it.

4 out of 5